Re: I'm worried now....

[alastairmonk]

I bought fs98 since i have an older computer (p2 450mhz 256 meg ram etc)..and I

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).


Am I going to enjoy FS98 or is it gonna look like the demo of ProPilot 99 with
chunky clouds....?

Sigh...

Hi !

I wouldn't worry. I currently use a 16Mb card (Diamond Viper V550 AGP) and get
good performance from my PII 350MHz PC. Upgrading to a PCI card is a good idea
but whilst AGP will have some performance advantages over PCI, they are
relatively minor.

Given that there are around 10-20Gb of add-ons for FS98 from here and
elsewhere, you're in for a REAL treat. Once you've settled into the new sim,
come back here for some real gems.

Best wishes,

Alastair

[enged]

I bought fs98 since i have an older computer (p2 450mhz 256 meg ram etc)..and I

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).


Am I going to enjoy FS98 or is it gonna look like the demo of ProPilot 99 with
chunky clouds....?

Sigh...

Hello, Terry,
I wouldn't worry. As Alistair noted, there's a universe of neat FS98 add-ons
available. Also, though my machine is perfectly capable of 3D operation, the
fact is I tend to run it in "chunky" mode simply because I prefer the
sharpness.
That is, there's a lot of entertainment in FS at all levels in many aspects.

-- Dennis S, FSEngEd@aol.com

[oldtimepilot]

I bought fs98 since i have an older computer (p2 450mhz 256 meg ram etc)..and I

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).


Am I going to enjoy FS98 or is it gonna look like the demo of ProPilot 99 with
chunky clouds....?

Sigh...

Hi !

I wouldn't worry. I currently use a 16Mb card (Diamond Viper V550 AGP) and get
good performance from my PII 350MHz PC. Upgrading to a PCI card is a good idea
but whilst AGP will have some performance advantages over PCI, they are
relatively minor.

Given that there are around 10-20Gb of add-ons for FS98 from here and
elsewhere, you're in for a REAL treat. Once you've settled into the new sim,
come back here for some real gems.

Best wishes,

Alastair

I have never considered getting rid of my FS98. It is the cream of the crop in
my opinion. I have FS2K and FS2k2 installed but I rarely fly them. I prefer
the older scenery, etc.

BTW, a question on burning CDs. Can I copy unzipped zip files to a CD in the
original download state, or must I unzip them first? I'm just too lazy to
experiement myself!

Jesse

[keithj]

I bought fs98 since i have an older computer (p2 450mhz 256 meg ram etc)..and I

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).


Am I going to enjoy FS98 or is it gonna look like the demo of ProPilot 99 with
chunky clouds....?

Sigh...

Hi !

I wouldn't worry. I currently use a 16Mb card (Diamond Viper V550 AGP) and get
good performance from my PII 350MHz PC. Upgrading to a PCI card is a good idea
but whilst AGP will have some performance advantages over PCI, they are
relatively minor.

Given that there are around 10-20Gb of add-ons for FS98 from here and
elsewhere, you're in for a REAL treat. Once you've settled into the new sim,
come back here for some real gems.

Best wishes,

Alastair

I have never considered getting rid of my FS98. It is the cream of the crop in
my opinion. I have FS2K and FS2k2 installed but I rarely fly them. I prefer
the older scenery, etc.

BTW, a question on burning CDs. Can I copy unzipped zip files to a CD in the
original download state, or must I unzip them first? I'm just too lazy to
experiement myself!

Jesse

Burning of original Zip files (or any other file for that matter) is as
straight forward as copying a text file to CD. They will still have the
original files inside them and you will be able to Unzip them as normal from
the CD.

Cheers,
Keith.

[oldtimepilot]

I bought fs98 since i have an older computer (p2 450mhz 256 meg ram etc)..and I

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).


Am I going to enjoy FS98 or is it gonna look like the demo of ProPilot 99 with
chunky clouds....?

Sigh...

Hi !

I wouldn't worry. I currently use a 16Mb card (Diamond Viper V550 AGP) and get
good performance from my PII 350MHz PC. Upgrading to a PCI card is a good idea
but whilst AGP will have some performance advantages over PCI, they are
relatively minor.

