rec.autos.simulators

Does anyone out there run GP2 on a Rendition V2200 card (e.g. Thriller
3D) ?  I know that GP2 doesn't support 3D but I read somewhere that the
DOS performance of the V2200 sucks and GP2 is a DOS game.

FYI.  I run a P250 (P200MMX o/c to 3 x 83) with an ageing S3 864 based
2D card at the moment.  In SVGA with all details on bar the sky and with
everything in the mirrors without textures I get an estimated fps of
exactly 25.6 .  Actual fps varies but my occupancy is generally about
80-90% on most tracks (with the notable exception of Monaco :-( ).

I would really like to get a 3Dfx but I don't think my 2D card really
cuts it these days so I checked out Dimension 3D and they came up with a
tie between 3Dfx and the Rendition V2200, the choice really depending on
the capabilities of your current 2D card and how much cash you have !
So, bearing in mind I could do with a good 2D/3D card before shelling
out on a 3Dfx I have decided to go for the Rendition....then I read that
it sucks in DOS.  Anyone care to calm my nerves before I part with 100
quid for a Thriller 3D ?  Does GP2 perform in SVGA ?  I don't care about
the VGA performance, I left that behind when I bought the P200MMX to
replace the P75 I used to have :-)

Thanks for any info you can provide.  In case you are wondering - I'm
really getting the Rendition for GPL but until that ships I'll carry on
with GP2.  Maybe GP3 will be out before GPL - stranger things have
happened ?

Cheers.

John Brooker
Sequent Computer Systems

As I wrote above, that's what I had for video, now in a P200MMX  o/c to 225.

Pooh.  Your 864 is just fine for DOS and 2D work.  New cards aren't any faster
unless you are talking really high res, color and/or refresh rate (I'm not
sure how high you have to go to see a diff).  I highly recommend getting the
3dfx.  It'll be faster than the Rendition and give you the wide world of
glide-supported games.  Plus, a whole new bunch of faster D3D cards are soon
to arrive.  I can already see the usual replies about "something faster always
on the horizon and if you always wait...".  However, these do appear to be a
lot faster (Riva128 TNT, MGA-G200...).  Plus the rendition would buy you
little over a 3dfx/864 combo, unless you really want it for CART/N2.  While a
3dfx/864 and later a 3dfx/new gen combo would probably give you it all (for
now!).

If you get the 3dfx, I still highly recommend F1RS.

good luck!

IF you should elect to buy a V2X00 card, you'll be able to play:
1) GP2 fairly well (depending on your CPU and MB)
2) GPL when it arrives. The RRedline version looks beautiful, even better than the
3DFX. I think that the Rendition cards will be the only cards that enables you to play
GPL on a lower spec 'puter...
3) F1RS. The V2X00 cards are quite fast D3D performers, you'll play F1RS quite
comfortably with V2X00 cards...

After this it should become evident that I recommend the V2X00 cards...

---Asgeir---

PS: One spot of warning, though: GP2 will not be able to report the speed of the
rendition cards correctly, it shows a framerate that is much lower than actual
framerate. Don't worry, the speed is quite ok, and you'll see that it moves things
along quite nicely when you enter the track...