rec.autos.simulators

I am about to buy a new 400MHz P2 computer system and am looking for some
help/advice on what your dream machine video card would be.

I earn my living developing 3D virtual worlds and also am an avid race gamer.
This is good because price is (almost) no object (tax deductable business
expense) but bad because the machine has to do many things well.

I want good performance for...

NASCAR and GPL (this means 3dfx or Rendition, right?)
3DStudio Max (good 3D performance for Direct3D or OpenGL)
Photoshop (good 2D Windows performance)

Also, I would rather buy a bundled system from Dell (just because I don't have
the time to configure a system and one of my clients has been buying a lot of
Dells and has been happy with them).

Dells come standard with a STB nVidia AGP 4MB Video Card. A low
price/performance 3D card I guess. So do I keep that card in the machine and
install a high speed 3D only game 3dfx or Rendition cards? Will they work with
the STB? Do I yank the STB and put in something else myself (or maybe Dell will
for me)?

I've been in the computer business for 16 years and all this still confuses me
no end so...

Thanks in advance,
Bill Niemeyer

Bill Niemeyer wrote
<snip>

Here is my advice. Hopefully I won't be the only here.

Take the DELL Pc. It's probably the best PC's on the market for
quality/price/service.  I had no problem since many years with them. I'm not
surprise if they are (AFAIK) the 3rd PC seller now in the world.

The STB Velocity 128 AGP is a GREAT and AWESOME card for D3D and OpenGL. It
is anything but NOT a low performance 3D card.  Quake2 at 70fps in OpenGL,
Jediknight at 65fps in 800x600 in D3D.  It's probably the best non-3dfx and
non-rendition card on the market.  The STB is only D3D and OpenGL
applicable, so you won't see the accelerated version of N2 or GPL.  IMHO
what I would do is :

1) Buy the DELL Pc
2) Add a Voodoo2-based card as an addon. (Diamond Monster 3d II would be a
good choice)

You will have the best of 2 world. The 3D add-on-card are very easy to
install, and you should have no problem with the STB, and no problem to
install them. The STB + any 3D card is IMHO the best combo on the market.
There is many good Voodoo2 card on the market, just check out some websites.
I assume that since you have the money to buy a 400mhz PC, a 300$ video-card
is affordable. If not, get a 333+Videocard.  You won't notice any big
difference (maybe 1-2% less fast).

Hope I helped you, but get those Altec Lancing ACS-495 USB speakers. Dolby
Surround sound is sweat, and I don't know why but I hear N2 in some sort of
mixed Surround-Stereo (Pro-Logic kinda). I hear cars go by me in front to
the back, and can tell when I'm clear and can move without hitting them ;-)

Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard, (-o-)

Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s.
Member of the r.a.s. Ego-maniac club
Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking)
Excuse me for being provocative (I'm dumb speaking)

--"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--

If you can wait a bit, Matrox has a new card coming out called the
Millenium G200 that looks to be a real screamer. They're claiming twice the 2D
performance of the Millenium2, and 3D performance close to/better than the 3Dfx
Voodoo2. You can read a review of a pre-release board and how it compares to
other boards (including the Riva 128 and Permedia2) at this page:
  http://www.tomshardware.com/3dchip0498.html
The test system used in the review was even a P2-400 :)

Don Chapman