I'm not quite a hardware expect, so I wanted to ask what the more
knowledgeable think of the upcoming Voodoo 4 and 5. With GP3 hopefully being
there the first quarter next year I'm quite sure I'll have to upgrade to
either the Voodoo5 pr the GeForce 256.
But what I don't quite understand is what the real new features on the
Voodoo5 are. Could anybody explain? If I've got it right the Voodoo5 doesn't
have a real processor building the 3D models and the GeForce does, is that
right? So if a Voodoo5 6000 to me is more like a very fast Voodoo3 with some
added features, or are these new features really a big difference?
Anyhow if the GeForce256 won't work with GPL I'll have to go for that
Voodoo5.
I know it's future talk but I just want to know what you guys think of this
new card.
AFAIK the most important feature the "new" Voodoo has, is its very high
rendering speed - also 3dfx claims that they've found a solution to enable
full-scene anti-aliasing without a noticable performance hit. The GeForce on
the other side has included hardware Transformation&Lighting support. For
GPL, and any kind of simulation in general - my guess is that the voodoo
cards will be the better choice. Reason? - the first games to take advantage
of T&L will certainly not be sims , whereas the voodoo 4 & 5's T-Buffer will
give you high rendering speeds, consistent framerates and anti-aliasing even
if a game is not specifically written to support the card. It will be glide
compatible, that means best performance in games that are written for glide
(GPL!).
But all of this is somewhat speculation and will almost certainly escalate
in to a full-blown, Graphics-card war during the next months (not again...:)
Remember, those new graphic cards have a incredible, unbelievable, gigantic
and tremendous "fill rate" (means: threads about them fill every
computer-related newsgroup in almost no time ;))
IMO there's no need to rush out and get any ultra expensive next generation
card when you can get a voodoo3 3000 OEM for under 120 $. I have decided to
wait until the prices of the next-gen cards come a long, looong way down ,
and got myself a "outdated" v3 (and I'm actually VERY happy with it).
We have to remember that GPL is more CPU intensive, than Video card
intensive. So your best bet with GPL in the future is a Athlon (or PIIIE),
and a Voodoo 4 or 5, and you'll be running GPL at 36 frames constantly (even
at start of races), so it really will be a moot point soon, all this talk of
which one is better. As it is now, my Athlon 550 and Voodoo3 3000 runs GPL
about as well as I would ever want it to be ran.
Of course, there will be new sims out soon, expect GP3 to be a very hardware
intensive sim, we will have to wait and see which video card is better for
GP3.
