3Dlabs Permedia 3 Create!

High End Performance – Windows 98

Windows 98 isn't the ideal high-end application testing environment, however it does allow for an excellent high-end Direct3D rendering test to be conducted using 3D Studio Max as well as pinpoint any Windows 9x driver weaknesses. To no surprise, the Permedia 3 takes a swift lead over the competition.

Also to no surprise, the Voodoo3 3000 comes in a close second place due to its powerful Direct3D rendering capabilities. As mentioned beforehand, the difference between the regular TNT and the TNT2 Ultra is little more than a clock speed increase of 60MHz, an insignificant increase in the eyes of a polygon hungry benchmark such as 3D Studio Max. The same situation applies to the G400 and G400MAX, although the scores represented were that of the G400, the MAX performed identically down to a tenth of a second difference in render times.

Speaking of the G400, you'll notice an interesting phenomenon in the Windows 98 Direct3D benchmarks, particularly that the G400 takes a backseat to its predecessor, the slower G200. The G400's poorly optimized drivers are to blame for this, hopefully with some more tweaking Matrox's flagship can climb from dead last to at least surpassing Matrox's previous generation leader.

Matrox isn't the only one suffering from driver problems, 3Dlabs' latest driver release for the Permedia 2 would not permit AnandTech's test system to complete the 3D Studio Max rendering tests without failing in one or more areas. The Permedia 2 exhibited the same behavior in Direct3D and 32-bit OpenGL rendering tests under Windows 98, and was therefore omitted from the respective comparisons however it was present everywhere else.

Switch over to OpenGL rendering and all of the sudden the second place leader, 3dfx, drops off the face of the earth. The Voodoo3's current beta OpenGL ICD is not even remotely stable enough for operation in a professional environment, and 3D Studio Max would not even so much as give the ICD the time of day when AnandTech attempted to use them to benchmark the Voodoo3 with.

Also predictable is the Permedia 2's performance separation from the Permedia 3, totalling a little over a 5% difference in rendering speed. NVIDIA comes in strong with the TNT2 and TNT taking up the next two places, courtesy of their solid and high performing OpenGL ICD. Of course ATI and S3 follow, with Matrox, once again, leading the rear. This time, Matrox has to rely on their OpenGL ICD which, as you can tell from the benchmarks, isn't the most performance oriented solution on the market. So much for the G400 being the ideal professional by day, gamer by night card.

The same situation is depicted in the 32-bit color rendering tests, although the Rage 128 moves up a notch to outplace the TNT.