3Dlabs Permedia 3 Create!

Final Words

3Dlabs has great faith in the Permedia 3, and it does deliver on their claims, it is the fastest card in this price range when it comes to high-end rendering applications of which 3D Studio Max is fairly representative. However before you go out and order one of these, think about the second half of the equation, gaming performance. The Permedia 3 is supposed to be the ideal solution for the professional by day, gamer by night market right? Well, why is it that the TNT2 can wipe the floor with it in the gamer by night part, and come very close to its performance in the professional by day category and not feature the same classification?

AnandTech's recommendation here is quite simple, if you're looking for the best balance between high end and gaming performance, NVIDIA holds the ideal solution. The TNT is the most affordable option, although its gaming performance isn't as great as that of a Voodoo3 it's high end performance comes very close to that of a newer TNT2 Ultra since they essentially use the same OpenGL ICD.

While the Rage 128 came quite close to the Permedia 3 and even beat the TNT2 in a few tests, ATI's history of driver support is far from a bright sunny day, so proceed with this option as carefully as possible. The other routes to stay away from are that of the Savage4, and by all means, the G200/G400 until Matrox can sort out their driver performance issues.

So what if you currently have a Permedia 2 and are looking for an upgrade? If you're not looking for faster gaming performance, then you really have no reason to upgrade your graphics card as it is one of the fastest desktop high-end solutions available. If you are looking for everything the Permedia 2 gave you, plus faster gaming performance, then the Permedia 3 is just fine, but be prepared to shell out TNT2 prices for faster gaming performance. The recommendation still stands that if you're going to be upgrading for faster gaming performance, why not get one of the best gaming performers on the market as well as strong high-end performance in one card?

In summary, the Permedia 3 is an overpriced upgrade that will satisfy those users that are happy with their Permedia 2s. If you are happy with your Permedia 2 and aren't looking for faster gaming performance, by all means, stick with your card. If you want faster gaming performance, the affordable route is the TNT (which is now available for under $100, and very appetizing at that) and the faster option would be a TNT2 (not necessarily an Ultra, remember, graphics clock isn't as important when dealing with polygons).

While the TNT/TNT2 and Rage 128 aren't high-end solutions, they do a much better job at giving the user a pleasant high-end/gaming experience than 3Dlabs' Permedia 3. Should the Permedia 3 drop in price to a much, much more affordable level (< $150 would be reasonable), things may turn around for 3Dlabs, but until then, we'll add the Permedia 3 to the list of products that are just too little, too late.