Jadayne Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 OK, it's time to update my G3. Naturally, I'll be doing it with CM in mind. What's the optimal graphics setup for the Mac? (yes I did a search, but most of the answers were over a MONTH old. You know how fast technology moves these days...) ------------------ "I'm the Quarterback. I make the plays. You back the plays I make." -Harvey Keitel to his adopted son in the movie "Dusk til Dawn" (about 3 hours before they're both ripped apart and eaten alive by vampires) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 If you have a beige G3, you want a PCI Voodoo 5500 or an ATI Radeon (PCI Radeon not yet available). For a blue-and-white G3 get the AGP version (I think newer G3s have AGP slots... G4s certainly do). Personally I'd go for the Radeon, as ATI cards tend to perform better at high resolutions, and they're also more Mac-compatible. (I have an ATI RAGE 128 Nexus card for my beige G3, and I play CM at a resolution of 1600x1200 - that's the best pre-Radeon ATI card - you could probably pick one up cheap.) Jadayne wrote: > (about 3 hours before they're both ripped apart and eaten alive by vampires) ** SPOILER for scenario "From Dusk Til Dawn" ** =) David ------------------ Somewhere between a joke and a conspiracy [This message has been edited by David Aitken (edited 10-25-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadayne Posted October 26, 2000 Author Share Posted October 26, 2000 thanks david. I'll pass it on to the IT department. I've got a beige G3. Any idea when the Radeon will be available for us? I don't know if I should wait or just get the Voodoo. BTW, why did you remove the link to your website you used to use as a sig? ------------------ "I'm the Quarterback. I make the plays. You back the plays I make." -Harvey Keitel to his adopted son in the movie "Dusk til Dawn" (about 3 hours before they're both ripped apart and eaten alive by vampires) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 Jadayne wrote: > BTW, why did you remove the link to your website you used to use as a sig? Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. My website address is in my profile – that button is just for my CM page. I think the PCI Radeon is due out in a month or so. David ------------------ Somewhere between a joke and a conspiracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 Jadayne: Yep, I am looking to upgrade as well mainly with CM in mind. Its a interesting and tough decision I am finding. The Voodoo 4 has just come out and has 2xfsaa. It's priced nicely at $130 at macbuy.com I think. I am considering this card over the Voodoo 5 mainly becouse of price. The cheaper and unsupported Voodoo 3 (from what i hear) has compatibility issues with CM so I am backing off this card. I have biege G3 as well. I may get a radeon card, but I think these cards are priced above $200. The rage orion ati card is still overpriced right now, They go for over $100. Not a good deal for a card that is 2 years old? The thing is, I cant find anyone to really attest the voodoo 5 (or 4) for mac. No one seems to tell the whole story. I asked baboon2 to post some pics but he said he "couldnt" find a utility to make a screenshot with the voodoo 5. This didnt make sense to me since on a mac all you need to do is hit cmd-shift-3 to take a screenshot. He did to his credit say that the it looks like the V5 and V4 drivers will have full support for CM. But this doesnt completley convince me that there arent problems with the card. I could take the simple route and just get the rage orion card. Its $100 and has full support for CM from what i am told. But I was hoping to go with 3dfx in the hope that the card will have no problems with CM. I want to ba able to run Glide as well as Rave and Opengl games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aikidorat Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 I've been using the rage orion since it came out, and it has worked flawlessly. I think the hi res mods that I've added are starting to push the 16 meg vram though, and think the radeon would be great, if (when) it comes out for the PCI bus in my older G3. cant say much about the voodoo cards, havent used them. let us know what you choose, and how it works! Good luck! dave ------------------ History is made at night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Måkjager Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 Well all i can say is that your systems beat the hell of of my lil iMacs 6 Mb VRAM. Have to be content to stand on the outside looking in on some nice graphic shots sent to me by a good buddy *) Hope to get something better next year ( sigh) BTW Aikidorat .....knock knock ...ye got some new mail ------------------ Once