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What is a 3D accelerator?

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Reply 60 of 92, by DosFreak

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What is a 3D accelerator?

Apparently every video card since I almost always even in these forums see "GPU" being used to refer to any video card.
It's a lost battle, 3 letters easier to type I guess.

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Reply 61 of 92, by leileilol

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even PowerVR calls their early 3d accelerator cards GPUs now. thanks nVidia

(and before OP gets an idea, don't, p133's too weak for PCX2 and Kao certainly won't look good on it (assuming if it works at all))

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long live PCem

Reply 62 of 92, by The Serpent Rider

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DosFreak wrote:

It's a lost battle, 3 letters easier to type I guess.

3DA!

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 64 of 92, by koleq

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I think there is a diference between a

video card - 2D capable display device
3D accelerator - either a card that can do 3D and 2D on its own, or as a Voodoo an addon 3D card.
Graphics card / GPU - Modern Video Card AGP/PCIe in modern systems.

I'm kind of tired of the 3D card that are like barely better than software rendering,
I've bid on a post that has both a Rage 2c and the original Virge,
I know they are both very slow and bad but if I won that I could at least play around with them.

I'm not going to buy the Matrox G450 because it's too new for my system.
I also found an All-in-Wonder ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2x PCI, for about 25€ in Slovakia I might be able to grap that.
136276470.jpg

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Reply 65 of 92, by Oetker

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The Rage Pro is a great 2D card, but apart from 3D acceleration being slow it's also buggy in ways that depend on the exact driver version used. If I recall correctly, I couldn't find a driver on which both GLQuake and Unreal worked, and Unreal was glitchy no matter what.

Reply 66 of 92, by Cuttoon

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DosFreak wrote on 2022-04-08, 00:53:

Apparently every video card since I almost always even in these forums see "GPU" being used to refer to any video card.

Sometimes, the Nvidia Geforce 256 gets credited with being the first actual GPU by virtue of its hardware T&L capabilities.

DosFreak wrote on 2022-04-08, 00:53:

It's a lost battle, 3 letters easier to type I guess.

Typing "graphics card" all the time is a drag. But I tend to simply use "VGA" as a shortcut.

I mean, it's some kind of "array". That does "graphics" of sorts. For "video".

(Usually, to depict invaders. Possibly from space.)

I like jumpers.

Reply 67 of 92, by The Serpent Rider

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Oetker wrote:

The Rage Pro is a great 2D card, but apart from 3D acceleration being slow it's also buggy in ways that depend on the exact driver version used.

Authentically horrible experience for most PC gamers in the 90s!

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 68 of 92, by Babasha

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koleq wrote on 2022-04-08, 09:07:
I think there is a diference between a […]
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I think there is a diference between a

video card - 2D capable display device
3D accelerator - either a card that can do 3D and 2D on its own, or as a Voodoo an addon 3D card.
Graphics card / GPU - Modern Video Card AGP/PCIe in modern systems.

I'm kind of tired of the 3D card that are like barely better than software rendering,
I've bid on a post that has both a Rage 2c and the original Virge,
I know they are both very slow and bad but if I won that I could at least play around with them.

I'm not going to buy the Matrox G450 because it's too new for my system.
I also found an All-in-Wonder ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2x PCI, for about 25€ in Slovakia I might be able to grap that.
136276470.jpg

Rusty multimedia combine for games… you are original 😉
Every 3D accelerator too new for P1-133MHz 😀 This CPU is suitable only for extreme fun with first generation of 3D games “max framerate from slowest CPU” 5-10fps guaranteed)))

Need help? Begin with photo and model of your hardware 😉

Reply 69 of 92, by rasz_pl

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Oetker wrote on 2022-04-08, 09:13:

The Rage Pro is a great 2D card, but apart from 3D acceleration being slow it's also buggy in ways that depend on the exact driver version used. If I recall correctly, I couldn't find a driver on which both GLQuake and Unreal worked, and Unreal was glitchy no matter what.

as compared to Rage 2c and Virge? 😀 cmon
Rage PRO was one of only 2 1997 solutions that actually somewhat worked accelerating 3D compared to the rest of garbage on the market. The other being Riva 128. Those two ran almost as fast as Voodoo1. Add late 2002 "Turbo" drivers and you get working OpenGL.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-08, 09:30:

Sometimes, the Nvidia Geforce 256 gets credited with being the first actual GPU by virtue of its hardware T&L capabilities.

It makes sense, as previous chips hardly processed the data, they merely blitted using fixed function pipelines (1).

1/ at least that was exposed to the developers. Rendition apparently was just a RISC CPU running 3D rasterization in software and there was some kind of developer program where you could gain access to documentation and ability to upload own code.

Open Source AT&T Globalyst/NCR/FIC 486-GAC-2 proprietary Cache Module reproduction

Reply 70 of 92, by Putas

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koleq wrote on 2022-04-08, 09:07:

I've bid on a post that has both a Rage 2c and the original Virge,
I know they are both very slow and bad but if I won that I could at least play around with them.

That is the right spirit, imho.
And you will have time to find an upgrade for reasonable price.

Reply 71 of 92, by imi

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DosFreak wrote on 2022-04-08, 00:53:

What is a 3D accelerator?

