Manufacturer: |
Intergraph Corp |
Chipset: |
3dfx Voodoo/Rush , Alliance ProMotion AT25 (for 2D) |
RAM: |
6mg EDO DRAM |
RAMDAC: |
220mhz |
Price: |
$200 |
Vendor: |
??? |
PROS:
CPU Independent , Voodoo Glide support , support in general
, good 3D , good 2D , overall good product. Good image quality , 2D/3D
solution w/3dfx.
CONS:
Price , only good , not outstanding
or superb. There are better performers for less money.
RATING:
8/10
IMAGE QUALITY:
(note ,JPG compression somewhat
degrades image) |
Before I begin this review
, I would like to point out that the Intense 3D Voodoo is not a bad card.
The Voodoo Rush chipset is NOT a terrible 3d chipset , it is just slower
than the original Voodoo graphics. Also , the Alliance ProMotion 128bit
chipset isn't slow either. I believe that the Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo
board (along with other 3dfx Voodoo Rush based solutions) are highly underrated.
The only true weakness of this card is the price ($200). On to the real
stuff :)
The Intense 3D Voodoo is board for those
who are looking for a 2D/3D solution featuring Voodoo , Glide and 3dfx.
The board consists of the AT25 128bit 2D processor from Alliance Semiconductor
, and 3dfx's Voodoo Rush on a three quarter (very big) PCI board. It comes
with 3 bundled games , the Full Toruk (Glide) , the full Longbow 2 Voodoo
Rush port , and the full version of MotoRacer) All of these games blaze
with the Intense 3D Voodoo. ( I havent gotten benchmarks (couldn't figure
out how (-benchmark and -Tmark didnt work w/Turok) but I am estimating
at least 20fps in Turok (640x480) and over 30 in MotoRacer.) But
what about Quake? Well , as with its cousin , the 3dfx Voodoo graphics
, Quake2 runs well on the Intense 3D Voodoo , with the exception of these
strange sparsely dotted lines which run through the screen every now and
then (most likely a driver issue) The game was very playable on a 6x86Pr200
(no MMX) running at 640x480 w/8bit textures off , though timedemo 1 showed
otherwise (9.8fps). The Intense 3D provides Voodoo quality images , GLide
support , and near Voodoo speed (especially on lower end systems) along
with 128bit 2D acceleration. This board has many advantages over its competition
, along with many weaknesses. Basically , this board is a well balanced
2D/3D combo. The Alliance chip provides good 2D performance , contrary
to popular belief. (I was surprised at the speed of the Alliance ProMotion.)
and great 3D. Even though the Voodoo Rush falls short of the Voodoo graphics
(found in the Monster 3D) , it still has a few advantages over it. First
of all , the Voodoo Rush employs 4 megabytes of frame buffer memory , allowing
for resolutions up to 800x600 with a Z-buffer. Also , it allows rendering
in a window , which is especially helpful in FS98. Also , the Voodoo Rush
board has identical image quality as the Voodoo graphics. This image quality
is by many considered the best available , though , in my opinion , the
Warp 5 puts it to shame. (Benchmark page) A
seemingly perfect board , the Intense 3D Voodoo has a few disadvantages.
First of all , the price is unattractive. At 200$ , the Intense 3D has
difficult competition (Et6000+Monster 3D , RIVA based cards , Thriller
3D , Stealth II) making it a less appealing buy. Also , the 3D and 2D are
only good , not excellent. The 3D is impressive , however not as fast as
the V2200 or the Voodoo graphics. The 2D Directdraw is exceptionally fast
, though no match for the blazing RIVA. To sum it up , the Intergraph Intense
3D Voodoo is a great card , though not so great when it comes to bang/buck.
The card is a great addition to lower end systems , especially if Glide
support is high up on the want list. If you don't really care for Glide
, I would recommend looking at a different card , or a generic Rush board
for much less money (130$).
--Rage
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