Wow, V4-4500s out in CrapUSAs

[cavingjan]

I could be wrong but the V4 did fairly well against several GeForce cards in the UT bench. At least at low res. Considering I'm still using a bank of small monitors because I don't have the rooom for 3 17" monitors. I'm still unfortunately using a banshee card because it hasn't given me any compatibility problems and I don't play quake anymore. I've been eyeing up an MX card but given the compatibility issues I'll probably pass even though its very tempting since it only uses passive cooling. I'm getting tired of everything in my system sounding like a jet taking off. It's just a shame they couldn't release this thing a couple months ago and gotten the drop on the MX.
UT low res bench

 

[Wingznut]

Imperium97... Those benchmarks are based on some sort of "preview" of the V4, and AnandTech did not even have a V4 ("The beauty of the Voodoo5 5500 AGP as an evaluation sample is that, by disabling one of the chips, we essentially have a 32MB Voodoo4 4500 AGP card that we can also use to illustrate the performance we can expect out of that solution."). Not only that, but it was a pre-production sample of a V5, with beta drivers.

I think it's safe to assume that you do not have a V4 either. Hence, your "50%" is unfounded.

 

[Wingznut]

And there's more to gaming life than Q3 benchmarks.

 

[Doomguy]

The fact is the MX will be better than the V4. Its faster and has more features.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

And there is more to life than defending a card that's performance is DOA.



Mike

 

[Cpntrips]

I still use a voodoo 3000 in one of my computers. The performance is far from dead. For the price of the Voodoo 4500, I wouldn't call the performance DOA. You are obviously the kind of person that wouldn't even consider a sub $200 card because you want the best possible performance so why bother commenting on a card that serves you no purpose. There are many people that would love to have the V4500.

 

[Wingznut]

"Platinum Member"?? Cool!

Anyway, I'm not defending sh*t! I have no idea how the V4 will perform. And frankly, it doesn't concern me much because I'm set until at least the next generation.

But the fact is, is that it really doesn't matter what 3dfx does next. Many people here will still bash them, regardless.

Yes there is more to gaming life than Q3 benchmarks. Ask the people who own nVidia cards, who had significant problems running UT and Deus Ex. Not to mention that 3DRealms has already said that DNF will run better on 3dfx hardware.

I don't mean to put down nVidia, as they make excellent products. I'm just saying that each has their shortcomings.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Actually, if the MX had come out sooner, I would have purchased that instead of my GTS. The MX has excellent performance for the price.

The v3s also do have excellent performance for the price. I saw them for well under $75 OEM today. But is double the price worht it for a V4?

Cpntrips, WTF does me not wanting to buy one automatically exclude me from commenting about it. Maybe there is a reason that I would never buy one. Not having intention to buy something is not a necessity for commenting on something.


Mike

 

[Wingznut]

"The MX has excellent performance for the price."

That cannot be denied.

 

[Yza]

Not bashing just stating my opion,

Wingznut PEZ"...running UT and Deus Ex. Not to mention that 3DRealms has already said that DNF will run better on 3dfx hardware."

I beleave not to far back 3dfx was @ the top of the ladder, calling the shots, this was not to long ago they came out with the Voodoo chipset, ofcourse I was the first on the block to rush to the store and pay $200 for a 4 mg card. I fell in love it complimented my V550 perfect! 3dfx stickers started popping up on all the popular titles, I did in no way think 3dfx was a "fad" @ the time. But now it has seemed to be to a point. (3dfx was everywhere, influencing all the new games and even SEGA for awhile there new super next gen system was going to be based on 3dfx chipset! Around this time, games where coming out, Unreal was 1 of them 3dfx being so big and looked like it was going to be the future of gaming hardware Unreal developers decided to base there whole engine on glide. (only several later months patching so decent open gl was avaible) As you probally know UT was based on the original ENGINE, which chopped up d3d/opengl surrport added. You probally also know that DNF is based on a heavily modified UT (which looked to have a advantage @ the time 3drealms was original using the Q2 engine which was unsurperio to the UT imho UT had the most features @ the time, (Q3 engine wasnt available, DNF was able to use UT techonology before the game came out. Now 3drealms is just adding d3d/opengl surport in after to a engine that was completly based on Glide. I don't know about Deus Ex, but im sure theres a explanation for that game to. The quake-engine line has allways been popular with game makers, alot of the top selling game have used it, Quake2 was used to bench mark for along time. Q3 is widely popular with mods and companys have allready signed up to use there Q3 engine technology, so maybe thats why its so oftenly used?

PS sorry bout the bible, and the spelling

 

[OneEng]

First off, if they are quoting a price of $150.00, you will most likely be able to get one for $120.00 shortly after launch.