Apparently every video card since I almost always even in these forums see "GPU" being used to refer to any video card.
It's a lost battle, 3 letters easier to type I guess.

GPU has been used for graphics chips since the 70s, nvidia did not coin that term and calling graphics cards (that have graphics chips on them) GPUs for short is perfectly fine.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-08, 09:30:

Sometimes, the Nvidia Geforce 256 gets credited with being the first actual GPU by virtue of its hardware T&L capabilities.

no, that's what nvidia wants you to believe, they proclaimed to have made "the first GPU" and have sown that myth ever since.

Reply 72 of 92, by Doornkaat

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imi wrote on 2022-04-08, 13:03:
GPU has been used for graphics chips since the 70s, nvidia did not coin that term and calling graphics cards (that have graphics […]
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DosFreak wrote on 2022-04-08, 00:53:

What is a 3D accelerator?

Apparently every video card since I almost always even in these forums see "GPU" being used to refer to any video card.
It's a lost battle, 3 letters easier to type I guess.

GPU has been used for graphics chips since the 70s, nvidia did not coin that term and calling graphics cards (that have graphics chips on them) GPUs for short is perfectly fine.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-08, 09:30:

Sometimes, the Nvidia Geforce 256 gets credited with being the first actual GPU by virtue of its hardware T&L capabilities.

no, that's what nvidia wants you to believe, they proclaimed to have made "the first GPU" and have sown that myth ever since.

I can only agree!👍 Some marketing division's arbitrary definition should not be defining in the context of a technical discussion.

Reply 73 of 92, by Cuttoon

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imi wrote on 2022-04-08, 13:03:

no, that's what nvidia wants you to believe, they proclaimed to have made "the first GPU" and have sown that myth ever since.

As a generic term, sure, GPU does what it says, analogue to CPU.
As opposed to "graphics card" I find it somewhat pretentious in any age.
But, if it were a difference, I'd be perfectly happy to indulge Nvidia's definition - they've earned it.

Since I don't quite find it in my heart to give a solitary fart about any of it, I'll probably stick to writing vga if in a hurry.
Even about a combination of DVI-D, DP and HDMI 😉

I like jumpers.

Reply 74 of 92, by LightStruk

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Nvidia might have called the Geforce 256 a GPU, but the definition of GPU that always seemed more appropriate to me is a graphics chip with programmable shaders. That puts the "processor" in "Graphics Processing Unit" as opposed to a fixed-function renderer. If that's a GPU, then the Geforce 3 (NV20) is the first true personal computing GPU.

Last edited by LightStruk on 2022-04-08, 15:48. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 75 of 92, by Cuttoon

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LightStruk wrote on 2022-04-08, 13:55:

Nvidia might have called the Geforce 256 a GPU, but the definition of GPU that always seemed more appropriate to me is a graphics chip with programmable shaders. That's puts the "processor" in "Graphics Processing Unit" as opposed to a fixed-function renderer. If that's a GPU, then the Geforce 3 (NV20) is the first true personal computing GPU.

Interesting.

As in "Darth Shader" or what is that all about?

I like jumpers.

Reply 76 of 92, by The Serpent Rider

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LightStruk wrote:

Nvidia might have called the Geforce 256 a GPU, but the definition of GPU that always seemed more appropriate to me is a graphics chip with programmable shaders.

GeForce 256 and original Radeon weren't so simple as it seems. Their potential just not fall into DirectX 8 standards.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 77 of 92, by Joseph_Joestar

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LightStruk wrote on 2022-04-08, 13:55:

Nvidia might have called the Geforce 256 a GPU, but the definition of GPU that always seemed more appropriate to me is a graphics chip with programmable shaders. That puts the "processor" in "Graphics Processing Unit" as opposed to a fixed-function renderer. If that's a GPU, then the Geforce 3 (NV20) is the first true personal computing GPU.

Check out Nvidia's Small Pond Demo to see what pre-GeForce3 cards were truly capable of. Not programmable, but you could achieve some pretty nice looking effects using NSR.

This thread has some more info on that: Geforce2 shading rasterizer info

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Reply 78 of 92, by koleq

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So new development I can get that that All-In-Wonder ATI Rage 3D Pro for 25€
or I can bid on Vibra DX 4MB (which does start Resident Evil 1, and my S3 Trio 64 2MB does not)

I just wondering if the Rage 3D Pro Turbo AGP worth it. like it's about 620 czk, and that is still more than I am comfortable.
I still think I can grab a Vibra for cheaper and play some games with it.

###HP Vectra VL 5/133 Series 4, D4644B###
CPU: Pentium 1 133Mhz
RAM: 96 MB EDO RAM (4x8MB, 2x32MB)
GPU: ELSA Victory 3DX (S3 Virge/DX 4MB)
Sound: Avance Logic ALS100 Plus+ REV 2.0
HDD: Seagate 20 GB (need to boot OnTrack)
OS: Windows 98 SE

Reply 79 of 92, by pentiumspeed

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Minimum is riva 128 PCI or TNT M64 PCI but they cost bit more but gives working 3D support.
Next up easiest to get is FX5200 PCI (make sure this has 128bit (4 or 8 chips).

Geforce2 and Geforce4 in PCI is most expensive to get.

Cheers,

Great Northern aka Canada.