Poll time: 3DFX vs NVidia

[Tiretool]

Cast your vote if you like and please provide intellectual reasoning for your choice and please do not include "because NVidia sucks" or "because 3DFX blows". I want some good informative argumentation.



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tiretool@pcmech.com

[Prader Willi]

I'm going to stick with Nvidia for my next upgrade. Why? the Geforce 2 is just as fast or faster than the Voodoo5, image quality of the Geforce is just as good as the Voodoo except for apparently UT, but the most important reason derives from what others have posted about the size of the Voodoo5. I'm not going to buy a card if it might not fit in my computer case. Why bother with that potential hassle?

[Xayd]

Well, in building my box (albeit before Voodoo5 release) I tested several. Played with an ATI Rage Maxx, a Geforce256, a Voodoo 3000, and a Stealth III.

Stealth III didn't have the speed, and the ATI and Geforce cards were around 300 bucks. The Voodoo matched the speed of the ATI and Geforce cards to the naked eye, and was around 150 bucks. That was my deciding factor, price being an issue for me.

Yes, it has a rough line here and there, but thinking about it, I couldn't make myself say I would notice a rough line when being shot at by other folks http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/wink.gif. Add that to a desire for Linux support, and that's why I went with 3dfx.

Xayd

[Tiretool]

Thanks for the replies... well thought out and intelligent, which is not what I'm used to seeing on the 3dfxgamers.com website.

I'd love to see a bunch of people respond to this thread. I'm interested to see a broad spectrum of opinions!

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tiretool@pcmech.com

[Byte 2.0]

I currently use a 16 meg banshee by creative..Yes I know it is old but it is what I have. I like 3DFX however I hear that they don't lience their product to other companies and that is why NVidia came out with the Gforce series....I believe using Direct Draw instead of 3Dfx's glide...
I like using glide and some of my games look best using glide. However more and more gaming companies are making their products to use Direct Draw for 3D instead of Glide.

If 3DFX has allowed other companies to use Glide the programmer would have continued to program with 3DFX and NVidia would not have the lead that they do now...Just my opinions.... http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/smile.gif

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MY icq number is 1356209
Some people hate computers.
Computer Bash 2000 (http://www.computerbash.com)
Or maybe they took my advise... :)

[giovanni]

Hello,

I think I'll go with 3DFX, and one of my main reasons is compatibility. There has been many issues with the newer Geforce cards and some current motherboards. Another reason is that I get similar or equal performance in games for a lot less and when games resolutions start to climb, the 3dfx cards are more stable and have better frame rates. The current reviews put the Geforce ahead in low resolutions, but when those resolutions start to climb, the 3DFX cards beat the current Geforce cards. An example is the current Voodoo 5 series of cards.

I am talking for my experience only, maybe other people have other opinions.

Just my two cents.

[Byte 2.0]

In the games that I like to play. The graphics seem to look better with my 3DFX voodoo chipset on my banshee then with Direct Draw video card. However I have not see the Gforce series in action. I know my video card is old, however I am not ready to upgrade yet....I can still play everygame on the market that I am interested in playing...
I am wanting to try a Gforce, so I am wanting for a customer to order one, so that I can demo it...

In the past I have offered free installs on certain items I want to try out, if they buy from us...That way I get to play with it for about a day. http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/smile.gif


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byte@pcmech.com

MY icq number is 1356209
Some people hate computers.
Computer Bash 2000 (http://www.computerbash.com)
Or maybe they took my advise... :)

[Xayd]

I noticed the same when I first tested my v3000 on Hexen. Low resolutions were choppy and there were quite a few dropped frames.

At higher resolutions, though, it was smoother than the Geforce256 and the ATI Rage Maxx cards that I tested, however slightly. At 800x600 they were all virutally the same, except for the Geforce "looking" a little sharper.

After cranking the resolutions, though, the Voodoo was the only one that kept up speed wise.

Xayd

[padawan]

I have had the opportunity to see the Voodoo5 5500 and 6000 running, and compare them to a GeForce2 GTS. I personally chose a GeForce, it is faster and cheaper. 3dfx is hyping FSAA, which is truly a great feature, but since I am a first person shooter fan, I don't have time in a game to stop and look for the "jaggies". Nvidia cards take a huge performance hit from the AA, but the Voodoo5 is very capable of maintaining a descent framerate with 2X AA on. I just prefer being able to get 160fps in Quake3 on a GeForce2. Once you start running at 1024x768x32 and above, the FSAA doesn't really matter anymore.

[robo555]

I have a Creative Banshee, for my next upgrade, I'll go for Nividia. Why? Mainly 'cos Nividia actually bothers to make new drivers. I'm using Win2000, and is still waiting for 3Dfx to make the final version of the driver.

Also, the GeForce is pretty much build on a new archititure, while the Voodoo is just the same old Voodoo with more ram.

[theENiGMA]

I started out with a Creative Blaster Voodoo2. At the time, this card was head and shoulders (and maybe even an occasional elbow, depending on your position :P ) above everything else. I still use that card with an ATI Xpert 98 in my traveling game box. In my Athlon I got a Voodoo3 3500TV. I am also very pleased with this card. I have occasionally used GeForce cards a LAN parties and such, and I find them to be just as good as the Voodoo3. The problem is the GeForce2 cards are more expensive. Simply on that basis I will stick with 3dfx for the time being. It's kind of like Atlon vs. Piii: Both are damn awesome, one is just cheaper. One other thing I've noticed, though is that at lower resolutions the Voodoo seems a bit jumpy, but when the speed and resolution increase they get much smoother than the GeForce cards. This is important to me since I have a 19" monitor and run everything in 1024x768. Oh well.
-KEiTH

[theENiGMA]

On a related note, I think you have it backwards...it's 3dfx sucks and Nvidia blows....
http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

[Tiretool]

Oops, my bad. Must have overlooked that in the manual.
http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/tongue.gif

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tiretool@pcmech.com

[Phil B]

Intellectual reasoning? heck, I'm just an old country boy! Never saw a GF card in action, but had a friend that got into UT and upgraded to a v33k, wasn't long before the shooter bug infected me, I was runnin various older matrox and ati cards on my machines. Saw UT run on my friends machine and it looked awesome, after checking for possible compatibility issues with games or my systems (no issues) I upgraded all my machines to v3 = four happy machines & five happy fraggers. Don't care about brand loyalty at all, whoever can come up with a really great upgrade for me will get my vote, and I certainly have not seen reviews of anything to get my attention yet. To put it another way, if you come to play on my lan and you frag my @$$, it won't be because my frame rates were not high enough, more likely, I was just taking a nap.

[theENiGMA]

Well put!!

[figarowa]

For now on the video card scene, i see Nvida with the lead while 3dfx is in a close second..after their first oops with the latest release and having to recall their 5000 series cards, it will take some time but i see 3dfx once again claiming the top spot..but with graphics cards things change every month as which is the latest and greatest..and although i like games, i can't afford keeping ahead of the game..id rather use it for more ram, bigger hd's, new cpu's etc: