Accelerate Your Mac! - Village Tronic MacPicasso MP540/3D0 Review

A Click shows your site support to my Sponsors

MacPicasso MP540/3D Overdrive Review

Review Summary

Intro | 2D Performance | 3D Performance | Game Performance | Movie Playback | Features | Summary

Documentation

Except for the omission of the MP540 installation step and some rough translation to english, the manual provided clear instructions for installing the hardware and using the control software. The back of the manual contained a complete list of specifications and even pinouts of the Apple and VGA monitor ports. As mentioned earlier in the review, a revised manual in PDF format is available for existing owners.

Software Bundle

Although the MP540 comes with only a driver diskette, the 3D Overdrive package includes a CDROM with the drivers, a full working version of AMAPI Workshop 3.04, Quickdraw 3D 1.5.3, Quicktime 2.5, Quicktime MPEG extension and some very impressive MPEG movies of Village Tronic products (3D Fly-bys that were very well done and looked great).

System Requirements

PCI Macintosh with 2 free PCI slots (one each for the MP540 and 3DO).
Application and Game requirements will vary, but I suggest a 150mhz 604E (or better) cpu and 64MB ram for many 3Dfx games such as Quake.
Update: Apple G3 rev 3 systems have a compatibility issue with MP540 cards prior to Rev 1.3 (Aug 98 production). See http://www.villagetronic.com/incompatE.html for details.

Pricing and Availability

At the time of this review (March 1998), suggested retail price for the card set as reviewed was $549.95. Separately the MP540 is $199.95, and the 3D Overdrive $399.95
The US distributor for Village Tronic products is SoftHut.

Summary

Overall I really liked this card, and although it would not be my choice for higher resolution work I was very impressed with the way Village Tronic was able to output the 3Dfx video into a viewport on the 2D screen. No other company has done this with the original 3Dfx chipset and it's no trivial feat (considering the hardware and software integration). The fact no 2D pass-through cables or adapters are needed is another bonus - 2D video is clear and sharp. By providing 8 MB of RAM on the 3Dfx card, higher resolutions and better 3D performance is possible than with the current crop of 4 MB 3Dfx cards.
If you don't work in true-color modes at high resolutions (above 1024x768) the 2D applications speed should be fine for most tasks. Even with a 180mhz 604E CPU, game performance was excellent for both 256 color titles like Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior, and the 3D Overdrive adds the capability of running 3DFX versions of Quake, Korea and the growing library of titles supporting the Voodoo chipset.
With 8 MB of RAM on the 3D Overdrive you can run resolutions of 800x600 in Korea and Quake, although in Quake the framerate at that resolution was too low for best play (14.4fps, even with a 290mhz G3 CPU). My problems in 3Dfx Shadow Warrior apparently are not common based on reader feedback. I was frustrated with the problems I had running Rave versions of Mechwarrior and Quake, and I hope this is just a driver issue that will be resolved in a future release.
Compared to other cards in this price range (the Nexus GA and Ultimate Rez), the MacPicasso MP540/3D0 provides 3D as good as the Nexus GA (far better than the Ultimate Rez), better gameplay (via 3Dfx support) but the 2D speed is significantly slower at higher color depths/resolutions. In my opinion the card is geared to the person that normally works in 1024x768, thousands colors or less, needs good 3D performance for casual work and wants 3Dfx game capability without sacrificing 2D video sharpness and messing with pass-through cables and adapters.
The modular design also allows adding additional modules such as a Video/TV input/output without using another PCI slot. At the current time it's the only product on the market with this combination of features. It's truly the "jack-of-all-trades" of Macintosh video cards.

Summary of Ratings:

2D Performance: 6
3D Performance: 8
Game Performance: 9
Movie Playback: 9
Software Controls: 9
Hardware Design/Features: 9
---------------------
Total: 50 (of a possible 60)

Based on these scores, you can apply your own weighting of each feature to determine if this card is right for your needs.

Index of MacPicasso MP540/3DO Review Pages
Intro | 2D Performance | 3D Performance | Game Performance | Movie Playback | Features | Summary
- or -
Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM

Copyright © Mike, 1998.

