CHEEP 3D Cards, Which One???

Hi all, I am going to buy a 3D card in the next week for my p200mmx clone, the question is ...if I get a 2 or 4 Meg Diamond Stealth,Monster Matrix or Virge s3 will it give me the improvement in display I am looking for...or do I have to fork out for a 3DFX card?? I mostly want it for playing TOCA, NASCAR2 F1GP2 etc. I have been quoted $100-$140 for the card by a couple of dealers. BTW any offers most welcome!

If you want good 3D performance then getting a 3D only card (eg. 3DFX) is your best shot. But since you're on a budget, then out of the budget range of cards, a low/mid range Diamond Viper/Stealth or a Matrox card (Millennium or Mystique) would be sufficient. The S3 Virge chipset is absolutely ***and not even worth a hundred bucks. If you want the best performance then I guess you'll have to save up for a 3DFX card. Otherwise you'll have to compromise between image quality and performance on low end cards. The area of which graphics card to choose is complicated and really depends on a number of factors. If you're still unsure then read reviews of 3D cards. A good site is Tom's Hardware : [link lost in import] or Gamepot's The Ultimate Game Machine : [link lost in import] Hope this helps. -William Ho

If you are not upgrading to a PII anytime soon, the Voodoo I cards are pretty cheap now, under 100 bucks if you shop around. Monster 3ds with the Voodoo I chips do very well with a system like yours. Hope this helps. -- Regards, Ed Medlin www.edmedlin.netminds.com Columnist, Software Critics Unlimited www.softwarecritic.com >Hi all, >I am going to buy a 3D card in the next week for my p200mmx clone, the >question is ...if I get a 2 or 4 Meg Diamond Stealth,Monster Matrix or Virge >s3 will it give me the improvement in display I am looking for...or do I >have to fork out for a 3DFX card?? I mostly want it for playing TOCA, >NASCAR2 F1GP2 etc. >I have been quoted $100-$140 for the card by a couple of dealers. >BTW any offers most welcome!

A CHEEP 3D card ? I guess you'll be buying that on budgie then? :-) arf, arf. -- Ian Rae, Motorola GSM Products Division, | Tel: +44 1793 565159 16 Euro Way, Blagrove, Swindon, England, SN5 8YQ.| Fax: +44 1793 541228

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> I am going to buy a 3D card in the next week for my p200mmx clone, the > question is ...if I get a 2 or 4 Meg Diamond Stealth,Monster Matrix or Virge > s3 will it give me the improvement in display I am looking for...or do I > have to fork out for a 3DFX card?? I mostly want it for playing TOCA, > NASCAR2 F1GP2 etc. > I have been quoted $100-$140 for the card by a couple of dealers. > BTW any offers most welcome!

I would not recommend any card based on the S3 Virge chip set. Although its 2D performance isn't horrible, the 3D performance is. I feel compelled to recommend that you buy a 3DFX card just because of the sheer compatibility with games and its speed. Of course, the 3DFX is only a 3D solution, it will still require your current 2D card to run windows and non 3D accelerated games. With the release of the Voodoo2 chip set, the prices on OEM voodoo1's have gone through the floor. Go to www.pricewatch.com and do a search and you can find them for around $120. Hope this helps. Ken Burns

The Steath II has been great for me

check it out before you buy, you could get a used 3dfx card for under $100 bucks, what with the new voodoo2 boards out everyone is dumping the old ones. That is what I would go with, that way any board you decide to buy in the future it will work with anyway, and won't be wasted money. >Hi all, >I am going to buy a 3D card in the next week for my p200mmx clone, the >question is ...if I get a 2 or 4 Meg Diamond Stealth,Monster Matrix or Virge

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>s3 will it give me the improvement in display I am looking for...or do I >have to fork out for a 3DFX card?? I mostly want it for playing TOCA, >NASCAR2 F1GP2 etc. >I have been quoted $100-$140 for the card by a couple of dealers. >BTW any offers most welcome!

Canopus is selling the Pure3D LX, a 6mg 3DFX card for only $129.00! You can not beat this card for the money, but if that is too much, look into the Monster 3D 3DFX cards. They are 4mg cards? and are going for about $99.00. 3DFX cards will not help you with N2 or GP2, they run off the 2D card, but TOCA will improve quite a bit, and anything you buy in the future will almost surely be written for 3DFX cards. Hope this helps Don

I thought that N2 had a 3dfx patch that allowed the 3dfx cards to run N2 ! they run off the 2D card, Hope this helps

I have got a Tseng Labs ET6000 w/4mb ram, along with a monster 3d. The combination seems to work well - toca looks really good.