Anyone out there using a Kyro 2 for GPL or Nascar 4?
I'm getting a new (to me) P3-600 system and need to pick out a
decent lower-end video card. V5 is a possibility, but the fact it is no
longer supported with upgraded drivers will soon be a problem.
Geforce2 MXs are beaten pretty handily on most things by a Kyro
2, which is generally beaten by faster Geforce2s.
So, anyway. Anyone using the Kyro 2?
-Tim
Er, sorry. Ahead of myself. I mean, is anybody using the Kyro 1?
I know the performance of the two has significant differences, but I'd
like to hear.
Of course, on the other hand, if anybody happens to have a Kyro 2
in hand for review or whatnot, I've seen results for it running Nascar Heat
(not bad) and was wondering if anybody had fired up GPL or N4. I know, I
know, wishful thinking that someone here has a review version and is
willing to share observations, but still...
-Tim
Hi, when you review this card I'd like a couple things included:
1) FSAA is important to sim-racers and flight-sim fans, and has made the
voodoo5 still desirable even with its lack of support. The K2's excellent
FSAA perf (relative to geforce-mx) makes this a very interesting
alternative. I'd like to see Nascar4/Grand Prix Legends/flight-sim
benchmarks included in your review. Absolute framerate numbers are not so
important as image quality, absence of glitches, and consistent framerates.
For example, GPL is framerate locked at 36fps, but its very important to
avoid dips below 36. So the benchmark for GPL would simply ask can the K2
run 800x600 or 1024x768 with 2x or 4x FSAA at 36fps at the back of a
full-field race start in D3D-mode without anomalies.
2) Tim Sweeney's dismissal of the K2 for lacking certain DX features should
be addressed. What features is it lacking, and do they matter for current
games and games on the near horizon?
rms
"KYRO II offers no T&L support or any semblance of support for the features
introduced by DirectX 8. We have found hardwired T&L to be a more or less
unremarkable feature, but the lack of DirectX support (which can be found in
ATI's affordable 32MB RADEON) raises our concerns about the shelf life of
such a product."
---------Sharkeys Extreme
No T&L !........ hmmmmmmm.......
Vintook
Correct me if I'm wrong, but those DX8 features will be included for
_nothing_ but the GeForce3, and even that has the bare minimum. I think one
can safely igore those features until a new video card a year or so from now.
-Tim
"It's a competent TNT2 class chip, and the sorting and alpha-testing
artifacts of past generations seem to have been sorted out
successfully. But, like every generation of PowerVR hardware before
it, it's a day late and a dollar short. It lacks support for basic
DirectX7 (yes, 7!) features like cube maps. The kyro developers are
cool guys, so it pains me to say that this is just not a viable piece
of hardware in the market it's trying to compete in."
Vintook
DirectX feature added - 6 months later the hardware will take advantage
Hardware comes out - 4 months later a game comes out that has the features
Gamer - waits a year after directx version comes out to actually be able to
use it and then the they have to spend $500 for the hardware!
I don't know about you but if a card comes out that is lacking a couple
features and only costs $80-100 the day it hits the shelves and it
outperforms the $250 card that sits on the shelf next to it then which one
should I buy? I'm willing to give up a piece of eye candy to save $150.
Vintook
> > >2) Tim Sweeney's dismissal of the K2 for lacking certain DX features
> should
> > >be addressed. What features is it lacking, and do they matter for
> current
> > >games and games on the near horizon?
> > Correct me if I'm wrong, but those DX8 features will be included for
> > _nothing_ but the GeForce3, and even that has the bare minimum. I think
> one
> > can safely igore those features until a new video card a year or so from
> now.
> > -Tim
Don't know anyone who is...
The word from folks who run both GPL and N4 is that the V5 is the best pick
if GPL is your main thing, but that if you really want to run N4 well, the
GeForce is the way to go.
GeForce prices have just come down with the release of their 3rd generation
card.
Chris Noto, see Noto at tee dee ess dot net
Kyro II lacks all but ONE of the DXTC/S3TC compression modes, static T&L and
cube environment mapping out of the major DX7 features. There could be some
other minor stuff too that concerns how things are handled "under the hood",
but its nothing that has any impact on how things look.
Out of these three, cube environment maps are the only thing that really
matters. The missing DXTC modes can be transparently forced to use the
supported DXT1 scheme in the drivers, and until there are titles using DX8
vertex shaders out there on the market, you won't miss the DX7 T&L too much
if you have a beefy CPU. Nvidia's MX is so bandwidth limited it really can't
make much use of its T&L unit in today's software.
Kyro II will serve anyone on a budget quite well, I'm sure. That it has
COMPLETELY transparent FSAA certainly doesn't hurt either! FSAA in Diablo 2,
yumm! Can any other card do that?
Bye!
/HB.
