What is the best Video Card for ICR2

I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like there are more to choose from. Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!). THX, marko

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> I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond > for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it > from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like > there are more to choose from. > Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is > this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. > I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 > wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!).

I'm sorry to say you lost out. Big Time. It's not nearly enough to describe a video card as "A 3d Card". The card's chipset it very important. Some are more powerful than others. The Diamond Stealth 2000 cards contain the VERY outdated S3 Virge chip. Not only is the Virge NOT compatable with any of your listed games, it would be way underpowered to give a decent framerate if they did. The biggest issue here is ICR2 vs. NFS2. There is no one 3d card which will accelrate both. Right now, for accelerating Racing games, you have 2 choices: Diamond Stealth II S220: (Notice the diffence, this is NOT a stealth 2000.) Retail Price: About $120. Complete 2d/3d functionality on one card. Uses the Rendition V2100 chip, and is therefore Compatable with "Rendition Ready" Games such as ICR2 and N2. Note that both of these games still require a small TSR Available at www.bjorn3d.com to work. This card will give excellent framerates in 3d accelerated programs. Canopus Pure 3d: Retail Price: $180+s&h (currently available only through mail order due to amazingly high demand). 3d only card, requires an existing 2d card (the Stealth 2000 will do for the 2d funtionality). There are at least 4 other 3DFX chip cards out there, but this one is the best choice with Tv output and 6mb of RAM instead of 4. This card will accelerate NFS2-SE (NFS2 original has no 3d acceleration capability), and soon will accelerate N2 via a special patch currently being written. Will NOT ever support ICR2. Of course, if you can stand CPR, either card will work. GP2 cannot be 3d accelerated by any card. F1RS will work on either card, but slightly better on the Pure3d. Hope This Helps. Kevin This article was posted from <A HREF="http://www.slurp.net/">Slurp Net</A>.

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> I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond > for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it > from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like > there are more to choose from. > Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is > this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. > I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 > wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!). > THX, > marko

here is a good lesson for everyone Mark. You went out, spent your money, then came running to us for help. Next time,,,and this goes for all you Markos out there, come here first...ask us..we'll be glad to help and give you the straight poop. Not some bull by a salesman to move product off his shelves. for racing ICR2 you will need a card with a Rendition Chipset. The older cards are easier to setup but slower. Games like NFS-SE which use Direct 3d can be accelerated by several cards. Here is an important point. the chips which power the video cards are made by a chip manufacturer, then the Video card producers assemble and sell the cards. the Biggest and fastest chipset right now is from 3dfx. Brands that sell the 3dfx chipset include Diamond Monster 3d. Orchid Righteous, Canopus Pure 3d --remember though that these 3dfx cards ONLY do 3d and need another card to provide 2d acceleration for your normal dos and win functions. Several others that sell the 3dfx Rush chipset.(an all in one 2d/3d card) themselves Back to NFS-se. This one isn't compatible with the Rendition games like ICR2 and Nascar2. The only 3d about your Diamond Stealth 2000 is the name on the box. Sorry. a better choice for the ICR2/N2 sims would be a Rendition chipset card. The newest and cheapest is the replacement for your Diamond Stealth. It is the Diamond Stealth II 220. It has 2d and 3d support runs the Rendition chipset...but it not 100% compatible at this time with ICR2 in dos. You will need to hunt around the web for a small program to fix that. Kevin lists a site in his reply. A patch should be out in January that allows 3dfx cards to accelerate the Nascar2 game, but ICR2 is an older product and will probably never see a 3dfx conversion. If you like to race then your choices probably should fall in this order. Sell the Diamond Stealth 2000(Virge S3) buy a Diamond Stealth II 220 and get online help setting it up for ICR2.(Rendition) Then buy a Diamond Monster 3d(3dfx) or wait a few months like March, for the newer version of the 3dfx chipset. Probably be called the Diamond Monster 3d II. Remember there are many manufactuers of Renditon cards, 3dfx cards, etc. Stay away from the new Matrox 3d, the Power VR and your S3virge Stealth. The Matrox and power VR can move Direct 3d fast, but they need a serious CPU to push them and are not directly compatible with "most" of the current crop of racing games. GP2 is not and willnot be 3d accelerated even tho it would probably benefit the most from such a conversion. More questions feel free to ask...and remember, come here first before you yank out your wallet... dave henrie

NFS-SE has no acceleration whatsoever. NFS-IISE has 3D acceleration through 3Dfx's native Glide API. Only a 3Dfx card can run this game in 3D accelerated mode. Just thought I'd clear that up. Marc.

While you were at Diamond's site you should have picked up a Stealth II because it is a Rendition based board, which is what ICR2 and N2 need. You could have got it for the same $$ from Diamond that you paid for your 3d (it's not a 3dfx card either). If you get a stealth II, you will have to check for a patch file to make it work properly with ICR2.

