Anyone interested in gaming these days needs a good graphics accelerator and a fast computer system, especially in racing and other very fast-paced games.  Why?   Well, for racing games and sims, the computer is highly "taxed" with physics modeling because it is constantly making thousands of calculations so that all of the different physics effects work properly with each other.  Because of this, and because computer systems generally aren't made with the intention of filtering graphics (with the exception of Silicon Graphics systems that cost thousands upon thousands of dollars), the systems require a graphics accelerator to run smoothly.  However, not just any old accelerator is going to work.  Different games require different cards because of the multitude of graphics technologies out there (if only ANSI would step in and set a friggin' standard...)

The three main technologies used today are 3Dfx, Direct3D, and OpenGL.   3Dfx is the preferred technology by most gamers, although great strides have been made in the latest version of Direct3D to put it on a level paying field with 3Dfx.

So what should you buy?  Well, right now the king of the hill is the new 3Dfx Voodoo3 (the 3rd generation 3Dfx accelerator).  Why is it so good?  Well, compare it to nVIDIA's RIVA TNT, which supports both Direct3D and OpenGL.  Sounds good, right?  it is.  HOWEVER...the Voodoo3 cards support both of those PLUS they have exclusive rights to the Voodoo3 acceleration technology, giving them basically global support.  This mix doesn't come without conflict, however, and the 3Dfx/STB engineers have been making attempts for quite some time to eliminate these problems (and they've done a comendable job so far.)

Are there problems with the Voodoo3?  Well, reportedly some games don't recognize the cards as Voodoo cards because it's a new technology.  This is being worked on.

Can the problems be fixed?  Of course.  Have no fear, because a few driver updates and you'll be all set.

Reviews of Video Cards

Voodoo-3 3500TV Video Card

Now, here are some links to sites that make graphics cards.

3Dfx
STB
Wicked3D
Quantum 3D
ATi
Canopus
Creative Labs

LINKS