G400 Performance vs. Voodoo 2

[RyanJBlack]

Hi, All.

I saved up my extra cash for a couple of months and finally went out and bought a G400. (I fell in love with Matrox with the Mystique when it first came out... that bugger was FAST! looked crappy, but zipped ... oh shoot, I'm rambling again)

In any event, I was hoping for a performance upgrade with my fast new 32MB DualHead G400, but I've been pretty disappointed so far.

I was wondering if any of you knew whether or not I should be getting better than my results. Here's what my experience has been so far in the games I've tried. (In comparison with my old Voodoo 2)

Re-Volt: 30fps instead of 52 fps @ 800x600x16 on my V2 (though no performance hit at 32bit, i wish it were faster)

NBA Live 2000 (demo): About the same speed, but much better graphics and detailed textures

Drakan: Where's the bump-mapping? (Yes, patch installed) I couldn't really see any difference between this and my Voodoo 2, bit more colour but about 10fps slower.

System Shock 2: About the same speed, only runs in 16-bit!

Half-Life: Looks better (direct 3d) but runs slower (mini-3DfX)

Midtown Madness: Looks much better, but runs slower.

Rogue Spear: (after playing around FOREVER to get it to work) Looks about the same! (cry!) My favourite game... but I can't even tell the difference visually between Voodoo 2 and G400.

I guess what I'm asking is whether or not I should be expecting higher-than-before framerates in these games, or whether I should just be happy with the the 20-billion-times-better-looking aspect of the G400 and swallow a few FPS in return.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Ryan Black

------ My System ----
Abit BH6
G400 32MB DH
64MB PC-100 RAM
300A -> 450
SB AWE64 W/8MB
CREATIVE DXR2 Encore
Jaz Jet PCI SCSI
Miro PCTV Video Capture
DLink PCI NIC

[SPSUguy]

Hey,

For a lot of games from this year and past, i'd have to say that a V2 is going to give you higher frame rates than the G400 (unless you can use the TurboGL). Not to mention that games like Rogue Spear aren't really graphically intensive and don't use a lot of the latest in 3d tech. Where your G400 is going to shine is in the newer games that are about to come out that utilize this newer tech.

Case in point: Have to tried any of the nocture demos? I tried to play this game (before I had my g400) with my V2 sli combo. It looked like utter crap. After I got my g400 though... ahh pure bliss. It really shows off the lighting and colors really well. Anyway, in the next year you're going to running into more and more games that this is going to happen. If you feel better, Use the V2's for your current games. Just consider the G400 making your box "future proof". Besides... I play a lot of the say games (and I have the same setup at you) and I haven't used my v2's since I got my g400.

The only game that i can't run with the g400 is tribes. But that's a whole nother thread.

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Abit BH6, Celeron 450, Matrox G400 32mb "MAX", 256mb ram, IBM 10GB, DVD 5x, MX300

[SPSUguy]

Oh, i just noticed. You have a dxr2. I had one too. Try this: If you have your monitor going to the dxr2 with a pass through to any other card... take the monitor cable and put it directly to the G400. See if you notice a difference in colors with games and all. My dxr2 was totall crap. I was ruining the color of everything. Besides, I use the MatroxDVD. It looks better and only uses 50% cpu. Just try it.

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Abit BH6, Celeron 450, Matrox G400 32mb "MAX", 256mb ram, IBM 10GB, DVD 5x, MX300