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>I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond >for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it >from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like >there are more to choose from. >Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is >this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. >I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 >wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!). >THX, >marko

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> > I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond > > for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it > > from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like > > there are more to choose from. > > Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is > > this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. > > I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 > > wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!). > I'm sorry to say you lost out. Big Time. > It's not nearly enough to describe a video card as "A 3d Card". The > card's chipset it very important. Some are more powerful than others. > The Diamond Stealth 2000 cards contain the VERY outdated S3 Virge chip. > Not only is the Virge NOT compatable with any of your listed games, it > would be way underpowered to give a decent framerate if they did. > The biggest issue here is ICR2 vs. NFS2. There is no one 3d card which > will accelrate both. Right now, for accelerating Racing games, you have > 2 choices: > Diamond Stealth II S220: (Notice the diffence, this is NOT a stealth > 2000.) Retail Price: About $120. Complete 2d/3d functionality on one > card. Uses the Rendition V2100 chip, and is therefore Compatable with > "Rendition Ready" Games such as ICR2 and N2. Note that both of these > games still require a small TSR Available at www.bjorn3d.com to work. > This card will give excellent framerates in 3d accelerated programs. > Canopus Pure 3d: Retail Price: $180+s&h (currently available only > through mail order due to amazingly high demand). 3d only card, > requires an existing 2d card (the Stealth 2000 will do for the 2d > funtionality). There are at least 4 other 3DFX chip cards out there, but > this one is the best choice with Tv output and 6mb of RAM instead of 4. > This card will accelerate NFS2-SE (NFS2 original has no 3d acceleration > capability), and soon will accelerate N2 via a special patch currently > being written. Will NOT ever support ICR2. > Of course, if you can stand CPR, either card will work. GP2 cannot be > 3d accelerated by any card. F1RS will work on either card, but slightly > better on the Pure3d. > Hope This Helps. > Kevin > This article was posted from <A HREF="http://www.slurp.net/">Slurp Net</A>.

Kevin, Kudos, good post. The only option you didn't mention is that the new Verite 2200 chipset boards are coming out as we speak. I'd check out the Hercules Thriller 3d and the Jazz Multimedia 3d rather than going with the older V2100 chipset. All the best, Mike Davis -- Michael S. Davis Creative Media-Works Computer/Audio/Video Convergence "from Creative minds spring Creative solutions." http://www.creativemedia-works.com

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> > I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond > > for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it > > from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like > > there are more to choose from. > > Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is > > this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. > > I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 > > wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!). > I'm sorry to say you lost out. Big Time. > It's not nearly enough to describe a video card as "A 3d Card". The > card's chipset it very important. Some are more powerful than others. > The Diamond Stealth 2000 cards contain the VERY outdated S3 Virge chip. > Not only is the Virge NOT compatable with any of your listed games, it > would be way underpowered to give a decent framerate if they did. > The biggest issue here is ICR2 vs. NFS2. There is no one 3d card which > will accelrate both. Right now, for accelerating Racing games, you have > 2 choices: > Diamond Stealth II S220: (Notice the diffence, this is NOT a stealth > 2000.) Retail Price: About $120. Complete 2d/3d functionality on one > card. Uses the Rendition V2100 chip, and is therefore Compatable with > "Rendition Ready" Games such as ICR2 and N2. Note that both of these > games still require a small TSR Available at www.bjorn3d.com to work. > This card will give excellent framerates in 3d accelerated programs. > Canopus Pure 3d: Retail Price: $180+s&h (currently available only > through mail order due to amazingly high demand). 3d only card, > requires an existing 2d card (the Stealth 2000 will do for the 2d > funtionality). There are at least 4 other 3DFX chip cards out there, but > this one is the best choice with Tv output and 6mb of RAM instead of 4. > This card will accelerate NFS2-SE (NFS2 original has no 3d acceleration > capability), and soon will accelerate N2 via a special patch currently > being written. Will NOT ever support ICR2. > Of course, if you can stand CPR, either card will work. GP2 cannot be > 3d accelerated by any card. F1RS will work on either card, but slightly > better on the Pure3d. > Hope This Helps. > Kevin > This article was posted from <A HREF="http://www.slurp.net/">Slurp Net</A>.

Kevin, Kudos, good post. The only option you didn't mention is that the new Verite 2200 chipset boards are coming out as we speak. I'd check out the Hercules Thriller 3d and the Jazz Multimedia Outlaw 3d rather than going with the older V2100 chipset. All the best, Mike Davis -- Michael S. Davis Creative Media-Works Computer/Audio/Video Convergence "from Creative minds spring Creative solutions." http://www.creativemedia-works.com

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> > I have ICR2, N2, NFS2 amd F1. I just got a Stealth 3D 2000 from Diamond > > for $95.00 thinking this is a 3D card. (No vendor information, got it > > from a local pc house). I went to Diamond web site and it looks like > > there are more to choose from. > > Please Help me with the definition of both 3DFX and Rendition cards. Is > > this card a 3dfx card or do I need a better one. > > I have a 133 P/B with 96Meg of ram and 8GIG of disk space with a T2 > > wheel. (BIG CART race fan !!). > Diamond Stealth II S220: (Notice the diffence, this is NOT a stealth > 2000.) Retail Price: About $120. Complete 2d/3d functionality on one > card. Uses the Rendition V2100 chip, and is therefore Compatable with > "Rendition Ready" Games such as ICR2 and N2. Note that both of these > games still require a small TSR Available at www.bjorn3d.com to work. > This card will give excellent framerates in 3d accelerated programs.

Thanks for the help. I was able to return the 2000, went and purchased a Diamond Stealth II S220. Now I need to know what patch to get for ICR2 that you are talking about and what I need to do to get rendition. Also, I it looks like N2 is looking at the old S3 chipset when it tries to load. I need help here also. Should I run game in dos mode or Windows ? NFS2 loaded after I changed the resolution to 800 x 600. thx, marko