First off, I have both a Rendition V2200 and a 12MB Voodoo2 card. I
prefer the Voodoo2 for raw speed in some games, but in terms of image
quality the Rendition beats it plain and simple. I applaud 3Dfx for
improving the image quality with the Voodoo2, but it still has room to
get better. For N2 and GPL the speed difference in the two cards is
quite minimal (if anything the Renditon card is slightly faster), and
IMO the Rendition card looks much better (both in terms of color
saturation and texture quality). I've seen these sims running on quite
a number of machines, and on each and every occasion the Rendition
version looks better. There is a delicate balance between detail and
filtering, and while the 3Dfx cards are quite good at reducing the
dithering artifacts often seen on other cards, this comes at the price
of over filtering the textures resulting in (comparatively speaking)
soft edges and washed out colors. This is not just my opinion, but has
been stated in plenty of reviews (Boot magazine, hardly a 3Dfx basher,
comes to mind). I am by no means anti-3Dfx, I just realize that raw
speed is not the end all be all of 3D cards (just look at the Riva128).
If it was 3Dfx who had the superior image quality I'd be pointing out
the short comings of the Rendition cards, but this just happens not to
be the case.
- Eric
