Voodoo3 or TNT2? Which is better?

[drizzle]

I guess this will be somewhat opinion based but I'm trying to find out which video card is better, especially for gaming use...

I've looking a prices and really price isn't an issue since both cards are right with each other in price.

[popnfresh]

Depends, what's your system configuration?

[PUN]

sure there is a price diff. You pay about double for TNT2 ultra.

If you have high end PII/III (450+) then i suggest Hurcules TNT2 ultra.

If you have AMD K6-2 or 3, get Voodoo3 2000/3000.

Buying TNT2 non ultra is just throwing your money away...just gives you 32bit rendering and its slow compare to ultra and v3.
(I own a CL TNT2 32mb and V3 2000 and i like V3 alot)
You can purchase CL TNT2 32mb for 99 bucks now

[drizzle]

popnfresh...my system configuration is as follows:

K6-2 400
128MB PC100
TekRam P5 MVP-A4 Motherboard
TekRam PCI SCSI Controller
32x SCSI CD-ROM
6.4GB SCSI HDD
Diamond MX-300 Sound

from looking at benchmarks on various review sites...the ultra actually doesn't perform THAT much better than the 'non-ultra' TNT2 card.

[This message has been edited by drizzle (edited 08-02-99).]

[Spacetop]

As far as I know TNT2 does not support native Glide, and since majority of the games are written for Glide, you're frelled in most cases with the TNT2... Please correct me if I'm wrong...

Spacetop

[AuraEdge]

..Majority?
There may be a dozen games that are written for glide and not OpenGL. And most of these dozen are old games that u can use a glide wrapper on a TNT and run about the speed of a voodoo1 (maybe a voodoo2 on a TNT2..i never tried it) and it would be enough speed to make it playable.
Im still not sure how the Socket 7/AMD compatability with the TNT2 is but i heard its gotten alot better where its not much of an issue anymore. Im not sure tho. If these issue are fixed now, then id say go get a Vanilla TNT2 over a Voodoo3 3000

[PUN]

If you have AMD u dont want to get TNT2 ultra or any TNTs... Not only they will perform MUCH MUCH slower than voodoo3 but there will be a compatibility problem with the Socket7 motherboard

[U-96]

Bah!
I've given up with my video card a Pine (SIS) 6326 (ya get what ya pay for)
Some games just don't like it in hardware acceleration mode - in fact the only one that seems to like it (that I have) is Israeli Air Force and even then I get purple ground explosions!
I think it must have problems with the alpha stuff like fogging and transparency, because in Total Air War it maps the landscape fine with blending/gourard whatever, but as soon as anything else happens - fire missile, outside view, lens flare it locks up.
In European Air War it maps the terrain fine, and it looks great, but I get solid purple propellers and cockpit (i.e. wrong colour and not transparent) and green tracer fire and explosions (funky!), oh and the sun and lens flare is dark blue!

I got XCOM Interceptor for £10 in PC World and it is great! Guess what? It locks up in hardware mode! Surprise surprise.

Ok I tried all the normal stuff - patching the games, getting the latest video drivers (both manufacturer AND chipset ones) and DirectX6.1. I even tried disabling power management because I read that could affect it. Absolutely no improvement. I can only guess that my card isnt supported by these games (sigh!). Which sucks, so I'm probably getting a Voodoo3 2000 AGP for £100 (more sigh!). I am a slave to my Visa card.

I base this decision on the number of posts there AREN'T about how ****/ incompatible/useless Voodoo cards are. Like Drizzle I'm looking primarily for gaming use, and as I already have a large catalogue of older games, Voodoo3 IMO stood the greatest chance of working.

Thoughts, comment, suggestions for use for a spare (****) AGP card welcome!


U-96

"Hello, XXXXXX Group Support, how can I help?"
"My video card is having problems"
"Have you got DirectX6.1 and the latest drivers from our website?"
"Your Tech Support mind-tricks won't work on me, young man!"
"Hmmmm sorry we can't help."
<Hangs up phone before Tech Support mind-tricks DO work>

[popnfresh]

Yeah, id get a v3 2000 if I were you drizzle. Get the 3000 only if you like the games. The 2000 is easier to overclock than the 3000. I only have my 3000 at 175 http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif Ive seen people with the 2000 go up to 180. Dont make the same mistake I did in getting the 3000.

[AuraEdge]

ibve heard that the voodoo3's are all different, where even if u have a V3 2000 clocked higher than a V3 3000, the 3000 still preforms better. Not sure how this is but this is what ive heard

[RobRich]

Aura, that is sort of true. The v3 2000 uses a 300mhz RAMDAC, which is actually what translates the digital video feed from the chipset into information that your monitor can understand and display. The v3 3000 and 3500 use a 350mhz RAMDAC, thus giving you a little more bandwidth. This is most apparent in 2d at high resolutions on large monitors. A higher speed RAMDAC will produce finer and more defined graphics at high resolutions. With 3d, the problem lessens to some extent, though some people can still tell a difference; sort of like the 32bit vs. 22bit debate. As for 3d benchmarking, a v2 2000 clocked the same as a v3 3000 should score almost indentically with the same system.

[fucker]

The Banshee clobbers the voodoo 3 down ere in Oz. What are ya on about?

Isn't TNT used in blowin up stuff.

mate from down under.

We don't call them shrimps, we call em prawns. A shrimp is a description for certain yanks genitals. No wonder we laugh at you when you come over here and say
PUT ANOTHER SHRIMP ON THE BARBI.

PS a barbi is a plastic doll last time I checked and thanks for banning our lamb, maybe we should ban Coka Cola.

[Dan Karpas]

I don't know what other people say but I can tell you that in a month and a half I went from tnt to v3 3000 to tnt2 and the tnt2 is amazing you can't belive the differnce.
I know that for the next year I'm not going to replace my TnT 2 !!!!!!

[AuraEdge]

See here guys? An unbiased opinion, since hes owned both cards. THIS is the kinda opinion I like when i go to choose between things - Someone whos had experience with both products and can gave a comparason.
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[WhoKnowsWho]

Heck, AuraEdge, I've had both too. Had the V3 2000 for a week before the Xentor TNT2 came out, it was just a placeholder http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif I enjoyed the V3, it actually did have better color and such than a regular V2, but boy was I glad when I had my TNT2 and the Quake3 Test. I watched my friend with his V3 still (he has a TNT2 now though) play Q3 in all it's ugliness with that card. Yes, the drivers were a main concern of that, but 3dfx has yet to remedy it, and probably won't because of the limitations of Glide. The loss of Glide was nothing to me when I got my TNT2, even Unreal runs good in Direct3d now!