Need suggestions on a video card. (somewhat long)

Okay, I know everyone is getting tired of answering questions about video cards. And for every pro-thriller user out there, there is one for the Voodoo2 cards. Let me tell you where I am coming from. My current system is a PII 233/64meg Memory/Viper 330 4meg. Love it! Viper 330 does just as good (give or take a few frames) as a Voodoo2 8meg on most D3D games. But, I do have an issue with the Viper card that shows up on one of the programs that my wife uses. Big problem! The other problem is with the line of Papyrus games. They are all Rendition and/or 3dfx. Once you see N2 (or others in Rendition) you gotta have it. So, I fixed that problem. I bought a cheap Rendition V1000 card. Works great for N2/NR1999, and a little better then the software support for GPL (I wasn't expecting much). It doesn't work nearly as well in D3D games. Example: Motocross Madeness - 25-40 fps using the Viper 330 / 10-20 fps using the Canopus card. Here are somethings I like and dislike: Thriller 8meg with video in/out is a major + with my wife. Would also work great with the Papyrus games. I haven't heard anything about a predicessor to it and that concerns me. It seems like the TNT based cards and 3dfx is running away with the 3D industry. I don't want to get a thriller card if a TNT will run N3 as good or better. As it sits right know, I don't see how Papyrus can ignore the TNT, infact the haven't. They released a Open GL patch (beta) for GPL quicker then they (or whoever) did with a 3Dfx patch for N2. My heart says get a Thriller 3D, solve your problems now. My mind says get a TNT and then later get a Voodoo2 card, plan for the future. Then my mind says, but the Thriller has video in! Then the evil side of me says a few thing about the Video card industry that I don't care to repeat and generaly wishes they would come up with a standard. I lean more towards the TNT (due to the fact that I have a Viper 330 4meg and have seen its performance), but I would like to get a card that has video in. Is there a TNT card with video in/out out there that I am not aware of? I am also interested in other opinions. Oh! Here is a short list of the games I play (Will give you an idea as to what I am looking for) - N2 / NR1999 - Motocross Madness - Rainbow 6 - Madden 98 - NHL 98 - NFL blitz - Would like to play GPL Thanks for the input. Thad

You can get the Thriller 8mb for $90. I just installed mine 2 days ago. Greatest purchase I ever made. IRC2 works in rendition mode and NHL 98 and 99 is awesome. Of course I was coming from a Trident 1mb card.

I have both the Thriller 8 mb AND an STB Voodoo 2. It's a little more money but your bases are completely covered for the foreseeable future. The Thriller beats the Voodoo 2 slightly in fps in GPL and at a higher resolution on my system (AMD K-6 300 64mb). Awesome combination! Doug

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>Okay, I know everyone is getting tired of answering questions about video >cards. And for every pro-thriller user out there, there is one for the >Voodoo2 cards. Let me tell you where I am coming from. My current system >is a PII 233/64meg Memory/Viper 330 4meg. Love it! Viper 330 does just as >good (give or take a few frames) as a Voodoo2 8meg on most D3D games. But, >I do have an issue with the Viper card that shows up on one of the programs >that my wife uses. Big problem! The other problem is with the line of >Papyrus games. They are all Rendition and/or 3dfx. Once you see N2 (or >others in Rendition) you gotta have it. So, I fixed that problem. I bought >a cheap Rendition V1000 card. Works great for N2/NR1999, and a little >better then the software support for GPL (I wasn't expecting much). It >doesn't work nearly as well in D3D games. Example: Motocross Madeness - >25-40 fps using the Viper 330 / 10-20 fps using the Canopus card. >Here are somethings I like and dislike: >Thriller 8meg with video in/out is a major + with my wife. Would also work >great with the Papyrus games. I haven't heard anything about a predicessor >to it and that concerns me. It seems like the TNT based cards and 3dfx is >running away with the 3D industry. I don't want to get a thriller card if

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>TNT will run N3 as good or better. As it sits right know, I don't see how >Papyrus can ignore the TNT, infact the haven't. They released a Open GL >patch (beta) for GPL quicker then they (or whoever) did with a 3Dfx patch >for N2. >My heart says get a Thriller 3D, solve your problems now. My mind says get >a TNT and then later get a Voodoo2 card, plan for the future. Then my mind >says, but the Thriller has video in! Then the evil side of me says a few >thing about the Video card industry that I don't care to repeat and

generaly

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>wishes they would come up with a standard. >I lean more towards the TNT (due to the fact that I have a Viper 330 4meg >and have seen its performance), but I would like to get a card that has >video in. Is there a TNT card with video in/out out there that I am not >aware of? I am also interested in other opinions. >Oh! Here is a short list of the games I play (Will give you an idea as to >what I am looking for) >- N2 / NR1999 >- Motocross Madness >- Rainbow 6 >- Madden 98 >- NHL 98 >- NFL blitz >- Would like to play GPL >Thanks for the input. >Thad

