Hi All,
You seem probably the best bunch to ask.
I'm not all that clued up on the current video card
developments and I'm toying with getting a decent
3D card.
I want one thats going to work with vast majority of
games as well as the Papyrus sims.
I'm toying with the idea of a Matrox Mystique with 2Mb RAM as it looks
a reasonable performer and is within my budget.
Anyone got any comments on this card and does it run ICR2 and N2 in
render modes OK and with 2Mb or RAM.
Feedback appreciated but feel free to e-mail it to me rather
that clutter up the newsgroup.
Cheers
Jed
The Pits
The Mystique, while a fine 2D card, will pretty much do nothing as far as
3D acceleration goes. Sure it does work with Direct3D and gives pretty
decent framerates, but it does not use Bi-linear filtering which is a huge
negative IMHO. As far as N2 and ICR2 goes, it will do absolutely nothing,
as they both require a Rendition based card for their 3D accelerated
versions. The obvious choice (at least for the short term) would be one of
the current Rendition based cards such as the Sierra Screamin'3D, the
Intergraph Intense3D, or the Canopus Total3D. Creative Labs also has the
3D Blaster PCI, but they do not bundle ICR2 with it. The Intergraph is the
cheapest (at least here in the US) but it's bundle isn't too hot. The
Sierra card is a bit more expensive, but comes with a great bundle and
slightly better drivers. The Canopus card is the fastest card overall and
offers slightly higher resolutions and color depths thanks to it's faster
RAMDAC, but comes with some extra ***(3D stereoscopic glasses and 3D
sound) that makes it about $100 more than the other cards. I persoanlly
don't think it's worth it, as the lifespan of 3D cards doens't look to be
too long (all of these should be replaced by next Christmas by cards using
the next generation V2000 chip). If you're not concerned with immediate
results, you may want to look at the 3Dfx cards. While neither N2 or ICR2
are supported, Sierra and many other companies are committed to supporting
them in future products. They generally are faster than the Rendition
cards (mainly due to their tremendous fill rate), and also offer OpenGL
acceleration (GLQuake is absolutely breathtaking with reflections, shadows,
and trasnparent water). Initially these were 3D only cards working in
conjunction with a 2D card, the newer cards using the 3Dfx Rush chip (like
the new Hercules card) are 2D/3D.
If you have any questions or would like some more info, feel free to ask.
--
Unfortunately, it's not quite as fast as the 3Dfx cards (close to same fill
rate, but it has a much lower polygon throughput) and as with the Mystique,
it doesn't support Bi-linear filtering. It's also not getting nearly the
developer support as are Rendition and 3Dfx.
--
a>...
IMO, when it comes to graphic cards, the best performance results from a
combination of an excellent 2D card + a 3D only card. Also, remember
that in order to take advantage of a 3D card, programs must be
specifically written for the card, so a Monster 3D card will do nothing
to ICR2, for example. Currently, only a handful of programs are designed
to make the most of a 3D card. So, the best strategy would be a Matrox
Millenium + a Monster 3D. I've been impressed by the Millenium card.
Nothing beats it for 2D. My PC is a Micron P133 w/32 MB RAM & Millenium
w/ 4MB WRAM, and I can turn on all the details in ICR2, GP2, among many
sims that I enjoy playing, and I have no problem at all. According to
Wintune benchmark, my PC even outperforms Gateway P200 in graphics.
I guess the price of the Monster card will go down soon. Then add it to
a Millenium, and nothing will even come close.
You're right that it gives top notch performance, but personally I wouldn't
want to sink that much money ($400 or so) into something that will be
obsolete in less than a year.
--
Millenium + a Monster 3D.
Oh...You mean like an MMX 200 ; )
Mr Bill
> You're right that it gives top notch performance, but personally I wouldn't
Quoted text (11 lines)
> want to sink that much money ($400 or so) into something that will be > obsolete in less than a year. > -- > >So, the best strategy would be a Matrox > Millenium + a Monster 3D.Er.. no. I was wondering why someone would spend the money on that $400+
combo knowing full well it will be out performed by a card half the price
in less than 6 month's time.
--
a>...
> Oh...You mean like an MMX 200 ; )
what makes U say that? 3D vid cards are the changing tech. now
All I meant was that it seems that CPU's are changing just as fast as 3D
cards.
A bit over a year ago a 133 was FAST!!!! Now we got MMX 200, 200 Pro,
Pentium2
coming and K6. 300mhz CPU's coming years end, Even Apple is getting back
some steam.
And they all cost well over 400 bucks. In Canada anyway.
Try 1100.00 for an intel MMX 200 That is just the CPU!. RIPOFF! Going AMD
or Cyrix next time. Incompatability problems......I'll Deal with them.
Crazy stuff.
Mr Bill
Quoted text (8 lines)
> > Oh...You mean like an MMX 200 ; ) > what makes U say that? 3D vid cards are the changing tech. now > > > You're right that it gives top notch performance, but personally I > > wouldn't > > > want to sink that much money ($400 or so) into something that will be > > > obsolete in less than a year.> Er.. no. I was wondering why someone would spend the money on that $400+
> combo knowing full well it will be out performed by a card half the price
> in less than 6 month's time.
> --
Yeah, that card will probably have no support as well.
