rec.autos.simulators

Also got a chance to try the standard version of NASCAR on a P166 w/
Pipeline Burst 256K cache, 32MB EDO Ram and a  Stealth 64 2MB VRAM.
(Which BTW,  bench marks at 142.6 on 3D Bench - taking only about 4
secs to complete the test loop - visually very, very fast.)  NASCAR
also runs fast at a very smooth 20+ fps in SVGA mode with all details
on except grass texture (which I never use). In hi-res mode, NASCAR
even looks good on a  20"  Viewsonic monitor! In fact, I almost prefer
it because you can get a better sense of immersion with the bigger
screen. ( unless your in low-res VGA mode - then of coarse you need
the smallest screen possible.)
This  is almost as fast as my AMD486-120 with a 3D Blaster (see my
previous post) but a whole lot more money. ($350 w/ 5 titles for the
Blaster vs. $3,000 + for the P166 setup w/ no software - but runs like
a bat out of hell with just about any software you do buy.)  I did
notice the opening demo around the track seemed a bit faster on the
P166, but not during actual driving. (maybe they didn't spend much
time on  accelerating that first part when they ported it to the 3D
board.)

 P.S.  WinTach 1.0 running under Win 95  on the P166  benched at 330+
overall with some tests running 500-600+.  (ludicrous speed.)

Stackman

On second thought, the P166 probably runs the opening sequence faster
(it was not my imagination)  because with the relatively large number
of cars on the track in that view, it is probably slightly more
processor (computational) intensive then usual (on top the huge
graphical  processing load), due to calculating all the individual car
trajectories, etc. The 486 won't have the computational headroom the
P166 has, so the scene is slower due to the processor not being able
to drive the 3D chip to its full capacity. During normal driving,
(with fewer cars in view) the bulk of the processing is graphical
(effects, perspective correction, etc) which the 3D chip can take care
of handily, without bogging down the cpu. In the case of the P166, it
is doing all the processing, (both graphical and computational - of
coarse with the help of the video card accelerator to some extent) so
it doesn't matter to the P166 which load is greater. If both loads
become equally intensive, it too will bog down (I have seen in replays
containing many cars (in close view) at higher velocities -  the frame
rate goes way down). Of coarse this is just my theory, but it does
seem to fit the facts (as represented by me).

Stackman