I still have my trusty V3 2000 oc'd to 170 which combined with my Duron600@900 produces 3DMark2000 scores around 3100, Q3 scores around 100FPS and UT flyby scores around 60FPS. I think that the V4 4500 will sell great. 3dfx HAS BY FAR AND AWAY THE COOLEST BOX GRAPHICS! (Don't flame me, I am being somewhat sarcastic).

I am considering the GeForce MX, but I am very concerned about compatibility with my ASUS A7V and Duron. If it comes to pass that the compatibility issues are worked out with the MX and benchmarks show no major differences, I would concider the MX over the V4.

One thing I would stress is T&L support is beginning to have some effect on performance. I just read an article with some pictures of the Unreal2 engine capabilities. If games next year have this level of poly counts (a face shot has 3700 polys by itself....and just look at the detail of the trees!) a GPU will be a necessity.

The V3 was IMHO one of the most under rated cards of last year. Sure it lacked 32bit color, but the enhanced 16bit was truely beautiful. Sure it lacked the fill rate and on-board T&L of the GeForce, but you could pick it up for $70.00 as opposed to the more than $300.00 for the GeForce. In this area, I firmly defend 3dfx.

The V4 unfortunately is another story. I could care less for Q3, but the Unreal engine is one of my favorites. With most major games being released with support for T&L by next year, I could not recommend the V4 over the similiarly priced GeForce MX.

This does not make the V4 junk! It is still much better than most cards on the market for that price. It just isn't the best in this price range.

 

[Czar]

There are three options, Geforce2 MX, Voodoo4 4500 and G450. If you are a gamer get the MX, if you are just basic desktop get G450. Why get Voodoo4? it performs about the same as Voodoo3 3000 I think (anandtech review) and the G400 performs about the same as Voodoo3 3000 and the G400 is about the same as G450... so if you have incompatable problems with the MX then better get G450, offers alot more than the V4 4500.

 

[Eli]

Nippy- Sorry. I guess I took your words a little too personally..



<< Such pessimism. You haven't even seen benchmarks for the 4500 so how can you make performance claims! Pathetic. So fast to put 3dfx down. >>



I didn't have a very good experience with my V3-3k... shrug ... Again, sorry for being an ass

 

[BoberFett]

I still have a V3 3000 which runs Deus Ex and Unreal Tournament (the coolest games I've ever played) as well or better than my friends GeForce 2. How does that make the V4 a bad product?

 

[Czar]

Because its late, very late.

 

[nippyjun]

Being late doesn't make it bad unless you purchased it and are unhappy with it. Why do some people buy a camry and some buy a lexus es300, its basically the same car but the lexus has more frills and costs over 10K more.

 

[Wingznut]

I couldn't care less if any product is &quot;late.&quot;

I mean, both Duke Nukem Forever and Team Fortress 2 are EXTREMELY &quot;late.&quot; Does that mean I ought not pay attention to them, because they are going to suck? &quot;Late&quot; means Jack Sh*t.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

then you have the opposite extreme of (TF2 and DNF)... late and craptacular.








Daikatana.... Just a joke of course, since DNF and TF2 are both gonna rock!


Mike

 

[bonkers325]

tee hee 3dfx sucks
why would anyone buy it over a mx

 

[Czar]

the fact of being late does matter when you have to pay alot of money for it ( not free like those games ) and you will only have one in your computer.

 

[JellyBaby]

<< why would anyone buy it over a mx >>

They may not know of nvidia. A 4500 will serve the ma$$ market casual gamer (you know the bastards who buy Diablo 2, Deer Hunter XI, Barbie Hair and Nail Designer II, etc.) quite well. :|

 

[Mikewarrior2]

You forgot the game Panty Raider...



Mike

 

[Deeko]

Haha, I've been branded a 3dfx basher. That is funny. During the group bashings of the V5, I was always there to defend it. And I own one. But I said that I thougbt the V4 was a bad idea(at $150), and I'm instantly a 3dfx basher. LOL that's good. Chances are, the V4 WILL be beaten by the MX, so at the same price, it really is a bad idea. I'm not saying they will not sell any. I'm sure they will. It's a decent budget card. But it's still too expensive for what you get.

 

[IceT]

I have recently purchased a Hercules 3D Prophet II MX and had some kind of incompatiabilities with my system. After many tires, I exchanged the card and pre-ordered a VooDoo 4 4500AGP. I hope it will be good......I am not a hardcore gamer and I think a 4500 will suit me since I don't use resolution above 1024*768*32.

From the place where I pre-ordered my 4500 (EB), it is $15CDN cheaper than the Hercules MX card........

 

[Wingznut]

Dammit Mikewarrior!!!

I knew someone would bring up that steaming pile of crap!