I wish to complain about the quality of the Steve Patient's 3D accelerator card review. The review is absolutely complete crap. No that is not just my opinion -it's the opinion of most informed people and on a particular newsgroup on the internet (comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video) which is concerned with 2D and 3D video cards. The review doesn't match the rest of the 3D gaming world's experiences. There's no mention of the titles due for the Orchid Righteous 3DFX (101 titles in development around 10 out already) even though you mention the great support for PowerVR (31 titles). Have you actually seen Tomb Raider on the 3DFX ? It is absolutely stunning at 30fps 640x480 res (even on a P100 !) I suggest you read comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video for some real opinions. In fact go read one of your rival magazines PCGamer for an accurate, honest, and fair review of all cards. You mention the kuldgy Orchid Righteous' Direct 3D performance - even though it is probably the best performing D3D card. A number of D3D games are already available and run the best on the 3DFX chipset. For example I suggest you compare the D3D Hellbender on the Voodoo 3DFX to the same game on the Verite (3D Blaster) - the 3DFX version looks much better and runs smoother with superb effects like transparent explosions etc. You say the 3DFX can only do 640x480. The Voodoo 3DFX can do 640x480 or 800x600 (without zbuffering). Mech Warrior 2 for 3DFX can run well at 800x600. >"Mode switching is irritating ... " Also I have NEVER experienced any reboots when switching modes - neither has anyone else I know. All other DirectX games (designed for 3D accelerators or not) slap you into 640x480 usually, and on the fly too so why is that irritating on the Voodoo? Once the game finishes you are put back to the resolution your Windows 95 was set to - automatically. If Steve had a problem here it could be down to either his 2D card's drivers or his DirectX setup. >"... and the voodoo chips get worryingly hot" Does that mean it's crap at 3D? All fast processor chips get hot so what? In a review of 3D accelerators it's hardly fitting to mark a card down because a chip gets hot. Another irrelevant point that is used to mark it down another 10%. >"On the plus side, there are no frightening clicking noises a la >Righteous 3D" Frightening? ROFL! That scared him? A *slight* clicking sound from the Orchid card when it first cuts in is actually reassuring as you know the 3D card is doing it's stuff. To mark a card down 10% from the Monster 3D because it clicks is ridiculous especially when it's because the click in the Orchid is due to it using BETTER quality relays to pass the video signal! You mark the card in last position but you say the card is fast! (which is the whole point of having a 3D *accelerator* !) >"The 3D Blaster PCI gives you more games and is the best choice if you >want to impress your friends right now" If you want to impress your friends you show them Tomb Raider or Hellbender on the 3DFX (I assure you Hellbender on the 3DFX is much better than that on the 3D Blaster). You also mention there's no support for gamepads. HUH? There's only one 3D accelerator that did (Diamond Edge - which was a complete flop!) Why even mention this - does the 3D Blaster support them ? NO.. how about the ATI Expression ? NO. Reactor? NO. Stealth 3D 2000 ? NO. How about the Matrox Mystique? NO. Sierra's Screamin 3D? NO, etc ... you get the idea. You mark the OR3D down on a completely useless point again. If you want to use a gamepad you just go and buy one and plug it into your joystick port like everyone else. Weird completely irrelevant point. 3D games look and run the best on the 3DFX it's a fact face it and please correct the overly bias review. BTW I bought mine from Simply Computers for 189 UKPounds + VAT not 244 pounds and other companies sell them cheaper. Simply Computers are not cheap cowboys either that's the real price in the UK. There are many other reviews in magazines and on the internet where the Orchid Righteous 3D wins. The only other reviews where it doesn't win usually are when the magazine doesn't bother to review the 3DFX! Here is one example of the many reviews (from www.pcme.com here's a quote: ) >"Righteous 3D (3Dfx Voodoo 4MB) >" Wow, talk about a performance boost! Hellbender was kickass >" with the Righteous 3D taking over for the Screamin' 3D's Rendition >" Verite chip. It clearly blows away ALL of the Rendition cards we >" tried, and Hellbender even looked better than it did running on >" any of the other cards. I believe this is because the 3Dfx uses >" some effects that the Rendition based cards don't. Additionally, >" Hyperblade looked astonishing, playing smooth as silk, and in >" 16bit color no less! Though you are required to send in a coupon >" to obtain your FULL version of 3Dfx MW2, we did get an early copy >" from Activision, and it looked even more impressive than the >" previous 3D versions, and it played a heck of a lot smoother! >"In the end, the 3Dfx cards are the cream of the crop. BTW I used to subscribe to your magazine (way back from issue one) but stopped a while ago due to poor, inaccurate hardware reviews and misleading and sometimes completely wrong information in the 'help' in the problem pages. Often I would grimace at the thought of some poor confused soul going away even more confused, when your respondent waffled on for a column or two completely missing the real problem (usually because he obviously had no time to actually read the letters properly). In short your review is full of misleading, inaccurate and totally meaningless comments. I am sure I am not the only one to point these failures out.