Pure 3D

An "accelerating" graphics experience

by Steven Bilodeau

There's an old expression: "Good things come to those who wait." Well, the waiting's over!

The Pure 3D is an add-on board for use along with your regular video card. It uses the 3Dfx Voodoo chip, which guarantees complete compatibility with every accelerated game out there. There are even some games with accelerated graphics that will work exclusively with 3Dfx.

The difference between the Pure 3D and other 3Dfx-based boards (like the top-rated Diamond Monster 3D) is twofold. First, the Pure 3D has 2 megabytes of extra texture memory for a total of 6 MB of memory. That is significant because it means the board can hold more textures in memory without having to re-read them from the hard drive. This makes the game look better and also play smoother. The second difference of this card is a built in TV output. You can hook your computer up to a television and play games on that larger screen. The software is easy to understand and the hardware plugs are well described in the manual. You can hook it up quickly and easily. The card even includes S-video support, so the picture quality can be improved on televisions that offer the feature.

The extra features won't hit you in the pocket book. Canopus has made a wise decision. The Pure 3D is priced at approximately the same point as cards with less memory and no television support. The trade-off is that there are no games bundled with the card. Given that many hardware products include games that you might not want anyway, this is a minor loss for a major gain.

If you already have a graphics board and are looking to upgrade for the best performance with your games, you cannot do better than the Pure 3D.

The Pure 3D was originally supposed to be a direct-order product where you would have to contact Canopus directly. However, the demand for this product is so intense that some retailers have decided to carry it as regular inventory. The problem is, they keep selling out, so don't be surprised if you have a slight wait.

Steven Bilodeau is a columnist for the Edmonton Journal. .