>I lean more towards the TNT (due to the fact that I have a Viper 330 4meg >and have seen its performance), but I would like to get a card that has >video in. Is there a TNT card with video in/out out there that I am not >aware of? I am also interested in other opinions. The Canopus Spectra 2500 has a TV output. Of course, it's several more $'s than most other TNT cards. I'm not aware of any TNT-based cards that have a TV input. BTW - I'm by far in the minority, but I had a 8MB Thriller and dumped it. It was fabulous for GPL, but (IMO) absolutely aweful for everything else. Then again, I've owned a Matrox Millenium for years. I've been told I was spoiled by that card. -Bill -- Bill Mette | "A person is smart. People are dumb." MCSNet, Chicago | - K MiB

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> >I lean more towards the TNT (due to the fact that I have a Viper 330 4meg > >and have seen its performance), but I would like to get a card that has > >video in. Is there a TNT card with video in/out out there that I am not > >aware of? I am also interested in other opinions. > The Canopus Spectra 2500 has a TV output. Of course, it's several more > $'s than most other TNT cards. I'm not aware of any TNT-based cards that > have a TV input. > BTW - I'm by far in the minority, but I had a 8MB Thriller and dumped > it. It was fabulous for GPL, but (IMO) absolutely aweful for everything > else. Then again, I've owned a Matrox Millenium for years. I've been > told I was spoiled by that card.

Asus 3400 with Tv in/out is very good. Check out review from Tom's Hardware. - Ken

If I were you I would wait a few more months.. Somewhere between March and June the Voodoo3 will be coming out for both AGP and PCI boards. It will be by far the fastest 2d/3d card on the market and you will get support for Glide, OpenGL and D3D. You can't go wrong. And if you want a choice. Nvidia will be releasing the successor to TNT around the same time. Cowen Wilson

Just wanted to say thanks for the input. Every little bit will help. Thanks Thad

>If I were you I would wait a few more months.. Somewhere between March and >June the Voodoo3 will be coming out for both AGP and PCI boards. It will be >by far the fastest 2d/3d card on the market and you will get support for >Glide, OpenGL and D3D. You can't go wrong. And if you want a choice. >Nvidia will be releasing the successor to TNT around the same time. Actually there's no telling what's going to happen in that time. STB will be the ONLY manufacturer making Voodoo3 cards according to 3Dfx (now that they bought STB), so without competition, I doubt prices'll drop anytime soon. Remember how much V2 cards cost at first? I agree that it WILL be the fastest card out (till NVidia gets their new chip out the door), but for some it probably won't be worth the initially high price. I'd recommend buying a used V1 or Banshee now and waiting for V3's to drop after NVidia's comes out. "Gunner" ORSA #78 Navy Dodge

April 1st release, heh? Well let's hope so. >Ebworld is already listing the Voodoo3 3000 for $180 and to be released >april/1/99 so looks like competition from other card makers will have an >effect on the pricing.

Word has it that the V3 will not be OEM'd out like previous versions. 3dfx will have a card, which it will sell to computer manufacturers, and one other company will have a version of it. I hope the person who told me this is wrong, for if he's right, we won't see Diamond, Creative, etc... versions of the V3 and the prices will go up from lack of competition. -Larry

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> If I were you I would wait a few more months.. Somewhere between March and > June the Voodoo3 will be coming out for both AGP and PCI boards. It will be > by far the fastest 2d/3d card on the market and you will get support for > Glide, OpenGL and D3D. You can't go wrong. And if you want a choice. > Nvidia will be releasing the successor to TNT around the same time. > Cowen Wilson

Well, I guess I'm not the only one who has been told this, then :) Or is that :( -Larry > Actually there's no telling what's going to happen in that time. STB > will be the ONLY manufacturer making Voodoo3 cards according to 3Dfx (now > that they bought STB), so without competition, I doubt prices'll drop > anytime soon.

Not if they don't sell them... April is an _awfully_ long way away to advertise a card, much less a price. -Larry > Ebworld is already listing the Voodoo3 3000 for $180 and to be released > april/1/99 so looks like competition from other card makers will have an > effect on the pricing.