nVidia has taken the lead
Mar 10 '00
With the introduction of nVidia's new chipset, Geforce based cards have been able to outmuscle even the fastest 3dfx cards.
In the past, 3dfx was king when 3dfx was the only competitor. Even when nVidia introduced its TNT chipset, 3dfx still ruled the 3D world. With the introduction of the TNT2 chipset, competition become more fierce.
3dfx's strengths lie in its user-friendliness; basically all games will work with a 3dfx card. There may be an occasional patch, but patches will happen for nVidia based chipsets as well. 3dfx's cards are also relatively cheap, but they are also sold ONLY by 3dfx/STB, which means little price competition.
3dfx's weakness lies in its technology: it's OLD! Even the Voodoo3 is based on the Voodoo architecture from a few years ago. This has a texture limitation of 256x256 and 16-bit (22-bit internal) color. 3dfx cards also never sport more than 16MB of RAM at a time, and do not utilize AGP's memory storage capabilities, but instead relying on it's proprietary DME management.
nVidia's strengths lie in its pure speed and features. The GeForce chipset has Hardware and Lighting transformation support, which allows for game developers to make games more realistic without a framerate penalty. nVidia's chipsets also support textures 2048x2048 in size, much great than 3dfx's chipsets. nVidia's chipsets also allow for 32-bit color, which makes a huge difference (especially in sky textures). nVidia's cards also have the capability to utilize AGP 4X slots, as well as coming equipped with 32MB (64MB soon whenever Dell releases their version of the GeForce) of video ram. nVidia also sells only the chipset itself, not the card, so that it can concentrate more on R&D. There are at least three companies selling video cards based on the nVidia chipset which allows for price competition.
nVidia's weaknesses are its strengths. Although the latest nVidia chipset supports H&L tranformation, no games currently supports it. Also, finding a motherboard that supports AGP 4X can be difficult. Intel has been having problems with its chipset that supports AGP 4X, but Athlon users can rejoice since there are _some_ motherboards out there that do support AGP 4X. The prices of nVidia based cards are through the roof, and are among the highest, if not already, in the computer industry. $299.99 for a video card? That's what they've been selling for now.
So now it basically comes down to, which one is better:
That REALLY depends on what your needs are. If you are an average gamer, on a tight budget, and doesn't want the latest bleeding technology card, opt for a 3dfx based Voodoo3 card. They provide excellent support and are very good performers.
If you want top of the line, no holds barred performance, want braggin rights, or you have money to burn, by all means get a GeForce or TNT2 based video card. They have the features and capabilities that outshines 3dfx's old technology.
I hope this helps.
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gimlix2
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