Which SVGA Card to Buy for Games & Windows?

I'm currently in the market for a new VESA Local Bus SVGA Card. I'm looking to spend under $200 so please keep that in mind if you suggest a card. Basically, I posted to a variety of newsgroups because, like most of you, I'm an avid gamer but I also have to get some work done in Windows. So, the SVGA card I'm looking for should: - have good DOS performance under 3D type games such as flight simulators, NASCAR/Indycar Racing and DOOM-type games. - have good to very good Windows performance, it doesn't have to be a Win accelarator card but just have fast redrawing in Windows. I'm not really looking for suggestions in what chipset to buy because even with the same chipsets benchmarks vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. So I'm looking for brand name suggestions. Also how much VRAM or DRAM (which is better?) should I be getting now? And the card should have "green" (ie. energy saver) capabilities so that it shuts down the monitor after a period of inactivity. I was thinking of getting either the ATI Mach32 or Mach64 (VLB) but heard that there were some driver incompatibility problems and that drivers for these cards weren't widely available. Is this true? Does anyone have one of these two cards and if so, what do you think of it? What's their performance like in the aformentioned applications? Just some background here: Intel 486DX2/66mhz CPU (green) Opti chipset VLB motherboard 8MB RAM 15" Sony Monitor (green) Current video card: Trident ISA SVGA 1024k (ewwwww!!!!) Any suggestions would be welcomed, but I would appreciate if they were mailed (as well as posted) since I don't have much time to read news lately. ------ ... ------------------------------------------------------------------- --oOO--( )--OOo---------------------------------------------------------------

> - have good DOS performance under 3D type games such as flight > simulators, NASCAR/Indycar Racing and DOOM-type games. I've got an ATI Mach64. Nascar is excellent in SVGA (but this is on a P90 d8-) And Windows feels very fast too. My 486-dx2/50 at work with a S3 card positively chugs. Get VRAM if you want high resolutions with deep colour depth. Otherwise, at low res/low lower depths, VRAM and DRAM are comparable. I have yet to have an compatibility problem with my Mach64. I run Windows 3.11 (using the latest drivers the ATI FTP site), Windows '95 (with built in drivers) and OS/2 (again with built in drivers). I've had no problems running any SVGA games that I've thus far tried: Nascar and System Shock being the obvious ones. Stuart. Stuart Booth Transport Routeing Software

Check PCWorld Magazine latest edition. The Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM with the Trio64 chipset got the highest speed rating in windows among all cards except one other 128 bit card ($$$$). It's suppose to be one of the best for games in dos also. Good value for your money and exactly what you're looking for except I'm not sure it will be under $200. : I'm currently in the market for a new VESA Local Bus SVGA Card. I'm looking : to spend under $200 so please keep that in mind if you suggest a card. : So, the SVGA card I'm looking for should: : - have good DOS performance under 3D type games such as flight : simulators, NASCAR/Indycar Racing and DOOM-type games. : - have good to very good Windows performance, it doesn't have to : be a Win accelarator card but just have fast redrawing in Windows. : ------ ... ------------------------------------------------------------------- : --oOO--( )--OOo--------------------------------------------------------------- -- :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: /|(X)/---\ (X)|] :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: \|(X)\---/ (X)|]

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> I'm currently in the market for a new VESA Local Bus SVGA Card. I'm looking > to spend under $200 so please keep that in mind if you suggest a card. > Stuff deleted... > Any suggestions would be welcomed, but I would appreciate if they were mailed > (as well as posted) since I don't have much time to read news lately.

It probably wouldn't hurt to post to the group also, I,m sure Nuno isn't the only one interested in this information. Later..... ______________________________________________________________________________ "It's good enough for government work"

I'd reccomend a Hercules Dynamite Pro/Power 1megVLB . (I don't know if the 1M version comes in a Power series, but it does come in the Pro series. It uses one of the best implementations of the Tseng ET4000W32p chip that you can get. It's arguably the fastest DOS card ever, and it handles Windows applications solidly. I believe this card can be had for around $120 for 1M and $170 for 2M (of course, my numbers could be off a bit) -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil Mouneimne | Only the government could have | sacrifices so much to achieve so | little for so few | - Frustrated Ada programmer -----------------------------------------------------------------------

: >> I'm currently in the market for a new VESA Local Bus SVGA Card. I'm looking : >> to spend under $200 so please keep that in mind if you suggest a card. : I'd reccomend a Hercules Dynamite Pro/Power 1megVLB . (I don't know if the : 1M version comes in a Power series, but it does come in the Pro series. : It uses one of the best implementations of the Tseng ET4000W32p chip that : you can get. It's arguably the fastest DOS card ever, and it handles Windows Performance is reduced if there is only 1 meg on the card. The w32p uses 4-way interleaving, so it needs the extra data width to achieve this. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ P.Chen

: I'd reccomend a Hercules Dynamite Pro/Power 1megVLB . (I don't know if the : 1M version comes in a Power series, but it does come in the Pro series. : It uses one of the best implementations of the Tseng ET4000W32p chip that : you can get. It's arguably the fastest DOS card ever, and it handles Windows : applications solidly. I believe this card can be had for around : $120 for 1M and $170 for 2M (of course, my numbers could be off a bit) Yes, I'm happy with mine!

>: I'd reccomend a Hercules Dynamite Pro/Power 1megVLB . (I don't know if the >: 1M version comes in a Power series, but it does come in the Pro series. >: It uses one of the best implementations of the Tseng ET4000W32p chip that >: you can get. It's arguably the fastest DOS card ever, and it handles Windows >: applications solidly. I believe this card can be had for around >: $120 for 1M and $170 for 2M (of course, my numbers could be off a bit) > >Yes, I'm happy with mine! And another happy Dynamite Pro VL (Tseng ET4000W32i). Mike V. +------------------------------------------------------+

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| Mike Viscount | | MCNC / North Carolina Supercomputing Center | | Systems Programmer Analyst II | | | | Phone: (919) 248-9212 | | Fax: (919) 248-1101 |

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I have STB Lightspeed with Tseng ET4000W32p chip and 2MB and it is worth its name. Lac ------------------- Ladislav Sedivy Pittsburgh, PA (412) 481-9225 -------------------

: >: I'd reccomend a Hercules Dynamite Pro/Power 1megVLB . (I don't know if the : >Yes, I'm happy with mine! : And another happy Dynamite Pro VL (Tseng ET4000W32i). I'll throw my vote in for the Hercules 2M Power(pretty much the same as the Pro, except in Windows). -- Tom Finger for PGP public key