More video cards.........................
Runs MPEG video software, or for faster video, has a HARDWARE MPEG upgrade.
Need fast video? Add hardware!
www4.zdnet.com
Excerpt:
<<New Wave in Graphics The 3D Xpression and the 9FX Reality 332 herald a new standard of
3-D cards with an intriguing new feature: a price tag you can afford. This is good news, especially
if your primary interest in 3-D graphics is to make the bad guys look more realistic before you
blow them away in a high-tech shoot-'em-up. These cards, along with Microsoft's Direct 3D
technology, are drawing computer-game and multimedia developers like relatives to Thanksgiving
dinner. By this holiday season, 3-D games will be on many wish lists; by next year, they'll be the
norm.
Both the 3D Xpression and the 9FX Reality 332 have distinct pedigrees, but they also have
much in common. Both are PCI-based graphics cards with 2MB of EDO RAM that greatly
accelerate 3-D and Window graphics. They also speed up motion video, including software
MPEG playback. Number Nine offers a hardware MPEG option ($99) for even smoother
video, and ATI says it plans to do the same. Both companies pledge their cards will fully support
(with new drivers) the Direct 3D additions to Windows when they are available. And each sells
for under $200 -- which is what you paid for your last video card without all the gee-whiz
features.
Get in the Game Gee-whiz is a pretty good description for what you'll see. At this writing, there
are few software titles that support 3-D graphics. But virtually all game and 3-D-modeling
software publishers say their products will soon support Direct 3D, and many will create versions
specifically for certain accelerator chips. ATI's 3D Rage accelerator, used in the 3D Xpression
card, and S3's S3d Virge chip, used in the 9FX Reality 332 card, are certainly near the top of
that chip list.
The software bundled with each card gives you a taste of the visual good life. Activision's
MechWarrior, bundled with ATI's card, is a wonderfully detailed bit of 3-D mayhem. Virgin
Interactive Entertainment's Screamer, which comes with Number Nine's card, is just that. Both
companies will include four or five titles with their cards, but the final lists weren't available at
press time.
In our graphics benchmark tests, the 3D Xpression proved a bit faster than the 9FX Reality 332.
That's worth noting and appreciating, but the results you see may depend as much or more on
software as on hardware. In other words, speed will often be determined by how well a game
exploits the card's 3-D features.
ATI has a couple of television-related items worth mentioning, too. It offers a TV-tuner option
for the 3D Xpression, and a new version of the card called 3D Xpression Plus (which will be
available soon) will feature built-in NTSC and S-Video output for bringing computer games to
the tube.
To be sure, there are productive uses for these cards. Both are fast and include 3-D Web
software, and there are plenty of 3-D modeling programs for serious design work. But make no
mistake: These cards are mostly about fun. And everything's more fun in 3-D.>> |
