themadchemist
Oct 25, 2003, 12:49 PM
Check this out, from Best Buy's Q&A page. It would be nice if they updated it every, oh, I don't know. 4 or 5 years! Emphasis is mine:
Q:_Does it matter what kind of graphics card I get?
A:_Everyday Applications: When it comes to everyday 2-D graphics performance, even last-generation chips — or the generation before that — do a fine job. Chips such as the ATI Rage Pro, Intel i740, and nVidia Riva 128 are all reasonable choices for basic gaming and everyday computing, as long as they're coupled with at least 8MB RAM to handle lots of colors at high resolutions. Meanwhile, Number Nine's Revolution IV is known among professional users for its reliability and high refresh rates (which translate to lower flicker) at higher resolutions.
Gaming: Gamers will want the latest generation of accelerator chips, which include the 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee and Voodoo3, nVidia Riva TNT and TNT2, ATI Rage 128, Matrox G200 and G400, or S3 Savage and Savage 4. They'll also need at least 16MB RAM to handle large texture files and higher resolutions efficiently. Check out 3D WinBench 99 scores to get a good sense of performance and image quality, but realize that gamers have their own preferences. For instance, 3Dfx's 3-D-only Voodoo2 chip has a strong following despite some last-generation 3-D features, and some games have code written specifically for it. Super game systems will sometimes have the Riva TNT on the graphics card and a Voodoo2-based board (or even two Voodoo2-based boards for enhanced performance) for gaming.
Yes, I want one of these 'super game systems' so that I can play Lode Runner.
Q:_Does it matter what kind of graphics card I get?
A:_Everyday Applications: When it comes to everyday 2-D graphics performance, even last-generation chips — or the generation before that — do a fine job. Chips such as the ATI Rage Pro, Intel i740, and nVidia Riva 128 are all reasonable choices for basic gaming and everyday computing, as long as they're coupled with at least 8MB RAM to handle lots of colors at high resolutions. Meanwhile, Number Nine's Revolution IV is known among professional users for its reliability and high refresh rates (which translate to lower flicker) at higher resolutions.
Gaming: Gamers will want the latest generation of accelerator chips, which include the 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee and Voodoo3, nVidia Riva TNT and TNT2, ATI Rage 128, Matrox G200 and G400, or S3 Savage and Savage 4. They'll also need at least 16MB RAM to handle large texture files and higher resolutions efficiently. Check out 3D WinBench 99 scores to get a good sense of performance and image quality, but realize that gamers have their own preferences. For instance, 3Dfx's 3-D-only Voodoo2 chip has a strong following despite some last-generation 3-D features, and some games have code written specifically for it. Super game systems will sometimes have the Riva TNT on the graphics card and a Voodoo2-based board (or even two Voodoo2-based boards for enhanced performance) for gaming.
Yes, I want one of these 'super game systems' so that I can play Lode Runner.
