GeForce3 Review...WITH BENCHES...TONS OF 'EM!!

[Modeps]

not working.

 

[JayPatel]

<< Is it just me, or does anyone else just not get the same feeling anymore like we did when we got our first 3dfx Voodoo1? >>

it'll come back to ya...just wait till doom3 is released and its running on your comp. Anand was right..up till now it was always about pixel pushing power and speed...but the true reasoning for video accelerators is for awesome imagery that cards like g3 and beyond will start delivering.

 

[cmaMath13]

I am having difficulty getting the link to the GeForce3 review to work. Anyone else?

 

[Noriaki]

<< Is it just me, or does anyone else just not get the same feeling anymore like we did when we got our first 3dfx Voodoo1? >>

The GF3 would seem to be the most revolutionary card since the Voodoo1. Sure in current games that don't use T&amp;L or use static T&amp;L designed in the GF2, then yes the GF3 is a GF2 with slightly better FSAA.

The real power will come when programmers start using the programmable T&amp;L engine. Then we will see far better realism. I think that the FSAA method that provides a 4x FSAA picture quality with 2x FSAA speed hit is nice. But FSAA isn't that important in the games I play.

Of course until we do see games that use programmable T&amp;L it seems rather silly to buy a GF3 over a GF2. Which is why I'm replacing my Voodoo3 with a Voodoo5 right now, and I'll buy a GF3 in 12-18 months when it's feature set is used, I'll leave it to the rich folks to pioneer (well I'll probably buy the NV25, becuase I'd say I'll probably upgrade between NV30 and NV35 so the NV25 should be reasonably priced).

Then 12-18 months after the NV30 I'll buy the NV35 😀 See that way I should have most of the features games need NOW, and then when the future games need more. I'll buy it when I need it.

PS: The link is broken 🙁

 

[NFS4]

I guess NVidia cracked the whip 😛

 

[cmaMath13]

It working now.😀

 

[rickn]

I think you missed what I meant. I just remember the excitement of getting my Voodoo1, being able to play Tomb Raider, Whiplash, Quake, with 3d acceleration, it was just something really exciting. Nowadays it just seems dull. Sure, the graphics are nice, but it just isn't the same feeling as when I first experienced games with 3d acceleration.

 

[cmaMath13]

In my opinion, it looks like NVIDIA is switching the gears to image quality concerns over &quot;sheer power&quot;. I guess the GeForce3 Ultra will add some more &quot;punch&quot; to the line. I was really suprised to see the GeForce2 Ultra betting the GeForce3 on many of the benchmarks. I guess it should not have surprised me, because it is running at the same speed (core and memory). But I would have thought more MHz..... Anyway, I hope this is not like the new Pentium 4: So advanced that it is slower on today's software! I want something that gives me more performance on todays application/games AND tomorrows.

Please remember that these are just MY OPINIONS.

 

[Noriaki]

rickn: Ahhh yes I understand now 🙂 I remember the first time I booted up Quake2 on my Voodoo1 in 640x480 after software 320x240 😀 I see what you mean now. I was examining it from a technology view, but yes for personal excitement I don't think it's as drastic.

Maybe Doom3...but I doubt it.

 

[JellyBaby]

rickn,

You're aging. Don't worry it happens. And, as they say, &quot;you can never go home&quot;. Quite a few of us may feel similar when Doom 3 is released, too. This is why older people tend to be &quot;empty headed&quot; at times -- what they're doing is subconciously trying to forget experiences they've already had to keep life fresh. 😉

The Voodoo 1 was amazing to me for speed alone. Image quality was pretty awful for the first wave of games but the speed, baby! Now increased performance is no longer a big deal -- provided it stays as high as it is -- so visual quality takes the forefront. The GF3 may finally enable decent T&amp;L and make it sweet enough for developers to actually want to use it.

Improved lighting and even shadow effects will go along way toward realism. That's phase 1. Phase 2 involves much, much higher poly counts and we won't be there for a while I'm afraid.

 

[MrGrim]

For $500 I expect a card to do everything. There is no such thing as in &quot;it's not very good at this but it's better at that&quot;. It's $500 FFS! The fact that currently it doesn't have anything to offer appart from ~60 at 1024x768x32x2FSAA makes it for the time being a stupid buy. That is of course if you don't have money to burn. Maybe in a few months it will be worth it's money, but right now it doesn't. Would you buy a concole that is the best in terms of specifications but doesn't have any games? No. To me, it's exactly like that.