No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies.


MacPicasso MP540/3D Overdrive Review
Review Summary
Intro \| 2D Performance \| 3D Performance \| Game Performance \| Movie Playback \| Features \| Summary
Documentation
Except for the omission of the MP540 installation step and some rough translation to english, the manual provided clear instructions for installing the hardware and using the control software. The back of the manual contained a complete list of specifications and even pinouts of the Apple and VGA monitor ports. As mentioned earlier in the review, a revised manual in PDF format is available for existing owners.
Software Bundle
Although the MP540 comes with only a driver diskette, the 3D Overdrive package includes a CDROM with the drivers, a full working version of AMAPI Workshop 3.04, Quickdraw 3D 1.5.3, Quicktime 2.5, Quicktime MPEG extension and some very impressive MPEG movies of Village Tronic products (3D Fly-bys that were very well done and looked great).
System Requirements
PCI Macintosh with 2 free PCI slots (one each for the MP540 and 3DO). Application and Game requirements will vary, but I suggest a 150mhz 604E (or better) cpu and 64MB ram for many 3Dfx games such as Quake. Update: Apple G3 rev 3 systems have a compatibility issue with MP540 cards prior to Rev 1.3 (Aug 98 production). See http://www.villagetronic.com/incompatE.html for details.
Pricing and Availability
At the time of this review (March 1998), suggested retail price for the card set as reviewed was $549.95. Separately the MP540 is $199.95, and the 3D Overdrive $399.95 The US distributor for Village Tronic products is SoftHut.
Summary
Overall I really liked this card, and although it would not be my choice for higher resolution work I was very impressed with the way Village Tronic was able to output the 3Dfx video into a viewport on the 2D screen. No other company has done this with the original 3Dfx chipset and it's no trivial feat (considering the hardware and software integration). The fact no 2D pass-through cables or adapters are needed is another bonus - 2D video is clear and sharp. By providing 8 MB of RAM on the 3Dfx card, higher resolutions and better 3D performance is possible than with the current crop of 4 MB 3Dfx cards. If you don't work in true-color modes at high resolutions (above 1024x768) the 2D applications speed should be fine for most tasks. Even with a 180mhz 604E CPU, game performance was excellent for both 256 color titles like Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior, and the 3D Overdrive adds the capability of running 3DFX versions of Quake, Korea and the growing library of titles supporting the Voodoo chipset. With 8 MB of RAM on the 3D Overdrive you can run resolutions of 800x600 in Korea and Quake, although in Quake the framerate at that resolution was too low for best play (14.4fps, even with a 290mhz G3 CPU). My problems in 3Dfx Shadow Warrior apparently are not common based on reader feedback. I was frustrated with the problems I had running Rave versions of Mechwarrior and Quake, and I hope this is just a driver issue that will be resolved in a future release. Compared to other cards in this price range (the Nexus GA and Ultimate Rez), the MacPicasso MP540/3D0 provides 3D as good as the Nexus GA (far better than the Ultimate Rez), better gameplay (via 3Dfx support) but the 2D speed is significantly slower at higher color depths/resolutions. In my opinion the card is geared to the person that normally works in 1024x768, thousands colors or less, needs good 3D performance for casual work and wants 3Dfx game capability without sacrificing 2D video sharpness and messing with pass-through cables and adapters. The modular design also allows adding additional modules such as a Video/TV input/output without using another PCI slot. At the current time it's the only product on the market with this combination of features. It's truly the "jack-of-all-trades" of Macintosh video cards. Summary of Ratings: 2D Performance: 6 3D Performance: 8 Game Performance: 9 Movie Playback: 9 Software Controls: 9 Hardware Design/Features: 9 --------------------- Total: 50 (of a possible 60) Based on these scores, you can apply your own weighting of each feature to determine if this card is right for your needs.

Index of MacPicasso MP540/3DO Review Pages Intro \| 2D Performance \| 3D Performance \| Game Performance \| Movie Playback \| Features \| Summary - or - Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM
Copyright © Mike, 1998. No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies.