One source on Usenet for current video subsystem info is
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video
There, you'll find the current dirt and religious conviction regarding video
cards and 3D accelerators.
I'm running a Matrox Millenium (very happily) and Orchid Righteous 3D
(ecstatically), and feel that while many popular existing games are being
patched to support the Orchid's 3DFx chipset, the real benefits are still to
come. For example, Activision has released a beta 3DFx patch for Interstate
76 -- a game that sorely taxed my P200 MMX at higher detail settings. I
just saw one title (name escapes me at the moment) that will *require* 3D
acceleration (in the form of a 3DFx based card, and one or two others).
Is it worth it? Well, for me, it only took a couple of titles that support
the 3DFx's Glide API (or even Microsoft's DirectX) to justify the $180 that
I've spent. You will spend less, as the price has dropped.
As for the ATI 64 Bit, well, let's just say that my current combo is one of
the better all-around performance setups. Note that built-in 3D capability
may not ever be as fast as seperate, dedicated 2D and 3D solutions. If I
question the value of my expense for both cards (about $400 - current
pricing is lower, of course), I justify the expense by understanding that
one of the best windows system upgrades you can make is to improve the video
capabilities (it's not called a 'graphical user interface' for nothing).
Have lots of fun deciding -- If you put in the research time, you'll be
amply rewarded.
--
Philip M. D'Amato
>>>>>=======comanche bowmen==brooklyn ny usa==========>
My Current High Scores Since 12/96
Indoor
NFAA 300: 275 5/21/97
FITA 450: 398 8/1/97
FITA 600: 483 3/22/97
>HI all,
>I have to decided to upgarde my home machine which is simply not
>up to today's sims (my machine at work on the other hand ....)
>Anyway, what's all this 3d accelarators stuff ? Any point in spending
>money on it ?
>Is simulators (gp2, n2 but also descent and the likes) bottle neck the
>cpu *and* video. That is will my flashy new cpu be no good with a
>medium video ?
>I am getting a 200Mhz processer, can i get fast frames per second with
>my current video card (a 2 yrs old plain vanila pci svga 2mb) ?
>Finally, a local store is offering an Ati-3d-64bit at a song. Any
>good?
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