 

[JellyBaby]

MrGrim,

I agree. The GeForce 3, at that price, doesn't even offer TwinView. 🙁

 

[Noriaki]

<< The GeForce 3, at that price, doesn't even offer TwinView >>

Yeah!! WTF is that! The major market for Dual head is professional users, and either they need major 3D power or they don't care at all about 3D. The 2nd group all have Matrox G450s and probably don't plan to move from them. The first group would love a powerful 3D card with TwinView...why limit it to the MX line???, I don't see the logic in not letting the GF3 have it. Plus lots of tweakers would love it.

 

[Peridium]

Yeah! I remember those 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics days!

I remember going to the Crunge and Monster 3D websites to read everything about the card. Also, can't forget about Operation: 3Dfx. Those certainly were the days. I also remember going to 3Dfx's website to get the latest game demos so show off the graphics! The difference was simply amazing going from non-accelerated to the Voodoo. Whiplash, Quake, and Tomb Raider kicked the Playstation's graphics hands down.

Nowadays, can nVidia offer us the same experience?

 

[Mem]

<< Nowadays, can nVidia offer us the same experience? >>



Good question,I think now we really only have ATi &amp; Nvidia that are bringing out any new ideas &amp; when they do we have to wait for software &amp; the gaming field to catchup,plus with any new technology it takes time,so it`s a bit of a waiting game &quot;no pun intended&quot;.

🙂

 

[Pacinamac23]

Is it just me or are the benchmarks not that impressive?

 

[DARRIN]

I think it looked pretty darn sweet. The fps increases were not enormous but I like the texture improvements and stuff.

I guess I'll start saving my pennies. Only 59,999 to go!

 

[Dulanic]

<< Is it just me or are the benchmarks not that impressive? >>



The 32-bit benchmarks are decently impressive, no reason to use 16-bit anymore. But the main thing is just the effects it will beable to do. It gives developers just an infinite amount of things they can do with this GPU.

 

[odog]

<< Is it just me, or does anyone else just not get the same feeling anymore like we did when we got our first 3dfx Voodoo1? >>

kinda like that first time i ran GLquake@640x480@16 at a whooping 28fps....

to tell you the truth.. i don't think we'll ever have another
&quot;voodoo1&quot; type of quantum leap in graphics...



<< Nowadays, can nVidia offer us the same experience? >>

yeah... but this time their the &quot;playstation&quot;.

 

[AncientPC]

It was a big difference for me in Q2 going from a 200mhz software to the same system with a Voodoo 2 Banshee (my first gfx accelerator card). However, the difference I get from a Voodoo 2 to a Voodoo 3 / Geforce 1 isn't as big of a difference. It's more of a &quot;Oh, it does the same stuff faster and better now.&quot; I'm sorry, but it's going to be a while before I shell out more than $250 for another video card.

Hell, for $500 you can build a budget computer. Sometimes I think we're so tied up into upgrading that we don't look at how much of a performance advantage we receive for the price. Especially when the majority of the games don't even fully utilize the gaming engine, it's not worth it. Once again, it's a video card used to boost your ego.

 

[chuckieland]

now hope geforce3 going to release tv version and add dvd decording

 

[ElFenix]

programmable t&amp;l that renders previous t&amp;l obsolete and almost worthless, big fsaa push... seems like daveb3d was right.

 

[Remnant2]

nod. The kicker is, the programmable T&amp;L is going to be what all developers are going to use -- for the first time, there's some enormous benefits besides just being faster. That means the Geforce/Geforce2 owners are going to be outta luck.

 

[AncientPC]

Remnant2: &quot;For the first time, there's some enormous benefits besides just being faster.&quot; Is it still worth the upgrade though? To shell out an additional $500 to upgrade from a GeForce 2?

 

[JellyBaby]

<< That means the Geforce/Geforce2 owners are going to be outta luck. >>

Pure propaganda. My GF 2 will serve me well into 2002. By then I'll call the shot to upgrade and the GF 3 Ultra may be out and priced right. There's no such thing as immediate obsolescense anymore especially today when the tech. sector is slowing way down and the games just aren't terribly compelling.