> Hi all. Does anyone know of a decent FAQ that explains all the most
> recent developments in the 3D world? I was gonna start looking into a
> new 3D card, but now I'm hearing about Glide, D3D, DirectX 5.0, 3Dfx,
> Rendition, etc. I'm utterly confused. What are these new formats and
> what cards support what? Which card gives the best bang for your buck
> and supports most of these formats?
> Thanks, Simon
Simon,
I know it can be a little confusing to the uninitiated but here goes my
two cents. I feel I know a little about the subject, and while I'm not
up to a complete faq here's the condensed good stuff.
First the cards. While there are now roughly a half dozen chipsets that
do hardware acceleration, only two have much support, the 3dfx and
Rendition chipsets. Remember that these guys don't build the boards,
only supply chips to the board builders.
In the 3dfx camp, there are two chipsets, the original 3dfx Voodoo chip
and the new Voodoo Rush. The only difference is that the Rush will do 3d
in a window, and is part of a 2d/3d combo card where the Voodoo is a
add-on that pairs with your regular 2d card and connects with a
pass-thru cable. The Rush will also do some apps at a slightly higher
res but to me this is not an issue, the Voodoo full screen 640x480 looks
simply awesome when the software is up to***(Direct3d Boo Hiss.)
Next on the hit parade is the Rendition family of chipsets. The first
was the Verite 1000, still a super chip if you like car sims that say
Papyrus on the box <ggg.> The newest generation of Rendition chips is
the 2000 series, the V2100 is what powers the new Diamond Stealth II.
This is a sweet setup but is having a few teething problems at present,
although I have no doubt soon it will be an even better performer than
its little brother, the V1000. The chip to watch is the big brother of
the 2100, the Verite 2200. No one has released a card with this chip
just yet and it looks like the Hercules Thriller will be first out of
the blocks. This is the chipset that could finally give the Voodoo a run
for the money. It looks to be a simply super card with support for all
the 3d API features that gamers want and alot of speed.
Now for the cards and as Paul Harvey would say- "the rest of the
story." All of the 3dfx cards are basically the same with 4meg of
memory, 2 for the buffer and 2 for textures. The new Canopus card has 6
megs with 4 for textures. I look at the newer cards to all go this
route. That said, the 4 meg cards will give you the bang for the buck.
If I were in the market, I would consider the following setup as a
compromise between super performance and all out nuts. I would buy an
Intergraph Intense 3d 4meg card that will do your 2d card duties and
also Rendition work for the car sims. You can pick up one of these for a
hundred bucks. Next on the hit parade, pick up a 3dfx powered add-on
card, I like the Orchid but the Diamond Monster 3d is also very popular.
For about 250 bucks or less you'll have a combo setup that will run any
3d API and make you think you have a new 'puter. I have installed a
number of these combo and my clients are sure happy. That's also what I
run on my *** rig at home.
If I were to upgrade I would look at the new Hercules Thriller paired
with the Canopus 6meg card, now THAT would be the killer setup!
Hope I answered a few of your questions, all the best, Mike
Michael S. Davis
Creative Media-Works
Computer/Audio/Video Convergance
http://www.racesimcentral.net/
"From Creative Minds spring Creative Solutions."
