Best Voodoo II board ?

Looking for a bit of advice.... I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and would like to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper (2d/3d Riva128) Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards either a Diamond or Creative Labs 12 meg, Voodoo II based card as I've heard these two companies have the best support/drivers/etc.... Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg Voodoo II's on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo III, anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for? Thank you in advance for the advice, and have a Safe and Happy New Years! Jay J

I just got a 12MB Creative Voodoo2. It runs F1RS and NR1999-3dfx just great. Both run smooth as glass. But you need a good CPU to get the best out of the Voodoo2. If you don't have a fast P2 it may not be worth getting a Voodoo2. Just something to keep in mind. And yes the current limit for Voodoo2's is 12MB. -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com >Looking for a bit of advice.... >I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and would like >to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper (2d/3d >Riva128) >Any suggestions? >I'm leaning towards either a Diamond or Creative Labs 12 meg, Voodoo II >based card as I've heard these two companies have the best >support/drivers/etc.... >Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg Voodoo II's >on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo III, >anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for? >Thank you in advance for the advice, and have a Safe and Happy New Years! >Jay J

My advise would be to get the cheapest V2 card you can, and just run with the reference drivers from 3dfx.

Hi, yes there is a voodoo III coming in 1999... also there is a direct3d card (don't remember the name.. I'm at work) coming in 1999, wich is gonna make a new definition to 3d ***. I've read the specs and it is truly amasing... I would consider waiting a bit more if I was you.... Sorry for the sort of incomplete information... I'll post a new message when I get more facts... Marius.

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>Looking for a bit of advice.... >I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and would like >to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper (2d/3d >Riva128) >Any suggestions? >I'm leaning towards either a Diamond or Creative Labs 12 meg, Voodoo II >based card as I've heard these two companies have the best >support/drivers/etc.... >Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg Voodoo II's >on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo III, >anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for? >Thank you in advance for the advice, and have a Safe and Happy New Years! >Jay J

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>Looking for a bit of advice.... >I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and would like >to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper (2d/3d >Riva128) >Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg Voodoo II's >on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo III, >anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for?

There's also the option (if you got the cash) of the new Dual Voodoo2 cards. They're 24MB (12MB per "card") and they'll save you a slot. Problem is they're around $275US. The Voodoo3 is due out in "early" 1999. It's supposed to almost double the V2 (which is supposedly double the rendering ability of the V1). If you CAN wait, I would, but your wait is likely to be around 6 months long by the time the industry settles down (I wouldn't forget the Voodoo Rush fiasco). Right now the main companies are getting to play leapfrog and we'll all be the winners. "Gunner"

Canopus makes best cards of any kind of cards...but you also are paying for the best. The rest are basically the same as the each other.

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> Looking for a bit of advice.... > I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and would like > to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper (2d/3d > Riva128) > Any suggestions? > I'm leaning towards either a Diamond or Creative Labs 12 meg, Voodoo II > based card as I've heard these two companies have the best > support/drivers/etc.... > Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg Voodoo II's > on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo III, > anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for? > Thank you in advance for the advice, and have a Safe and Happy New Years! > Jay J

-- Jon Van Ginneken "I wrestled with an alligator, tussled with a whale, handcuffed lightning, threw thunder in jail...I'm a bad dude." - Muhammad Ali

Thank's Greg (and all who responded) I'm running a PII 266 with 64 Meg of SDRAM (10ns) currently with my Riva128 I'm able to run most games fine, but I'd like to be able to run N2 with the 3dfx patch, and a few others.... BTW Does anyone know if ICR2/CART Racing has a 3dfx patch? Thank you again! Jay J

voodoo II from diamond only. With its dual chip buffering you cant beat that. No others have it. The others overclock(read heat up) their 1 chip to get the frame rates... Now with 3dfx buying STB they will not allow Diamond or Banshee or Creative use the Voodoo III technology. It could kill 3dfx in the future for another chip that everyone can use..

