Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : 3DFX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: R Stevens who wrote (4987)	7/1/1998 11:07:00 PM
From: Chip Anderson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

Boot magazine just published a different perspective on S3 performance: bootnet.com "Quake2 (demo2.dm2) 800x600 31.8fp 1024x768 22.6fps" IMNSHO, these numbers are very close to unplayably slow. S3 will _NOT_ be worth the wait (or the money!). BTW, YOU READ IT HERE FIRST! Check out my E3 report on S3 performance: Message 4649966 Chip coolhistory.com

To: R Stevens who wrote (4987)	7/1/1998 11:28:00 PM
From: Chip Anderson	Respond to of 16960

Let me also call "Bulls Hit" on the Quake2 test level that Next-Gen saw demo'd. What's important in the future is the ability to quickly _draw_ multiple textures, not simply load them. First off, any Q2 level that maxs out a 12MB V2 card is probably bogus HOWEVER the problem could be addressed with a 16MB (or more) V2 card (Isn't that already announced by someone?). RAM is now cheap (much to S3's chagrin). Adding RAM is no big deal. Adding HIGH PERFORMANCE MULTITEXTURING is. Bottom Line: S3 is Doomed (pun intended)! BTW, from my E3 discussions with TDFX personel, I know that high-performance multitexturing (4+ passes) is a key design goal for Voodoo3 ("Rampage"?) Chip

To: R Stevens who wrote (4987)	7/1/1998 11:36:00 PM
From: Frank Sheridan	Respond to of 16960

Some thoughts concerning S3 Savage 3D.... 1. Notice how the VooDoo 2 was used for a reference - it is always a good sign when your product is considered the one to beat. 2. Overall performance seems to be in the same ballpark as VooDoo 2, not really that much better in any major way. 3. VooDoo 2 has been on the streets now for over six months - Savage 3D isn't even shipping yet. 4. Since VooDoo 2 is the standard that most developers are building to, ability to handle more textures isn't likely to add much value to Savage 3D, since software developers will probably not add on more texture overhead than they think their customers can handle. 5. Since there are dozens of games specifically written for GLIDE, they only work with VooDoo acceleration. Show me another 3D chip company that can make a claim like this. Still, it looks like S3 has made a very competent chip here - certainly much better than the Riva TNT looks to be. TDFX is not going to be able to rest on their laurels here, but they do have a strong technology and market lead over their competition. Let us all hope they can keep ahead of everybody else.......