Is a good choice? How much slower than a Voodoo2?
Surprisingly, there is very little difference. However, there are some
screen corruption problems with the banshee which have made comprehensive
testing impossible. Latest CL BIOS and drivers have not fixed this. There
was an (unsubstantiated) report here that the Banshee was actually quicker
in GPL but this would be so only if you don't disable vsync. If you want to
go the Banshee route, make sure that you can return the card in case you
have problems getting GPL to run properly.
Finally, if you haven't already and if you are running a lower-powered
system, you should think about a Rendition card. I haven't been able to
source one here in the UK so I can't be absolutelycertain but the general
view seems to be that on anything less than a P2 300 GPL will run better
with the Rendition than with a 3dfx-based card.
I hope that this helps you.
John
>Is a good choice? How much slower than a Voodoo2?
Stefano
I've now completed more testing. Although the banshee SEEMS to have a
similar frame rate when, for example, sitting on the grid waiting for the
start flag (in fact, in my test 24ish compared to 23ish with my SLI setup)
once in a race while both run happily in the mid-30s it's noticeable that
circumstances which force the banshee back to mid-20s do not have the same
effect on the Voodoo 2s, which are more able to maintain their frame rate
irrespective. This may be a function of the SLI setup and may not be so
noticeable if you were using only one Voodoo2. All tests at 1024x768,
graphics all on, detail at 59% 19 opponents, 4 sounds. Conclusion? If
money's an issue the Banshee makes sense (if you can get it to work with
GPL!) Otherwise stick to Voodoo 2s, but if your system is less powerful
think about the Rendition cards.