an Ubërcabbage Always an Ubërcabbage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 Freak wrote: > The Voodoo 4 has just come out and has 2xfsaa. As far as I know, only Voodoo 5 has FSAA. > I could take the simple route and just get the rage orion card. Its $100 and has full support for CM from what i am told. aikidorat wrote: > I've been using the rage orion since it came out [...] I think the hi res mods that I've added are starting to push the 16 meg vram though The RAGE Nexus I mentioned is effectively an Orion with double the RAM (32Mb), and it's not too much more expensive than the Orion. David ------------------ Somewhere between a joke and a conspiracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 David: Actually the Voodoo 4 card does have fsaa. It's just that it only offers 2xfsaa not the 4xfsaa that the Voodoo 5 offers. I had originaly thought the same thing as you about the fsaa mode and the voodoo's but after much debate on which card to get i have found out that it does, the voodoo 4, perform 2xfsaa. I don't know to much about the nexus. Is it for the mac? I will see if I can find it on xlr8yourmac.com website for reviews. Oh darn, just saw your post earlier again. nexus on your bigie G3. Hmmm...somthing to think about. Does the nexus give you transparent buildings and all the other goodis that are in CM graphically? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted October 26, 2000 Share Posted October 26, 2000 Freak wrote: > Does the nexus give you transparent buildings and all the other goodis that are in CM graphically? Ummm... it's essentially one of the best graphics cards you could get for the Mac before the Voodoo 4/5 and the ATI Radeon. It's also the most compatible, considering all Macs in the past few years have shipped with ATI graphics. Up until recently all blue G3s and G4s have shipped with what is essentially an underclocked ATI RAGE 128 Orion. The retail Orion is better, and the retail Nexus was, up until recently, the best. David ------------------ Somewhere between a joke and a conspiracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aikidorat Posted October 27, 2000 Share Posted October 27, 2000 Even the orion allows me to use all the effects I want to for most battles. I have only had to turn smoke off for one, but it was a massive massive map. I forgot about the nexus.... but I think I will wait for the radeon before i upgrade. The orion's doing fine for now, unless we add more hi res textures.... question: what color depth are you getting with the nexus, say at 800x600? I'm at thousands, but I dont remember if it was millions before, or always been thousands...CM forces it to thousands upon launch, regardless of what I set it at before hand thanks! dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted October 27, 2000 Share Posted October 27, 2000 aikidorat wrote: > what color depth are you getting with the nexus, say at 800x600? Generally I use 1280x960 in 32-bit colour (millions). For CM I switch to 1600x1200. I actually use low-quality smoke, because high-quality slows the framerate too much. I could obviously switch to a lower resolution, but I like high-res too much. Besides, smoke in itself is the only thing that causes slowdowns, so I don't want it. David ------------------ Somewhere between a joke and a conspiracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted October 27, 2000 Share Posted October 27, 2000 David: What does the higher resolution do for you. Or in otherwords what do you like about running CM in higher resolutions as opposed to lower ones. Right now I run in 1152x870 and I havent changed it. I am guessing you are able to see or have a bigger or wider view of the map. I suppose that would be a benefit when being on the battlefield. Anyother benefits to higher resolutions other then a wider view of the map? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted October 27, 2000 Share Posted October 27, 2000 Freak wrote: > What does the higher resolution do for you. I was making out a list, but I didn't see the point of trying to explain it. Basically, in high-res you can see better. Seeing better is a Good Thing. In CM you deal with a lot of (seemingly) little men and vehicles, so the higher the resolution, the better a feel you get for what's going on. Sure, you can zoom in and examine things, but only in one area at a time. If you were to play a few battles in high-res (on a capable machine), and then go back to low-res, you wouldn't be in any doubt of the benefits. I compromise on framerate in order to play high-res – that's how much I like it. David ------------------ Somewhere between a joke and a conspiracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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