3D graphic card for sim...

Hi! I have currently a Diamond Stealth 64 2000series with 4Mb VRAM. I need to purchase a 3D graphic card but have no idea of which one I should get. I have my sight on 2 cards, Nitro 3D and the Matrox Mystique. Which one should I get? I also need enlightenment on 3D and 3Dfx. If I have a 3D card, do I still need to buy a 3Dfx card???

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> Hi! I have currently a Diamond Stealth 64 2000series with 4Mb VRAM. I > need to purchase a 3D graphic card but have no idea of which one I > should get. > I have my sight on 2 cards, Nitro 3D and the Matrox Mystique. Which > one > should I get? > I also need enlightenment on 3D and 3Dfx. If I have a 3D card, do I > still need to buy a 3Dfx card???

Tom, I know it's a bit confusing out there in video card land. The Diamond 4meg card you have is not a bad card. That said, you need a _3dfx_ card to use as an add-on card. You have to remember that a manufacturer can call their card anything they want, stay away from Mystique, I would not want one in the same building as my computer. Here is a perfect example, Matrox has a lot of money to spend on advertising and the like and as a result sold alot of Mystique cards. They are not bad 2D cards but it is a crime to call one a 3D card. I'm not going to go into all the good stuff about the 3dfx cards other than to say thay any one of them will may you very happy. All the best, Mike Davis

>BTW, I own the Stealth 2 and have owned a Voodoo (3dfx) card. There si >nothing wrong with the Voodoo, but for the money the Stealth 2 is your only >choice. Care to qualify that bold statement with some reasons? More software has native support for 3dFX than any other card available just now, and the Stealth2 runs D3D stuff at only the same speed as 3dFX (or slightly better, depending upon the benchmarks you look at). Given that, and the fact that with 3dFX you needn't replace your current card, why is the Stealth 2 "your only choice"? Cheers! John

So, I would have to keep my current diamond stealth 2000 and install the new 3dfx card. How hard is this concerning setup and win95? It seems like this would confuse not only me but my computer. Thanks for the help

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> >Hi! I have currently a Diamond Stealth 64 2000series with 4Mb VRAM. I > >need to purchase a 3D graphic card but have no idea of which one I > >should get. > >I have my sight on 2 cards, Nitro 3D and the Matrox Mystique. Which > one > >should I get? > >I also need enlightenment on 3D and 3Dfx. If I have a 3D card, do I > >still need to buy a 3Dfx card??? > I think 3Dfx is the chipset & game publishers use 3Dfx proprietary > calls. One of the *famous* 3Dfx based 3D card is Diamond Monster3D (I > think a/b $180 street these days); it coexists w/your favorite 2D > cards. How it works is that it will forward *any* 3Dfx calss to the > card. I know they are coming out w/a hybrid 2D/3Dfx card based on a > new chipset so that one doesn't need two cards; one for 2D & one for > 3Dfx. > I think if it *doesn't* say 3Dfx on the box it is using other chipset; > you shouldn't be able to take advantage of games written to utilize > the3Dfx. > Also, I've been told & it's also on the box that your mb has to have > PCI v2.1 for the Monster3D card. Now, I don't know if versions > (firmware?) of the PCI bus is s/w (flash) upgradable ... > I'm pretty sure other gurus will be able to answer your question. > Also, you will get detailed answers by posting these video h/w related

-- Thank you Marc Johnson

i would say go with the 3dfx for sure. the most games, the best support and awesome results. Steve

installing the 3dfx card (i have a orchid righteous) i did alot of reading and the orchid is better than the monster, though both pretty much the same, buy the cheaper, any ways , back to where i was, installing it takes the time to open your computer pop the card into a slot beside your current 2d card, put the cover of your computer back on and plug the 2 together from the out side by putting your monitor into your 3d card then the 3d card and 2d card plug in together. turn your computer back on, put in the disk whan it automatically asks you, and your playing with awesome 3dfx power right away. it very very easy and ver y fast and once again, very simple. Steve

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> So, I would have to keep my current diamond stealth 2000 and install the > new 3dfx card. How hard is this concerning setup and win95? It seems > like this would confuse not only me but my computer. Thanks for the > help > > >Hi! I have currently a Diamond Stealth 64 2000series with 4Mb VRAM. I > > >need to purchase a 3D graphic card but have no idea of which one I > > >should get. > > >I have my sight on 2 cards, Nitro 3D and the Matrox Mystique. Which > > one > > >should I get? > > >I also need enlightenment on 3D and 3Dfx. If I have a 3D card, do I > > >still need to buy a 3Dfx card??? > > I think 3Dfx is the chipset & game publishers use 3Dfx proprietary > > calls. One of the *famous* 3Dfx based 3D card is Diamond Monster3D (I > > think a/b $180 street these days); it coexists w/your favorite 2D > > cards. How it works is that it will forward *any* 3Dfx calss to the > > card. I know they are coming out w/a hybrid 2D/3Dfx card based on a > > new chipset so that one doesn't need two cards; one for 2D & one for > > 3Dfx. > > I think if it *doesn't* say 3Dfx on the box it is using other chipset; > > you shouldn't be able to take advantage of games written to utilize > > the3Dfx. > > Also, I've been told & it's also on the box that your mb has to have > > PCI v2.1 for the Monster3D card. Now, I don't know if versions > > (firmware?) of the PCI bus is s/w (flash) upgradable ... > > I'm pretty sure other gurus will be able to answer your question. > > Also, you will get detailed answers by posting these video h/w related > -- > Thank you > Marc Johnson

You already have the diamond stealth 2000 w/ drivers setup corectly. Those will remain intact. Install the diamond monster 3d into an empty PCI slot. A pass-thru cable with the monster 3d package gets installed to the other video card. Everything still works the same, until... You start a 3dfx game that utilizes a 3dfx specific EXE. The 3dfx EXE calls for the 3dfx card to enable and provide the gfx support. When your game finishes and you exit, the 3dfx card goes inactive and you're back to straight 2d mode, automatically.

Ok ok, so what do I do now? Let's say I purchase a Diamond Monster 3D(Thanks folks!), do I take out my Diamond Stealth 64 card and plug in the new one? HelP!!!

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> >So, I would have to keep my current diamond stealth 2000 and install the > >new 3dfx card. How hard is this concerning setup and win95? It seems > >like this would confuse not only me but my computer. Thanks for the > >help > You already have the diamond stealth 2000 w/ drivers setup corectly. > Those will remain intact. Install the diamond monster 3d into an empty > PCI slot. A pass-thru cable with the monster 3d package gets installed > to the other video card. Everything still works the same, until... > You start a 3dfx game that utilizes a 3dfx specific EXE. The 3dfx EXE > calls for the 3dfx card to enable and provide the gfx support. When > your game finishes and you exit, the 3dfx card goes inactive and > you're back to straight 2d mode, automatically.

plug the new card into a new slot and leave the old one where it is. your monitor now plugs into the new card and u connect both your cards from the outside of your computer with a vid cable (comes with monster). now you run soft ware that comes with new card and your done.

The 3Dfx card *is* a 3D card. hence the name *3D*fx. Get the Matrox and a 3Dfx card. www.3dfx.com -- <<Phoenix>> >Hi! I have currently a Diamond Stealth 64 2000series with 4Mb VRAM. I >need to purchase a 3D graphic card but have no idea of which one I >should get. >I have my sight on 2 cards, Nitro 3D and the Matrox Mystique. Which one >should I get? >I also need enlightenment on 3D and 3Dfx. If I have a 3D card, do I >still need to buy a 3Dfx card???