Is a "3D graphics accelerator" the same thing as a 3DFX card?
If "YES, it is..."
Why is it measured in MBs ....what's the difference between a 8MB "3D graphics
accelerator" and a 12MB 3D graphics accelerator??
If "NO, it isn't..."
Will I have problems with compatability between any particular 3D graphics
accelerator and 3dfx card?
Is there any difference between these cards on a P200MMX or a P333MMX??
Thankyou, that's all folx!
Rob
>Is a "3D graphics accelerator" the same thing as a 3DFX card?
No. 3dfx is a company that makes a particular 3D graphics accelerator.
But it wasn't :-)
Video cards use RAM as both a "frame buffer" where the next picture is stored,
and, in the case of these 3d cards, for texture memory, where it can hold a
lot of the textures the game uses. If the game uses more than can be held in
on-card RAM, it has to be transferred from disk, or system RAM, to the card,
which can cause pauses. New games are using more and more textures, so it
makes sense to get more RAM. AGP is supposed to alleviate this somewhat with
faster info transfer from system to video card. But it is better to just have
the extra RAM on-card.
3dfx makes the Voodoo and Banshee chip based cards. It is the only one which
supports their own proprietary API "Glide". If a game says it supports Glide,
it only works with these. If a game says it works with D3D or "most 3D
accelerators", it'll work with virtually any, but with differing results.
Another API is OpenGL used by Quake and similar 3D-shooters. It is supported
by most chips. Bottom line, 3dfx supports all, including its own Glide. All
support D3D. Rendition has their own native API which is supported by a few
titles. If you get a 3dfx card, especially a Voodoo2 12MB, you're covered.
Though the TNT is reportedly as fast, or faster, if you have apretty fast CPU
(the 333 qualifies, the 200MMX doesn't).
Yes. The faster the CPU, the better. Different graphics chips "scale"
differently with CPU power. Some are fine with slower CPU's and get faster
and faster with more powerful CPU's (3dfx voodoo2, especially with two
"SLI'd"). Some top out (verite 2200). Others are lesser performers with slow
CPU's but very fast with fast CPU's (TNT). These examples are all
relativistic, I don't mean to be starting flamewars.
By the way, a P333MMX does not exist, you're meaning Pentium II 333. It's a
whole different CPU than a 200MMX.... Faster than the difference in Mhz
(133) can tell you. Intel does not sell P200MMx anymore anyways.
If you want to be REALLY technical about it, A Pentium II 333 is MMX. All
Pentium IIs include the MMX instruction set.
daxe
