Riva 128zx. Nvidia, does anyone still care?

I also own an Aptiva that came with a Riva 128zx.I got frustrated with it not working with a lot of new games i want to play. I tried new drivers and so on but didnt make much difference. I replaced it with a Riva TNT2. The 128zx is a old card and for gaming, upgrading maybe the best option. Hopefully someone else will have a better solution.Sorry if I havent been any help.

Well...yes. It would be cheaper to get a Voodoo -> you can get Voodoo 1s for around £10 or less now.

*But* it depends on what kinda performance you want.
A TNT-2 (or a Voodoo 3) is a nice happy fun graphics card that will still be supported well in the near future...a lower Voodoo/cheap 3d card is now looking iffy...

(and...you have to upgrade sometime...why not now?)


Q: What's purple and commutes?
A: An abelian grape.

Obv.

A Voodoo 3 is a video card in itself; first you remove your 128zx, then you add your Voodoo 3.

Voodoo 1s & 2s are 3D accelerators; you leave your 128zx inside the computer, and then add the Voodoo 1 or 2.


Who's gonna be the odd man out? I want to be the odd man out.
-- CookieMnstr|PuF

I'll try not to be too long winded. The Riva 128zx is a card from an older generation of 3d accelerators. It doesn't support a lot of hardware features neccesary for todays high-end games (such as UT). Unfortunately, driver updates won't fix that. The hardware just can't do it. That means you'll probably need to upgrade your video card. Now, to what? First, make certain your Riva card can be removed (i.e. is it a card or is it build onto the motherboard?). If it is not removable, then your only option is a Voodoo2 1000 since the V2 is a PCI add-on card. If it is removable, is it PCI or AGP? PCI is usually a white slot, while AGP is generally brown. AGP is better. Assuming it is AGP, and you aren't looking to spend a ton of money, then a TNT2 Ultra or Voodoo3 3000 are probably the best bang for your buck. Which is better? Depends. Long story short: TNT2 has better features (32-bit color support, 32 megs memory, higher resolutions and refresh rates), however Voodoo3 (only supports 16-bit color, has 16 megs RAM) has better software compatibility (seeing as Voodoo is still the standard and it supports Glide API). If you are a technically inclined user and don't mind having to tweak settings then you are probably better off with a TNT2 ultra such as Diamond Viper V770 ultra. However, if you don't want to/like having to deal with configuration problems then the Voodoo3 3000 is for you. Both should be able to be had for around $130 to $150 US dollars (don't know how that will translate to pounds). If that is still out of your price range, look at a Voodoo3 2000 or TNT2 (non-ultra). Hope some of that helps.