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>Looking for a bit of advice.... >I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and would like >to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper (2d/3d >Riva128) >Any suggestions? >I'm leaning towards either a Diamond or Creative Labs 12 meg, Voodoo II >based card as I've heard these two companies have the best >support/drivers/etc.... >Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg Voodoo II's >on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo III, >anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for? >Thank you in advance for the advice, and have a Safe and Happy New Years! >Jay J

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> Looking for a bit of advice.... > I received a few gift certificates to CompUSA for Christmas, and > would like > to buy a 3DFX based video card to piggy-back to my PCI 4meg Viper > (2d/3d > Riva128) > Any suggestions? > I'm leaning towards either a Diamond or Creative Labs 12 meg, > Voodoo II > based card as I've heard these two companies have the best > support/drivers/etc.... > Also, is 12 meg's the limit? or are there any 16 meg or 24 meg > Voodoo II's > on the market..... One more thing.... I've heard rumors of a Voodoo > III, > anyone else heard any scoop on this, is it worth waiting for?

All the Voodoo2 3Dfx based graphics cards use the exact same chipset and have the exact same spec (well we wouldn't notice any minor differences anyway?). So why go for the two most expensive V2 boards? Check out the Techworks 12Mb V2 board, and the Maxi Gamer 12Mb V2 board, both generally come with no games, but are also far cheaper than the two boards you mention. All 3Dfx V2 boards can use *any* 3Dfx V2 drivers (Creative, Diamond, 3Dfx reference, etc) so you can use any of the manufacturers support websites and drivers, but buy the cheapest you can find, which is usually the Techworks or Maxigamer? 8-) *Peter* #:-)

I have a Black Magic (STB) Voodoo 2 because I got a really good deal on it. If I were to do it all over, I would spend the extra money and get the Obsidian X24 (basically 2 12mb running in SLI mode but only taking one slot!). This card also has TVout (and I think TVin). jp John Parker Route 66 Racing (R66R) Team "JP-Bogart" on TEN/Nascar Racing Online Series Sponsored by: Digital Edge (Indy/F1 SIM) Racing Wheels Digital Edge Web Site: http://www.indysim.com/

>than the two boards you mention. All 3Dfx V2 boards can use *any* 3Dfx >V2 drivers (Creative, Diamond, 3Dfx reference, etc) so you can use any >of the manufacturers support websites and drivers, but buy the >cheapest you can find, which is usually the Techworks or Maxigamer? Best Data (www.bestdata.com) also has good deals. Bought the ol' lady an Arcade/FX (V1) board for what's SUPPOSED to be a net cost of $19.99 at Fry's. BTW, any card with TV out (don't know of ANY Voodoo cards with TV *IN*) should NOT use reference drivers or you'll lose the TV out capability. For THAT REASON ALONE you should pick your manufacturer of TV out cards carefully: if they go away so will your driver support. "Gunner"

On Wed, 30 Dec 1998 15:35:04 -0600, "John Parker" >I have a Black Magic (STB) Voodoo 2 because I got a really good deal on it. >If I were to do it all over, I would spend the extra money and get the >Obsidian X24 (basically 2 12mb running in SLI mode but only taking one >slot!). >This card also has TVout (and I think TVin). No Voodoo2 or Voodoo2 based card has TV-in. -- Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo - - V8Supercars - CART -

I just got a Guillemot Maxi Gamer 3D2, a Voodoo2 reference board clone w/12MB. EZ installation and N2 w/3Dfx patch runs *sweet* on it. And you can find it CHEAP, especially since Guillemot's running a $30 rebate deal until 1/31/99. After I get the rebate check, my 3D2 will cost me less than $100!! BTW, my system's an old P133 upgraded to an AMD K6-2 333 w/48MB of plain ol' DRAM, so my overall system speed's probably somewhere near yours. Grant McLaughlin

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> Thank's Greg (and all who responded) I'm running a PII 266 with 64 Meg of > SDRAM (10ns) currently with my Riva128 I'm able to run most games fine, but > I'd like to be able to run N2 with the 3dfx patch, and a few others.... > BTW Does anyone know if ICR2/CART Racing has a 3dfx patch? > Thank you again! > Jay J