3Dfx vs Verite 2200

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with the Hercules Verite 2200 board? How about availability? The video card in one of my computers died, and I was on the point of buying a Screamin' 3D card for $169 from Sam's Club. Now it looks like I should wait till I can get a Verite 2200 board - if the wait isn't too long! My far-and-away favorite sim is ICR2/3D (the Rendition version), but I also want to be able to try the new F1 and CART sims that are supposed to be coming out soon. Most or all of these seem to support the 3DFX chipset, but not all support the Verite chipset. Of course, I suppose for those that are Win95/DirectX only, that doesn't really matter too much. From what I've read, the 3DFX cards are great, but my local store said it's impossible to get Matrox Milleniums, and if they could, they want $300 for them. And if I put in a 3DFX card, I wouldn't be able to run ICR2/3D on that machine. What do you think? Should I wait for the Hercules? Or some other Verite 2200 card? Alison Alison

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>Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with the Hercules Verite >2200 board? How about availability? >The video card in one of my computers died, and I was on the point of >buying a Screamin' 3D card for $169 from Sam's Club. Now it looks like >I should wait till I can get a Verite 2200 board - if the wait isn't too >long!

The card is due to be released this week(?), but FWIW, you should be able to find the v1000 card cheaper than at Sam's (check Comp-USA). BTW, the Sierra card is a good one. If ICR2 is your favorite, then you may want to hold off before paying out the dough, as ICR2 doesn't work on the v2200 (yet). Rendition and Papyrus are reportedly looking into where the problem is, but I suspect that it's in the card's archetecture. N2 and Soda work fine (I had initially had my doubts earlier), as well as other Rendition titles AFAIK. None the less, I plan to find a way to grab one of these babies soon (I'm good at that<g>), and hope to report on the card's performance. Also look for notes by Eric Busch on the card, as I think he's also interested in putting one through its paces. =) If you want to run ICR2-3D now, then the v1000 series cards are the only game in town. If you want stellar performance right now, then get one of the 3dfx cards. If you can only wait a week, then get the new v2200 chip, and do without ICR2. However, if you can at least hold out for another couple of weeks, then there may (or may not) be a fix for ICR2-3D, but you'll be able to make a better informed decision. Cheers! Marc Marc J. Nelson Sim Racing Online / Sim Racing News / The Sim Project http://members.aol.com/simracing

>Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with the Hercules Verite >2200 board? How about availability? Not out yet, as far as I know. I just got some junkmail from Intergraph with an offer for their Verite 1000 board for $99. I didn't quite follow the above. It seems you are under the impression that the Millenium uses a 3DFX, or would somehow be equivalent to one? The Millenium doesn't use the 3dfx chip. And while it is very highly regarded (IMHO, over-regarded) as a 2D accelerator, it is not a good 3D accelerator. I've heard of people who have three (even four?) cards in their system. So you actually *can* have a 3dfx, and a Verite in your system simultaneously. Or so I've been told. I wouldn't limit myself to the Hercules version of the Verite 2200. I'd take a wait and see (have to anyway as it isn't available). Unless you really, really need to play ICR2 now, I'd advise against picking up a Verite 1000. Unless $99 doesn't mean anything to you, or unless you can find it on the net cheap (probable as people upgrade). There are new impressive cards coming out, the Verite 2200's, the Riva128's (STB Velocity 128), the 6MB 3dfx-based Canopus Pure 3D, and eventually the next 3dfx chip.

The v2200 chip doesn't yet run ICR2-3D...We'll have to wait for a fix. =( Cheers! Marc

This is an intriguing idea. Have you actually tried this? Any problems? Does Win95 work? How about DirectX? Which version of DirectX are you running? Alison

Oops! I was misinformed. I thought the box at the store said it used the 3dfx, but some research on the Web today shows it's a proprietary chip. Ahhhh! Now here's an idea! I've seen several references to this approach on this newsgroup. Can someone enlighten me on this? How does this work? Do you simply plug Rendition card into the pass-through on the 3dfx card, and plug the monitor into the 3dfx? Does the 2D stuff get done by the Verite card? Will DOS sims such as ICR2 find the Rendition card? How do Win95 and DirectX handle this? Has anyone had problems with this approach? If this works, I could get a Verite 1000 now, as the prices are falling, and put in a 3dfx card like the new Canopus Pure 3D later. I'd have the best of both worlds - Rendition-enhanced ICR2 *and* 3dfx for stuff like Ubisoft F1 and X-car. *If* it works. Seems like a big "if"! Alison

<snip> Yes, that's exactly how it works!! Yes, my 3dblaster (V1000) runs the accel. versions of ICR2 & N2, and my Monster3d kicks in to run Direct3d apps. How do Win95 and I always boot out to dos to run both sims, but i've had no problems running any DirectX software. In fact, the Motoracer demo really rocks along!! I even got my ECCI w/p set to run in W95 using the adaptor.!! Definately no if's or but's. It work's a treat. !! Happy lappin' Phil " Don't look back, they may be gaining on you. "

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> >I've heard of people who have three (even four?) cards in their system. So > >you actually *can* have a 3dfx, and a Verite in your system simultaneously. > >Or so I've been told. > Ahhhh! Now here's an idea! I've seen several references to this > approach on this newsgroup. > Can someone enlighten me on this? How does this work? Do you simply > plug Rendition card into the pass-through on the 3dfx card, and plug the > monitor into the 3dfx? Does the 2D stuff get done by the Verite card? > Will DOS sims such as ICR2 find the Rendition card? How do Win95 and > DirectX handle this? Has anyone had problems with this approach? > Alison

Yup, it works great. I have a Sierra Screamin'3D Rendition card and a Monster 3D from Diamond. They operate fine and the drivers never seem to conflict. The Monster 3D usually does the Direct 3D stuff, but there are exceptions to this rule in games where you are given a choice to use either card you prefer (ex: Mechwarrior2 Mercenaries). If you have the money, this is the way to go. -- Matt & Audrey Lewis

Thanks for enlightening me Marc..... Take it easy!