Graphic card meltdown part II at 'nvidia'TomsHG

[Danfoss]

I know most of you don't think that tom is a real fair reviewer, but have you read his story?
The MAX is top of the list in some benchmarks (including q3)!!

here's the final thought:

I'm still waiting for a better OpenGL driver from the Matrox folks. If they can whip so much ass with the DX driver, why can't they put out the same performance with the OpenGL? This really bugs me. It seems to be a great card but if this issue is going to hinder their product, I don't think they're do well with the high-end gamers.

any comments?

Dan.

[rickn]

I agree

[Kruzin]

Once again, Tommy boy shows his ignorance.

His little universe rotates around quake benchmarks, and he writes on the assumtion that everyone elses does too.

"I don't think they're do well with the high-end gamers"

What a crock. Maybe "quake-only gamers". What about the "high end" flight sim gamers who want the dualhead no other card offers. Or the "high end" players who go for DX based race games that G400s rock on. Or the "high-end" players who simply like the superior graphics, over a few fps in a few OGL shooter games.

Nope. Tom's articles are totaly unbalanced, and his conclusions are biased.

[Filmgeek]

Well, I know I'm in the minority, but I think most of Tom's reviews are still pretty much right on. I'd take his advice before I'd take advice from a lot of people that hang around here. And even if you think Tom is biased, I don't know how you can disagree that Matrox's OpenGL drivers still lag behind Nvidia's. I'm so sick of hearing that OpenGL performance is only important to Quakers, that is a bigger load of crap than anything Tom has
ever said. If you have a Matrox card, you pretty much know OpenGL has always sucked up until recently, and although it is getting less sucky, Nvidia's drivers still make Matrox's drivers look poor. So I guess the
choice is either to complain or go the other way and say OpenGL performance is only
important to people who play hardcore Quake 3.

I can't believe the crap that is written about Tom and Anand in these forums. The web is a better place because of their sites.

Filmgeek

[wiggo]

I agree with FilmGeek on this one. Tom's right - most high-end gamers are Q3 players, and Q3 can be seen as the graphical benchmark that all other games must try to meet or succeed. Overall, you would have to say that the G400 is good card, but that it could be the best card if OpenGl was sorted out.
Having said that, I am enjoying a bit of mindless blasting at 30+ fps on the G400. But you can never be too thin, have too much money or have too many fps (to paraphrase the most used cliche on the web )

[maxie]

I´m a big DXBALL2-Gamer. I never have problems with framerates, colordapths or OpelGLdrivers with that :-)

DxBall2 is great, check it out at www.longbowdigitalarts.com

[Z_Morris]

FlimGeek, I agree with ya. As much as I don't like Tom's Hardware anymore. He does seem onsided most of the times.

But to label the G400 MAX as "Not for the high-end gamer" is probably right on the money.

If you don't have OGL speed and DX speed, (Which g400 has). You might as well label it as a Windows Accellerator...

This Kruzin dude seems very ignorant in others peoples opinions. It's one thing to like a video card, but it's another to treat a graphics card as a religion.

Well when you get red carpet treatment as being a beta tester for matrox, you can basically say what ever you want about the competition.

Just take what Kruzin says as a grain of salt. His views are persuaded from a canada company, what can you say...

[LAMFDTK]

Silvino Orozco wrote the articale on Toms site. I am getting the same benches as he does with the G400. I think they forgot how much better the card LOOKS than the others.

[red2]

Tom (and crew) is getting better with his opinions. He does point things out, but those points can often be hidden in his bias.
He doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as he used to though. Anyhow, he should test REAL Opengl apps to test the drivers and I am sure that very few of them can run real apps. He does stress Quake a little too much. Quake to me is fun, but it is not the end all be all to games. I personally like flight sims
better and am looking forward to dualhead use in them. Quake isn't life to some people though that is the impression that reviewers try to give.

Some people here are extremely Anti-Tom though.

And I would trust their opinion here.

[Kx30]

Tom...hmm. what can i say ....i like him and his reviews and i think he is providing exactly the kind of info that i want ..


[This message has been edited by Kx30 (edited 09-07-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Kx30 (edited 09-07-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Kx30 (edited 09-08-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Kx30 (edited 09-08-1999).]

[Kruzin]

Filmgeek - where in my post did I disagree about the Matrox OGL being slower than some others? I said nothing of the sort. We all know that the OGL is slower, but Tommy-boy tries to make it sound like that is the only factor in deciding what card to use. Guess what. It's not. Now stop putting "loads of crap" in my mouth.

wiggo - "most high-end gamers are Q3 players"? I think you need to look around. Yes, there are a lot of quakers, but I would hardly say "most", although that is what Tom's would like you to believe. There are game sites and forums all over the net, and they are not all (or even 5%) Quake sites.

Maxie - Cool! I still play DX-Ball(1)...downloading 2 now

Z-Morris - You seem to be the one ignorant of others opinions. Because I don't agree with Tom's methods, and speak out about it does not make me ignorant. Nor does it mean I treat a video card as a religion (as you seem to worship Tom's almighty word). It means I don't agree with Tom's methods, nothing more.

And, as you are still a newbie here, you have no idea about me. Yes, I beta test for Matrox, but I was posting these same views in these forums long before I signed my NDA. They have no influence on me or my opinions.

[cpld005]

I guess im not a hard core gamer cause I only play Drakan, Aliens V. Predator, Re-Volt, Shadowman, Descent III, Unreal D3D, Rollcage, Motocross Madness, Star Wars Racer over a network with 5 other players. I could care less about Quake III cause to me it's more of them same ole same ole, nothing new in game play or grpahics, excet maybe a few shades of brown and curved surfaces. Anyways, I agree with Kruzin, I would consider myself to be as hardcore of a gamer as any Quake type, just with more variety in my gaming.

[Himself]

I'm a softcore gamer, not so much sweating and grunting.

[WereWolf]

Besides, Quake3 sucks...
sure the graphics are better, but the game is just fouled up compared to Quake2! (But thats just my opinion)
Quake3 for high end gamers... what a load of horse-crap!
Whats more, Quake3 isnt even out yet! ITS A TEST!
If you are a hard-core gamer, you dont just want the fastest fps, you want the fastest fps at high rez + Environmental Bump Mapping + Dual-Head support!
Oh yeah G400 is my new religion!!
at least until a better card comes around... (Not GeSpot 256)
(BTW: Tom is a quake freak, so his opinions ARE biased towards Quake)

[LAMFDTK]

Hardcore Gamer= any one who playes a game with a rulebook that is over 25 pages.
Flight Sims anyone? How about thought in a Game? using your brain?