Given that there are around 10-20Gb of add-ons for FS98 from here and
elsewhere, you're in for a REAL treat. Once you've settled into the new sim,
come back here for some real gems.

Best wishes,

Alastair

I have never considered getting rid of my FS98. It is the cream of the crop in
my opinion. I have FS2K and FS2k2 installed but I rarely fly them. I prefer
the older scenery, etc.

BTW, a question on burning CDs. Can I copy unzipped zip files to a CD in the
original download state, or must I unzip them first? I'm just too lazy to
experiement myself!

Jesse

Burning of original Zip files (or any other file for that matter) is as
straight forward as copying a text file to CD. They will still have the
original files inside them and you will be able to Unzip them as normal from
the CD.

Cheers,
Keith.

Thanks, Keith. That is the answer I was looking for. I have burned several
after unzipping, but I was not certain about the unzipped state. I'll start on
the job right away.
Jesse

[alastairmonk]

I bought fs98 since i have an older computer (p2 450mhz 256 meg ram etc)..and I

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).


Am I going to enjoy FS98 or is it gonna look like the demo of ProPilot 99 with
chunky clouds....?

Sigh...

Hi !

I wouldn't worry. I currently use a 16Mb card (Diamond Viper V550 AGP) and get
good performance from my PII 350MHz PC. Upgrading to a PCI card is a good idea
but whilst AGP will have some performance advantages over PCI, they are
relatively minor.

Given that there are around 10-20Gb of add-ons for FS98 from here and
elsewhere, you're in for a REAL treat. Once you've settled into the new sim,
come back here for some real gems.

Best wishes,

Alastair

I have never considered getting rid of my FS98. It is the cream of the crop in
my opinion. I have FS2K and FS2k2 installed but I rarely fly them. I prefer
the older scenery, etc.

BTW, a question on burning CDs. Can I copy unzipped zip files to a CD in the
original download state, or must I unzip them first? I'm just too lazy to
experiement myself!

Jesse

Hi Jesse !

As Keith says, there's no problem. As you're likely to be putting them on the
CD for archiving purposes, it'd be a little pointless to unzip them first !

Me, I've already compiled 2 650Mb CDs of FS2002/FS2000 planes/scenery/fixes
ready for when I eventually get my new PC to run FS2002. The advantages of
having a work-based ISDN line for those BIG files !

Not that I'm planning to give up on FS98 anytime soon, but with the likes of
the Alaskan Bush scenery, Bill Grabowski's ERJ-145, the DF737 and the FSD
Commander 115 and Super Cub, I can see that there's plenty of new stuff to get
my teeth into !

Cheers,

Alastair

[christophert]

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).

AGP ports are generally better performers than PCI cards, but 3dfx is
just another API like Direct3d or Glide. I use Direct3D and it looks great!

One advantage of the Direct3D AGP is you can get your 3D effects in a
window just as well as full screen. Some other cards will only 3D in full
screen. Mine has 8 megs too. That's more than enough for FS98.

Christopher

[buyer262000]

am waiting on it to arrive. I've been reading that you need a 3dfx card to
enjoy the 3d stuff in flight sim 98. I have an onboard 8 meg AGP video card
that has a Trident Cyberblade chipset. I have no AGP port. I was considering
upgrading my video to a PCI Card with a TNT Nvidia Vanta Chipset (a 16 meg
video card).

AGP ports are generally better performers than PCI cards, but 3dfx is
just another API like Direct3d or Glide. I use Direct3D and it looks great!

One advantage of the Direct3D AGP is you can get your 3D effects in a
window just as well as full screen. Some other cards will only 3D in full
screen. Mine has 8 megs too. That's more than enough for FS98.

Christopher

Thanks for everyone's reply. The tracking says it'll be here monday (FS98).
I've already downloaded some scenery I think I'd like to see and clouds 98 and
all the relevant patches from microsoft...


The reason I am so worried about 3-D is that in the following programs I can't
get any performance at all:

Pro-Pilot 99 --- runs and everything looks like a block, really chunky...
Microflight Demo (A hangglider demo) I can't get better than 10 frames per
second.
F-22 Raptor Demo --- When I try to tell it to go to 3-D mode it starts and goes
to the program. But the background the plane everything is all in sparkling
colors that look like something has gone horribly wrong.

