By Loyd Case
 Design by Ethan O'Brien

It's been awhile since we checked out the graphics-card scene. A few months ago, we reviewed more than a dozen new 3D accelerators. Since then, some fresh players have arrived, and several cards that weren't quite ready then are now on your local store shelves. So it's time to strap in, hold on, and put another set of contenders to the test.

Two clear leaders have emerged in the past couple of months. The RIVA TNT from cycle-time king nVidia and the Banshee chip from 3Dfx grace many a gamer's system. A number of card makers have jumped on the bandwagon, supporting either TNT or Banshee, or both. But over that same period, a new horse has entered the race: ATI's Rage 128. We'll put them all through their paces and see if we can reach some conclusions as to which card is best for you.

One other trend has emerged: The number of games that support only 3Dfx's Glide API is diminishing. We've seen quite a few titles that had been Glide-only games pick up support for either Direct3D or OpenGL - or both. This is welcome news for gamers who resisted having more than one card in their system, due to cost constraints or slot limitations. OpenGL is getting more attention now as well. ATI will showcase its OpenGL driver in its upcoming Rage Fury and Rage Magnum cards, which use the new Rage 128 chip. Still, most games that support OpenGL either are based on one of the Quake engines or support more than one API (for example, Direct3D).

Now, without further ado, let's dive into the card reviews.

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