rec.autos.simulators

Any advice would be appreciated,

Larf

Any advice would be appreciated,

Larf

   It's a couple of big steps.  I had a P133/V1000 and was considering
the K6-2.  But by the reports here, you wouldn't get the full deal (or
reasonably close to it) with GPL.  You'd have to compromise on fps or
details or res or AI opponents or online ***.  I ended up going
with the C300A/BH6/64megPC100/Thriller8meg/ATXcase/PS2keyboard.  It
was about $750 locally (including tax, you could do CPU/MB/mem/case
for as little as $550 or so online), but it gives me a full GPL
experience.  I run it 300MHz most of the time and crank it up to 450
for online ***.  Depending on the track, I can run 800x600 or
640x480 at or near 36 fps with many details on (full AI field).

   The dividing line seems to be:
P166-233MMX or K6 - Passable with reduced graphics and AI field
PII 233-333 (66Mhz FSB) - Pretty good but still some compromises
PII 350+ (100MHz FSB) - The full deal (or darn close)

   Cons on the K6-2 - it has a relatively weak FPU.  In certain games
(ie: Quake) there are 3DNow patches, but no such animal is planned for
GPL.  I would guestimate that the K6-2/300 would only have slightly
better GPL performance than a genuine P233MMX.

   Good luck with your upgrade.

NAR Northeast Regional Contest Board site - points and more...

Jeff Vincent heeft geschreven in bericht

full deal (or darn close)

This is far from the truth, my son. I have a 100Mhz board (With 1MB Cache)
with 64MB 8ns RAM  an 8MB AGP Thriller and a K6-2-300Mhz. When playing
against the AI I always playing with all GFX on with 19 AI and with 4
sounds. I only drop below 20fps with the start and quickly race with 30+fps
after that. Not steady 36 fps but VERY playable. Of course the Thriller is a
BIG part of this good framerate but nevertheless.............The only frame
stuttering I get is when there's a crash somewhere on the track, but I doubt
this has something to do with the K6. Of course I will get me an AMD K-2-400
in Januari '99 that according to Thomas Pabs will be as fast as a P2-400 for
much better prices.............

Regards,

Harald

I just upgraded my "old" P166 for a K6-2 300. I run with all detail on 640x480,
detail bias set to 50%. System clock is set to 75Mhz and multiplier set to 4.5
and I'm also using a Voodoo1. Frame rates are around 30, 36 being the highest
and 18 being the lowest.
IMHO the best value for money and I even postponed the aquisition of a 12Mb
Voodoo II cause the Voodoo is still very capable.

Hope this helps in your decision

Basil.

I've got the K6-2 300 with a 100 Mhz FSB M/B and a Diamond Voodoo II
with 8M RAM.  I also have 64 MB PC100 SDRAM.

I run with full details on and except for the starting line,  I tend
to get about 25-30 fps,  which is totally acceptable to me.  At the
starting line with a full line-up of cars,  the pfs drops to around
18-20 fps.  I haven't tried to race online yet,  so I don't know what
performance drop will occur there.

I'd guess your minimum upgrade (should you choose the K6-2) would be a
decent M/B (FIC VA-503+  $80),  CPU (300 Mhz $120) and 64 MB PC100
($90 for Micron memory),  for a total of around $300.

I went this route because I am always on a somewhat limited budget,
and I don't think I could have beat the price/performance.

David Snider

I just upgraded from K6/200 w/Voodoo I to L6-II/300 w/ Voodoo II...no
problem with GPL. I drive with 10 opponents and 95% of the grafics turned
on - getting 20-39fps. IMHO very smooth ;-)

BTW: does someone know whether Papy is planning to release a 3dnow!-patch ??
This would REALLY kick some ass !!

Also, man mailt sich...

.\\atze        [ FmMW2109 - FmMB2139 ]

*home* : http://www.home4u.de/buesing/

   FWIW, C300As are faster than a P2-400 when you overclock them to
450 (and a vast majority are capable of that).  Today.  For very good
prices...  :)

NAR Northeast Regional Contest Board site - points and more...

I get 25-30 at 97<something>x whatever number goes with that and detail
bias set to about half. I have all textures on the track ( like to see
my old skid marks!). all but track texture, car texturein the mirror. I
keep the arms on though. 16 opponents. Start frame rates are low (20ish)
- but it doesn't last for long as the field spreads out.

I also have an Diamond MX80 card and am using the 'digital' gameport on
it which might reduce cpu usage.

There is no doubt a PII-300 will be *SLIGHTLY* faster but
price/performance wise I really like the K6-2. ALso I didn't have to
switch to an ATX case or ATX motherboard which saved money.

--
Bill Ryder       Silicon Graphics New Zealand   SGI V-Mail: 234 1456
Systems Engineer                                 Ph: (+64 4) 494 6326

DISCLAIMER: Unless explicitly stated all opinions are mine not SGI's