LoL, this thread is still going on? Anyways, just my 2 cents....I was using a V5 PCI for about 9 mos. before I picked up a GF3 in the BB deal. I guess the argument here is FPS and what is acceptable, and somehow Picture Quality got thrown in the mix as well. Both have their places in gaming, just not the same types of games. I was hardcore into RPG, RTS games that were mostly 2D with some 3D at a 3/4 birds-eye view. I never really got into FPS games for a few reasons: 1) my machine wasn't the fastest rig on the planet (like it is now ) 2) I didn't have the latest raging video card on the market, and 3) I didn't put the time into 3D RPS games to get good at them, so I shyed away from them. I've recently gotten into FPS games a lot more since I built Athlon-based rigs (2nd one now) originally with a V5. I will say that the V5 scales exceptionally well with CPU speed b/c its rendering architecture lends itself better to CPU rather than GPU speed. That being said, the V5 on a P3 500 ran Q3 Arena modestly well. Once I bumped it up to an Athlon 1.4 on a PC133 rig, it flew, as did the rest of my games. Its even faster now on my AXP and DDR board. I could crank up the settings to 2x FSAA at 1024x16 (with the 24-bit color hack) max details and it still ran at @120fps avg.....it flew. All my older 2D RTS/RPG games looked unbelievable with FSAA on and they ran without the slightest stutter (try playing Fallout Tactics online at 1024 with 20 people and 6 squaddies per player ).
Now to the GF3...on older games like Q3, there is no noticeable difference at all compared to the V5. Yah I ran everything on the V5 in 16 bit, but the V5 IMO had superior IQ regardless of color depth, particularly with the 24 bit hack enabled. Turn on FSAA, and its no contest. On newer games however, like Max Payne and RTCW, there is a noticeable difference in speed and smoothness when running at 1280 and max details (the V5 can't run at that setting smoothly btw, 1024 max). I also run those games in 32-bit color, and in FPS games, I don't really care about FSAA, I care about speed and details. The GF3 is extremely impressive with its raw speed. I keep my V5 PCI in my system to run my RTS/RPG games, and the GF3 for FPS games, but there definitely is some truth to what people have said about not knowing what is out there until they actually experience it. I didn't think the GF3 would make such a huge difference in FPS type gaming, but now I can't imagine playing FPS games on my V5. I didn't read that article with the GF3 vs V5 benchies, and I'm not sure if there is any merit to the V5 beating the GF3 with FSAA enabled. The V5 doesn't take much of a hit with 2x FSAA enabled, but it still didn't beat the GF3 in the benches I ran myself. My rule of thumb is if the V5 can run something at around 60fps with 2x FSAA on....I use it over the GF3....and yes, I do take minimum frames into consideration, b/c slowdown in a game can result in a slideshow even if you are averaging 60fps. I play games online exclusively, so considerations for lag also should be factored in. I voted "no" 60fps is not a slideshow, but if you are getting slow-downs b/c of lag, lots of sprites/graphics, smoke in games, its frustrating. If you are flying along 75% of the time only to slow down to a chug when it counts (in the middle of a heavy fire fight), those extra fps do really make a difference. So the game might not be a slideshow the entire time, but if it slows down when it matters, it might not be enough......
Chiz
Now to the GF3...on older games like Q3, there is no noticeable difference at all compared to the V5. Yah I ran everything on the V5 in 16 bit, but the V5 IMO had superior IQ regardless of color depth, particularly with the 24 bit hack enabled. Turn on FSAA, and its no contest. On newer games however, like Max Payne and RTCW, there is a noticeable difference in speed and smoothness when running at 1280 and max details (the V5 can't run at that setting smoothly btw, 1024 max). I also run those games in 32-bit color, and in FPS games, I don't really care about FSAA, I care about speed and details. The GF3 is extremely impressive with its raw speed. I keep my V5 PCI in my system to run my RTS/RPG games, and the GF3 for FPS games, but there definitely is some truth to what people have said about not knowing what is out there until they actually experience it. I didn't think the GF3 would make such a huge difference in FPS type gaming, but now I can't imagine playing FPS games on my V5. I didn't read that article with the GF3 vs V5 benchies, and I'm not sure if there is any merit to the V5 beating the GF3 with FSAA enabled. The V5 doesn't take much of a hit with 2x FSAA enabled, but it still didn't beat the GF3 in the benches I ran myself. My rule of thumb is if the V5 can run something at around 60fps with 2x FSAA on....I use it over the GF3....and yes, I do take minimum frames into consideration, b/c slowdown in a game can result in a slideshow even if you are averaging 60fps. I play games online exclusively, so considerations for lag also should be factored in. I voted "no" 60fps is not a slideshow, but if you are getting slow-downs b/c of lag, lots of sprites/graphics, smoke in games, its frustrating. If you are flying along 75% of the time only to slow down to a chug when it counts (in the middle of a heavy fire fight), those extra fps do really make a difference. So the game might not be a slideshow the entire time, but if it slows down when it matters, it might not be enough......
Chiz