Well I can quote chunks of vintage3d.org or you can go read it there.

Most of the info I posted above was actually from there or videos where they were linked. Not too much info available otherwise.
I want to check whether I got it right.

This may wind up being a very blurry line for many companies. Matrox jumps off the page with the Mystique being close, but missing features being a sticky point. That and the aforementioned Rage Pro is a tough call too. It had most of the usual blending modes and whatnot, but the drivers really didn't come around until the Rage 128 was out with OpenGL being a particular sore spot.

Yeah, definitely. From what I can see the Rage Pro doesnt do worse than Voodoo 1 though if you consider overall performance, or amount of games "playable".
Matrox I left out for now. Didnt have the impression they had any big importance in history (like first card doing xy) and it didnt seem to be that any potential new retrogamer would be particularly interested in them (unless they had one in the past).
I also checked again regarding Virge on the beforementioned vintage3d page, and apparently they all sucked. So Savage 3D would be the first "recommenable" one I guess.

What about Rendition Vérité V1000?

I'd like to keep it limited to the most important/significant manufacturers in the 90s.
Otherwise I end up with something like this:
https://www.vgamuseum.info/images/doc/history.png
While thats cool, thats not what I am aiming for 😁

So, you don't consider as "significant" the first consumer 3D card with programmable GPU. Ok 😁

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-27, 16:24:

For S3 it seems to be the S3 Virge, also using own accelerator S3D. But it does not support OpenGL and also has issues with Direct3D. I haven't found much regarding the other versions like GX and GX2. Are they basically as bad? That would make the Savege 3D the first card with general usage.

It is one of the earlier consumer hardware with 3D acceleration, but like most vendors they lacked the expertise that 3dfx got from former SGI engineers. The non-existent support for OpenGL isn't surprising considering that the API was originally targeted for high-end workstations.

You can find decent information about ViRGE cards here: https://retro.swarm.cz/s3-virge-325-vx-dx-gx- … tors-deep-dive/

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-27, 20:33:

I'd like to keep it limited to the most important/significant manufacturers in the 90s. Otherwise I end up with something like t […]
Show full quote

I'd like to keep it limited to the most important/significant manufacturers in the 90s.
Otherwise I end up with something like this:
https://www.vgamuseum.info/images/doc/history.png
While thats cool, thats not what I am aiming for 😁

Rendition was significant. There were plenty of reviews at the time with the Verite. Anandtech even calls it as being the 'founding father' in the race for the best:

"The Founding Father - The Long Lost Verite"

"If you remember back to the first days of the 3D accelerator hype, the Rendition Verite V1000 chipset was often considered the founding father of this race for the best. Who would've guessed that the world of Voodoo2's and TNT's evolved from a chipset most of the recently added passengers on the video accelerator bandwagon never knew existed. Inspiring such creations as the 3Dfx Voodoo, Rendition's own successor to their success story, the V2x00 had its 15 minutes of fame when the rush to find the Voodoo killer took place not too long ago.

The strengths of the V2x00 include support for resolutions up to 800 x 600, performance greater than that of the 3Dfx Voodoo, as well as image quality that is much more than decent, even by today's standards. Unfortunately the performance issues and its not-so-great future outlook will keep the V2x00 on the same track of retirement as the 3Dfx Voodoo. If you're looking to upgrade from a V2x00, you probably don't want to walk down the path of the Voodoo2 due to the image quality, the ideal step in your journey away from the V2x00 will probably lie in the realm of the Riva TNT or maybe the final chipset of this comparison, the S3 Savage3D."

There's even a nice chipset comparison chart a few pages in.

Link to the article:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/197/6

https://gona.mactar.hu/3D/

I was looking up early 3d stuff a while and the mactar site helped a fair bit.

I think the matrox impression plus might the earliest to offer some kind of commercial 3d acceleration for ibm compatibles.

Spectre MGA
(by Velocity)
[based on the game Spectre VR] Bundled with the
Matrox Impression Plus as part of the "MGA 3D-SuperPack".
File date:
1994-Dec-05
OS: DOS

戦闘 Sentō
(by 47-Tek, Inc.) Retail release combo along with Creep Clash, and bundled with the
Matrox Impression Plus as part of the "MGA 3D-SuperPack"
Retail CD header timestamp:
1994-Nov-23
Matrox bundle file date:
1994-Dec-05
OS: DOS

Icehawk
(by Amorphous Designs) Bundled with the
Matrox Impression Plus as part of the "MGA 3D-SuperPack".
File date:
1994-Nov-04
OS: DOS

Creep Clash
(by 47-Tek, Inc.) Retail release combo along with Sentō.
CD header timestamp:
1994-Nov-23
OS: DOS

They are super simple so you could maybe consider them more tech demos than games but it is intresting that alot of the games are from November/ December 1994 which is around the same time the playstation 1 got released, which technically means the pc had hardware acceleration as early as the ps1s release time frame.

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-27, 16:24:

For 3dfx it's easy. It's the Voodoo 1, which also had its own accelerator Glide. But also works fine in openGL and Direct3D.

In more 'proper' terms (with the list consistency), i'd say the Banshee. It's the earliest 3dfx's has had a video card that's not held back by arcade technicalities and can work in windowed apps. V1/V2 feel like opportunistic stopgaps.

