October '98 Video Accelerator Comparison

In the end, the final decision comes down to the choices you made in building your system the first time around. 

For Pentium II owners, regardless of clock speed, if you don't mind using two cards to handle your video tasks, the 3Dfx Voodoo2 still seems to be the best solution from an overall performance standpoint.   Unfortunately, this doesn't carry on into the value standpoint as you are throwing much money away when you choose to go with a Voodoo2 due to its 3D-only nature.

If money is a definite factor, as it is for many of us, the 3Dfx Banshee is the best overall graphics accelerator for the money.   While the best overall graphics accelerator regardless of price may be the nVidia Riva TNT, for the money, it seems as if nothing can beat 3Dfx's Banshee.  The only chipset out of the roundup which was never intended to dethrone a previous champ, the Banshee proved to be an excellent performer on all platforms, offering support for Glide based games in addition to Direct3D and OpenGL titles as well as the backing from the largest company of its kind, 3Dfx. 

S3 has much potential with their Savage3D which is quite reminiscent of the Banshee in terms of overall value, unfortunately the Savage3D is a card which suffers from a premature release and horrible drivers.   Currently the Savage3D has no place in any recommendations, mainly because of its poor driver support.  One the chipset matures and its drivers with it, it could possibly replace the Banshee as the most cost effective/high performing chipset on the market. 

Finally, as you all probably know by now, the nVidia Riva TNT isn't the chipset of choice if you have a low-end Pentium II processor (anything slower than a 333), and at the same time, the Matrox G200 is nothing more than a chipset for users whose primary concern lies in image quality and 2D performance.  If you grab a G200, don't expect to be able to watch Quake 2 fly by anytime soon as Matrox has delayed their OpenGL ICD once again. 

What will the future hold?  3Dfx and their single card Voodoo2 SLI board should breathe more life into that chipset, while Number Nine's Revolution IV could steal some sales away from Matrox.  ATI is promising quite a bit with the Rage 128, however, if you ask this reviewer, the way things appear to be now is the way they'll stay for at least a few more months.  This market is all about giving the consumer what they want, and fast...and what if a company can't do just that?  Ask ATI, S3, and Number Nine if they don't get their acts together soon.   It's the harsh reality of the ever changing times that can make or break a company with a single product release; cross your fingers, and hope for the best but expect the realistic as you set out to find your next video accelerator.