🚀 go-pugleaf

redonne@mhv.net wrote:
> 
> In <32f23339.1277271499@hplntx.hpl.hp.com>, kychen@hpl.hp.com (Kay-Yut Chen) writes:
> >On 30 Jan 1997 22:30:43 GMT, rolan@ibm.net (Randy Olan) wrote:
> >
> >>Hi,
> >>
> >>I've been reading quite a few articles on 3D graphics
> >>cards lately and of course all the testing is done for
> >>Windows 95.  I'd like to know whether anyone have had
> >>any experience with using any 3D card with OS/2 Warp 4.0.
> >>
> >>I'm particularly interested in getting a S3 based card
> >>using the 3D Virge chip, mainly for the price.  I've
> >>heard the Matrox Millenium and Mystique have good OS/2
> >>drivers, but I haven't heard anything about S3 3D Virge
> >>based cards.
> >>
> >>Any information will be greatly appreciated.
> >>
> >>Thanks,
> >>Randy
> >>
> >
> =========
> 
> I am using the Matrox Mystique with the MGA chipset. I works good and
> Matrox give you great driver support. Matrox is the most recomended brand
> amongst OS2 users because of great support.
> 
> R.D.

If you're looking for a quantitative comparison of the current crop of 3D 
boards, just to find out what the hardware does and how they compare, 
Computer Gaming World did a comparison of several of them in their 
November issue. The comparison is online at this URL:

http://www.zdnet.com/gaming/content/961115/3dwave/3dcards.html

They came to the same conclusion as everyone else I've heard of who have 
made the comparison: The 3Dfx Voodoo is the hottest chip around.

(They also weren't that enthusiastic about the Mystique. Apparently it is 
seriously short in features which are coming to be considered standard like 
bilinear filtering [which prevents chunky-pixellation on texture maps when 
you get too close] and alpha blending [for transparency]. It also came up 
considerably slower than the other boards tested.)

The big problem with the Voodoo is that it was originally designed for use 
in arcade systems, and it doesn't play well with other display chips; if you 
use a board which has the Voodoo on it, you're either all the way in 3D mode 
or you're all the way out of it.

However, all is not lost. 3Dfx has released a new chip which is designed to 
work better with other graphics chips; it is known as the "Voodoo Rush". You 
can read about it at:

http://www.3Dfx.com/products/voodoo_rush.html

Hercules will be bringing out a board very soon which uses the Voodoo Rush, 
called the "Stingray 128". That's the one I've been waiting for.

---------------------

As I was wandering around the Hercules site just now, I spotted this URL:
http://www.hercules.com/support/drivers/term/t643d/
It has drivers for Warp for the "Terminator 3D" board.
The Terminator 3D board uses the S3 Virge. In CGW's tests, the Terminator 
came out middle-of-the-pack.


There are also drivers for the "Dynamite 128" at:
http://www.hercules.com/support/drivers/dynamite/dyn128/default.htm
These drivers are labelled as being optimized for Warp 4.