In other 'proper' terms (i.e. having blending functions properly working) you'd have to go a little further with the rest:

ATI Rage128
Matrox G200
nVidia Riva TNT
PowerVR Neon 250
S3 Trio3D 2X
Trident Blade3D

Thank you, wasnt aware of that site. But it's funny how you always stumble over two names: Vetz and Vlask 😀

My focus isn't so much an overview of all the early 3D renderers, but more from a more general overview and recommendation standpoint. This is also why I "locked" in these 5 Manufacturers and will ignore other ones, as its just too much to cover, and any overview will be a mess. As mentioned the 3D part is just an part in the overview I am doing, not the main focus. I just want to make clear that people then dont go out buying a Rage II or S3 Virge expecting it to run 3D games as they were released at the same time as Voodoo 1 and also have hardware 3D acceleration.

I chose ATI and NVidia because these are the 2 which you will think about today when talking about graphics cards.
3dfx because of their dominance of early 3d and amount of games with Glide support.
CL and S3 as they were big and reliable brands in the ISA and early PCI era.

Basically adding any additional manufaturer would mean I would need to kick one of the beforementioned out. I might just mention Matrox but not include them in the overview I am doing.

I guess an alternative way you could ask the question is:

1. What is the first card of each manufacturer which has hardware 3D acceleration.
As far as I know at this point:
3dfx: Voodoo 1, ATI: Rage 3D, Nvidia: NV1, S3: Verge, CL: Laguna 3D

2. What is the first card of each manufacturer which has wide compatibility by having full support with OpenGL and Direct3D, running Unreal on 15 fps or more.
As far as I know at this point:
3dfx: Voodoo 1, ATI: Rage Pro or rather Rage 128 (as Dr Anthony Mentioned), Nvidia: Riva 128, S3: Savage 3D, CL: None

leileilol wrote on 2023-10-28, 00:24:

In more 'proper' terms (with the list consistency), i'd say the Banshee. It's the earliest 3dfx's has had a video card that's no […]
Show full quote

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-27, 16:24:

For 3dfx it's easy. It's the Voodoo 1, which also had its own accelerator Glide. But also works fine in openGL and Direct3D.

In more 'proper' terms (with the list consistency), i'd say the Banshee. It's the earliest 3dfx's has had a video card that's not held back by arcade technicalities and can work in windowed apps. V1/V2 feel like opportunistic stopgaps.

In other 'proper' terms (i.e. having blending functions properly working) you'd have to go a little further with the rest:

ATI Rage128
Matrox G200
nVidia Riva TNT
PowerVR Neon 250
S3 Trio3D 2X
Trident Blade3D

Thanks, will check regarding the TNT over Riva 128 and the Trio3D 2X over the Savage 3D

I also agree that the voodoo 1 is an odd fit for the “full compatibility” list. The voodoo 1 was more of its own unique api, glide, much like the S3 virge. The universal apis like direct x and OpenGL really came later, at the time the voodoo 1 came out, it was all proprietary apis still, with the voodoo actually being a classic example of a proprietary api. In fact they had the single most successful proprietary api.

For wide compatibility you probably want the voodoo 2 minimum, or banshee maybe, or the voodoo 3. The nvidia 128 on the other hand has about as much compatibility as the tnt, the tnt was just more and better, but the 128 had full compatibility, as far as I remember anyway.

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-28, 00:48:

2. What is the first card of each manufacturer which has wide compatibility by having full support with Glide and Direct3D, running Unreal on 15 fps or more.
As far as I know at this point:
3dfx: Voodoo 1, ATI: Rage Pro or rather Rage 128 (as Dr Anthony Mentioned), Nvidia: Riva 128, S3: Savage 3D, CL: None

You can have poor D3D compatibility and run Unreal beyond 15fps with a PowerVR PCX2 😀

Only one on that list supports Glide.

@midicollector:
Yeah, just checked regarding the 128 and TNT and also watched Phils Computer Lab regarding that, but very much sounded like more and better, but 128 already seemed comptatible.
Regarding the compatibility of Voodoo 1: Is there anything the others can run and the voodoo 1 can't? I mean obviously it needs a 2D card to work.
Just checked this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Th8Up9aj3Q
And he stated at 1:50 that there were no issues. But even if there are a couple of games which are not optimal, it would still be fine, if they can just be run with Glide instead.

@leileilol
Corrected, ofc I meant OpenGL and Direct3D

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-28, 01:50:

Regarding the compatibility of Voodoo 1: Is there anything the others can run and the voodoo 1 can't? I mean obviously it needs a 2D card to work.

In the turn of the millennium there'd be more games that neglect having support for secondary video devices, where there'll be cases of even less capable cards running games a Voodoo Graphics/Voodoo 2 cannot. Empire Earth, for example

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-28, 01:35:

The universal apis like direct x and OpenGL really came later, at the time the voodoo 1 came out, it was all proprietary apis still, with the voodoo actually being a classic example of a proprietary api.

Direct3D was released in 1996 (the same year the Voodoo Graphics card came out) but it didn't reach maturity until DirectX 7 and OpenGL existed long way before consumer hardware started to support it fully, which initially began with MiniGL drivers thanks to GLQuake.

leileilol wrote on 2023-10-28, 01:53:

Kordanor wrote on 2023-10-28, 01:50:

Regarding the compatibility of Voodoo 1: Is there anything the others can run and the voodoo 1 can't? I mean obviously it needs a 2D card to work.

In the turn of the millennium there'd be more games that neglect having support for secondary video devices, where there'll be cases of even less capable cards running games a Voodoo Graphics/Voodoo 2 cannot. Empire Earth, for example

Ah, alright, but if that only affects year 1999 or up, that should be negligible, considering the performance in most games would be down to unplayable with any card from 1996 anyways. Or any CPU from 1996.