🚀 go-pugleaf

Jack <jgroll@xpoint.at> wrote in article
<01bc1216$291bcec0$700002c3@ripper>...
> 
> 
> folks,
> I've heard quite often that I should get myself a 3D-graphics card, BUT  
I
> don't know which one to buy:

Same problem I had...  I picked up an ATI 3D Expression 4MB PC2TV card a
few months back, and have been quite satisfied with it.  HOWEVER,  I don't
play a lot of games... what I have tried on it, just smokes though (running
a Pentium 133).  But, like anything else, there are programs out there that
will bogg down with it.  Doesn't seem to matter what you get these days,
you'll always find a way to bung it up. :)  It also have a built in TV
Output, so you can just plug your 'puter right into the back of a VCR, or
TV that accepts SVideo, or Composite video in... Kind of a nice bonus.

> Do the computer games support all cards?

Yes, and no... right now, most of the newest Win95 programs, are written to
support Direct 3D.  This, in a nutshell, does away with the compatibilty
problems, buy just letting the programmers code for Direct 3D, and not have
to worry about which card they're going to directly support.  As a result,
almost ANY game COULD work with ANY card (I say it like that, because as
usual not everyone has done this yet).  There are still some programmers
who are coding for only one specific card.  Now on the flip side, the 2D
Accelerator on most 3D Video cards, WILL work with all software (within the
usual compatibilty-oriented problems :).  But, not all software will take
advantage of your 3D Chipset right now.  DirectX has become fairly common
to most games written over the past few months, as I'm sure Direct 3D will.
 But, who knows.  

> If not, which ones are mostly supported?

Well, ATI and Matrox are becoming quite popular.  However, the 3DFX chipset
is ALSO becoming very popular (on the Monster 3D card, from Diamond if I'm
not mistaken).  It is kind of a nice card, in that it works WITH your
existing video card, until the ATI and the Matrox cards, which are a
complete replacement for them.

 BTW - if this message is jaded, and incoherent, I'm running on far tooo
little sleep, and should've gone to bed hours ago.