3Dlabs Permedia 3 Create!

With CPU dependency now an issue, 3dfx takes the lead as the Permedia 3 steps aside, not being fed properly by the Pentium II 300 in AnandTech's slower test bed.

The ATI Rage 128 proves itself to be a competitive performer (at least under 9x) as it comes in a close second, followed by none other than the Permedia 3. The same G400/G200 anomaly is present here as the G400 is outpaced by the G200 in terms of Direct3D rendering performance. There is no doubt that updated drivers from Matrox will correct this problem, the only question now is, when?

Even when you take away the power of the Pentium III 450, the Permedia 3 managed to stay on top, although in this case there is very little improvement over the Permedia 2. The Rage 128 continues to do much better than expected, and the two Matrox cards continue to boast their weak OpenGL performance.

The same situation is mirrored when the switch to 32-bit color rendering is made, however the G400 and G200 take a huge performance hit from the switch and drive them to the edges of the charts. The G400 is still AnandTech's pick for best overall solution, however poor driver support as well as lack luster high end performance will keep the G400 out of the hands of many that are looking for that well rounded option. Even S3 is looking better than Matrox now...