Okay I am having a friend of mine build a computer for me and all I have to do is tell what to put in it. I know that I am going to get an AMD K7 700 or 800 Mhz or so processor, probably 40 gigs of hard drive, 256 megs of ram, and a dvd player (plus some other stuff). What I can’t decide on is what video card and what sound card to put in. Initially I was thinking about putting a voodoo 5 into it but when I went to their site to check out their specs on it, I found out that Voodoo has either gone out of business or has been taken over. The company that is mentioned about taking over Voodoo is NIVIDIA. I found out that NIVIDIA is the makers of the Hercules brand chip of the 3D Prophet series. So far the best chip I can find is the 3D Prophet II GTS Ultra. Now that chip being 500 dollars I don’t think I would want to spend that much and I figure it would be too much for my computer. But the 3D Prophet II MX is a more reasonable priced chip and doesn’t seem to far under it’s “big brother.” I was wondering if anyone out there could answer me this. Would the 3D Prophet II GTS Ultra be too strong for the kind of computer I described (for example would I be wasting my time putting such an amazing chip into my system that is potentially beneath it). I would also like to know if the 3D Prophet II MX be better suited or would it be too weak for my system? Also are Hercules, the Prophet chips, and NIVIDIA reputable names? If anyone has their stuff, I would like to know what you guys think of them. And finally is there a site out there that I can find out all this information and perhaps more? Because I can’t seem to find one.
The nVidia GeForce family of chips that are used by Hercules and other graphics boards manufacturers receive rave reviews from just about everyone. If you plan on using the system for heavy gaming, get the highest end card you can comfortably afford. It won’t overpower your system; most of the grunt work is done on the graphics card.
As with any video card, keep your system updated with the latest drivers. I usually wait until the latest version has been out a few weeks to a month, just to let the pioneers catch the bugs.
3dfx, who used to make the Voodoo video chips, was acquired by its main competitor, nVidia. I think Voodoo chips are still available, but I’d go with nVidia chips such as the GeForce and the TNT series. I’m not sure how good Hercules cards are, but there isn’t a huge difference among different companies using nVidia chips.
The other companies in the business are ATI and Matrox. Their cards are not as fast for games, but some people say their 2D image quality is better, especially the Matrox cards.
You seem to be confused between the various chips and brands.
Nvidia makes graphics chips which are used by other companies to create video cards. Hercules is just one of many companies to use the GeForce2 GTS chip.
ATI makes both cards and chips, and (as far as I know) no other company makes cards with ATI chips.
3dfx was the company that made the voodoo chips and cards, but as you’ve already found out, they’re going out of business.
A very good site for reviews of all things computer hardware is http://www.anandtech.com
I myself have an Nvidia TNT2 Ultra based card in my system, and I’ve been quite pleased with it. But it is about time for me to build another computer. I’m going to go with Nvidia again, probably the GeForce2 GTS, unless something better is released before I get around to building a new system. I don’t think that the particular brand matters nearly as much as the chips used.
As for soundcards, it’s a matter of personal taste, but I’ve been quite pleased with my Soundblaster Live!
The GTS would not be to strong for the computer, but may be to strong for your wallet 
A 800Mhz Athlon is a still a very strong CPU.
I had a Herc Prophet IIMX myself, and it was one great little card. You really can’t go -wrong- with it. Their are better cards on the market, but you are pretty hard pressed to find one better for the price. I sold mine on ebay, and broke even a month or so ago. I bought a V5-5500AGP in its place and I absolutely love it. There is no doubt in my mind it is a superior card. However, as you mentioned 3Dfx got bought out, so the future of the card is extremely clouded at best. For the price though, it is hard to beat. Its a great little performer.
My gut feeling is that there is enough of the V5’s on the market, and that -someone- out their will do driver updates for them, but the -offical- updates are definetly limited now…if ever again. If you want future security, go for the GF2MX or even GTS if you can afford it. If you want to take a chance and get a super all around card for a bargin price, go for the V5500.
What the hell was I thinking? I take that back. The V5500 is a great performer but it is definetly not LITTLE. Hell, you need to plug it in to the power supply on its own, like a hard drive the thing sucks so much juice.
I use an ATI 4 meg PCI video card, it does all I need.
You didnt even mention what you are going to do with it, graphic design, video editting, games???Can I buy another clue?
I am personally running a P4 1.4 with a GeForce 2 ultra in it. I love my video card, but yes, it does cost as much as some cheep computers.
I’d recommend to go with a nvidia chipset. as it has been said 3Dfx is going to cease to exist soon, and nvidia will not support 3dfx’s products, so good luck getting dirvers.
Nvidia seems to have the market cornered for the moment.
You didnt even mention what you are going to do with it, graphic design, video editting, games???Can I buy another clue?
handy
I will mostly be doing gaming and perhaps some video editing and watching dvd’s.