Nice try Hblair.
Ok, I'll help kick it up a notch.
Current prices:
V5 5500 AGP 64 Meg: $269.99
Elsa Gladiac GeForce 2 GTS 64 Meg: $389.99
Elsa Gladiac GeForce GTS 32 Meg: $276.99
The 32 Meg GTS is pretty much at parity. If I looked harder I could likely find cheaper prices for both. The price on the V5 was recently dropped $50.00 US.
The reason to get the V5 over the full-on GF2 is image quality. It's image quality is better on the V5 quite simply. It is not faster, but looks better. If you play flying and driving sims, 3DFX's Full Scene Anti-Aliasing is hands-down better than the nVidia version. When you start looking at framerates at 1024x768 32 bit color with 2xFSAA the Voodoo 5 is very close to the GF2, and looks a heck of a lot better.
Once you have seen FSAA you can never go back. It eliminates the jaggies, crawlies, and flashies that you normally have to put up with in a game. I find FSAA particularly usefull in flight sims like AH where you are looking at the dead 6 view of a plane that is very narrow.
I would pay the extra for the Voodoo 5 for the games I play. Sure, a GF2 would be "faster", but I get 30-50 fps in AH at 1024x768 32 bit and 2xFSAA. It's plenty playable and looks better than the GF2 equivalent, especially in AH. That's my reason.
BTW, I don't care who makes the card, the first card that will do 1024x768 32 bit and 4xFSAA (real jittered 4x not that hack nVidia uses) will get my money. I won't buy another card until then, because that's the next step IMHO.
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Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.com "A pig is a jolly companion,
Boar, sow, barrow, or gilt --
A pig is a pal, who'll boost your morale,
Though mountains may topple and tilt.
When they've blackballed, bamboozled, and burned you,
When they've turned on you, Tory and Whig,
Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover,
You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig,
You'll never go wrong with a pig!"
-- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"
[This message has been edited by Lephturn (edited 11-30-2000).]
