Real3D Starfighter

Under Windows 95 the 2D performance of the Real3D StarFighter is a just about on par with the Matrox Millennium II, however under NT the Millennium II simply takes over with outstanding 2D performance, unmatched, by the StarFighter AGP.  Under NT4, the extra 4MB of RAM with the 8MB card doesn't really seem to make a major difference, under Windows 95 the performance increase with the 8MB card over the 4MB is negligible as well.  Since the AGP card doesn't have any texture memory, you are better off buying the 4MB card and saving yourself a few bucks, since the supported 3D resolutions won't be derived from (for the most part) your card and therefore limited by the local graphics memory.

In any case, the i740 was designed to be an outstanding 3D accelerator, which it is, unfortunately, the 2D performance is a sacrifice you will have to make if you want the full benefits of that AGP slot on your motherboard.  The StarFighter isn't "bad" when it comes to 2D acceleration, it just can't compete with the Millennium II, it will still get the job done and then some. 

Proving the point that there is no replacement for a Voodoo2 just yet, the Real3D StarFighter places well below the Creative Labs V2 board in all tests.  Not to say that Quake 2 isn't playable on the StarFighter, in fact, Quake 2 looks and performs wonderfully at 800 x 600 on the StarFighter, not to mention how well the card works at its standard 640 x 480 resolution.   If you're tight on PCI slots, and want to get the best of both the 2D and 3D world then the StarFighter becomes a much more appetizing option. 

The StarFighter's Direct3D performance is beyond decent especially when taking into consideration that the i740 can do this and much more.  Still noticeably far behind the Voodoo2 in terms of performance, the StarFighter i740 card does remain competitive.  The Forsaken Playable Demo (a beautiful game) produced frame rates in excess of 50 fps at 640 x 480, as well as a playable 25 - 30 fps at 1024 x 768, a resolution that does the game justice.  

This is all coming from a meager 4/8MB card, confined to an AGP world that knows no limits.

Conclusion

For those of you that want the absolute best 2D/3D Combination, try using a Voodoo² and a Millennium II, however that combo itself will set you back around $350  - $400, a price tag most users are not willing to swallow.  Real3D has come along with an average priced product, that offers top notch image quality, while not sacrificing performance to a noticeable degree.

A custom made Real3D Direct3D wrapper was used to run Quake 2 under Windows 95, unfortunately there is some loss of performance/image quality with this wrapper.  Once Real3D releases a reliable OpenGL ICD for the StarFighter, this card may begin to give the Riva 128's in the world a good scare in the Windows 95 market...as it has already done so under Windows NT as well as Direct 3D applications.