I updated my via motherboard drivers to the latest version, and I downloaded
the latest AGP drivers from Via, but that did'nt fix it either.

As I said earlier I have an onboard Trident AGP 2x integrated graphics adaptor.
It is called a Cyberblade. When you go to Trident's website, there is a utility
you download to determine your chipset for drivers. The number that mine
returned actually isn't a Trident Chipset, it was leased by Via from Trident
for use in their boards. Via's site has no mention of these problems I am
having. All 2-D games work fine (my son plays Sonic, Frogger II, and all that
and they are fine.)

I just hope FS-98 runs ok on it...I'll update u all if I can get it to work


I built this computer from a cheap barebones from Tigerdirect. I only paid 99$
for the chip, ram, and motherboard already installed. Being a poor college
student...that was about all I could afford haha...


One last question, if I am intent on upgrading my graphics card, will a TNT
Vanta Chipset on the PCI bus work good? I dont wanna spend more that 40-50
dollars...and I get to game like twice a week. FS 98 will probably be all I
play for a while haha.... The reason I ask is that this is on sale at a local
computer store for 29$

The only concern I have is the power supply in this little machine (Micro ATX
Stuff) says on it 160 watt. I have a CD-Rom Drive, Floppy, and a 10 meg
ethernet card as well as an additional PCI Slot Fan for extra cooling. Will the
introduction of this Graphics card draw too much power? Don't have money to
upgrade the power supply lol! I'm not sure about disabling the card that is in
there now. The only reference I can find in the bios is something that says
something like "Graphics Card to begin with" and you get AGP or PCI for
choices. Am I correct that you'd basically plug in the PCI Card, boot the bios,
change it to start with PCI first, and the restart and that is pretty much it
(driver installation and all?)

Anyway, I've rambled long nuff...some of you hardware gurus lemme know what you
think...btw..here is my current system stats again....

Via MVP4 motherboard with latest VIA 4in1 Drivers installed, 40 gig harddrive,
40x cd rom, 10 meg ethernet card (2$ special), AMD k6-II 450 overclocked to 475
mhz (and yes I have same problems in video before I ever overclocked, and I
even changed it back to make sure) Runs cool and stable. 8 meg onboard AGP
Trident Cyberblade...







Here is the Stats
The Pine TNT Vanta PCI Video Card with 16MB Video memory works with any
standard PCI slot. It will give you great resolution- up to 1280x 1024. Works
great with one of our motherboards. A high quality 3D PCI Solution to maximize
value, reliability and image quality at an affordable price!


Specifications:

NVIDIA®VANTA 128-bit graphics engine

250Mhz RAMDAC

PCI support

Memory Configurations: 16MB SDRAM

Operating Systems Support Windows 2000® Windows 98® Windows 95® Windows NT 4.0®


CRT Monitor: 15-pin VGA connector

Display Support : Register compatible with VGA - BIOS compatible with VESA for
super VGA - VESA
Display Power Management Support

Default heatsink with additional FAN offers superior cooling

Drivers for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows 2000 (DirectDraw, Direct3D,
OpenGL). Drivers for
Windows NT(DirectDraw and OpenGL)

Single pass multi-texturing and TextureBlend support enhance 3D effects like
bump mapping, reflection
mapping, texture modulation and procedural textures

Per-pixel perspective correct texture mapping

Full scene anti-aliasing improves smoothness

32-bit Z and stencil buffer for 3D effects

32-bit frame buffer for better quality visuals at higher resolutions

32-but color for more realistic colors


Manufactured by: Pine Technology
Manufacturer Part No: PVT04BA2F

[christophert]

Here is the Stats
The Pine TNT Vanta PCI Video Card with 16MB Video memory works with any
standard PCI slot. It will give you great resolution- up to 1280x 1024. Works
great with one of our motherboards. A high quality 3D PCI Solution to maximize
value, reliability and image quality at an affordable price!

The card will work fine with FS98. Just make sure that the chipset on your
motherboard can either be disabled with a jumper setting or if it will
automatically disable itself when the new video card is installed.

Christopher