3Dlabs Permedia 3 Create!

NVIDIA has the second best OpenGL ICD out of the comparison made here, the TNT2’s OpenGL ICD has been maturing since the early days of the TNT. After the original OpenGL ICD was released for the Riva 128, NVIDIA has made their OpenGL ICD one of their top priorities and it definitely shows as the TNT2, without intending to, almost perfectly fits the description of the professional by day, gamer by night graphics card. The ICD is available under both Windows 9x and Windows NT, and is a stable and high performing solution in both cases. The beauty of the TNT2 is that not only does it offer a stable and high performing OpenGL ICD, but it is also a true gamer’s card. But we’ll leave the true test to the benchmark comparisons.

If NVIDIA is the second best in terms of a reliable OpenGL ICD out of the roundup the first can be none other than the subject of this review, the 3Dlabs Permedia 3. It would make absolutely no sense for 3Dlabs to skimp on the one target market they’re banking on with the Permedia 3, so it comes as no surprise that the Permedia 3 boasts native OpenGL support and incredibly solid ICD (both under Windows 9x and NT). With an OpenGL ICD as complete and stable as that from 3Dlabs, both the professionals by day, and the gamers by night should be satisfied as games like Quake 3 that require a fully functional OpenGL ICD will be more than happy running on a Permedia 3. At what speed though, is another question…

The Third API

Applying only to 3D Studio Max users, there is a third point of driver support that you may or may not want to look for in a graphics card. 3D Studio Max’s own API, Heidi, is something you won’t hear 3dfx or NVIDIA boasting support for, simply because the market that requires support for the API isn’t the target market for either of those companies. In terms of rendering speed, if done properly, a card’s Heidi drivers should be able to outperform itself when rendering under OpenGL. This was the case of the Permedia 2, whose Heidi drivers made it an amazing force under 3D Studio Max yet at a reasonable price.

Unfortunately, at its current state, the Permedia 3 drivers do not come with support for Heidi. Attempting to use the Permedia 2’s Heidi driver with the Permedia 3 resulted in little more than a garbled screen and failed renders. This is the one topic that may cause some Permedia 2 owners to stick with their cards for a little longer as a Permedia 2, using Heidi, is faster than a Permedia 3 rendering in OpenGL by a very noticeable degree. The only advantages the Permedia 3 would hold for users that are in the situation where they are currently enjoying the benefits of Heidi accelerated rendering on their Permedia 2s would be in image quality, a larger local frame buffer and increased gaming performance.