Should I buy...A 3DFX Card?

[jdsony]

Anyone give me any insight on how well the 3DFX cards word with the Glide plugin? I have used the Glide plugin with the evoodoo wrapper and it does a good job but I wouldn't say it does it any better that Jabo's plugin. I'm sure I could pick up an old Voodoo 2 or Voodoo 3 PCI card for $10 give or take a few $ and wouldn't mind doing so if there are some benefit's for N64 emulation. What does everyone think?

[gokuss4]

what card do you have now?

[jollyrancher]

So you want to "upgrade" to a Voodoo 2? What kind of CPU do you have? The CPU is more important to N64 emulation so if you're computer is too slow (I'm thinking it must be to be upgrading to a Voodoo) then the graphics card doesn't even matter. If you do have a decent CPU and you want a dirt cheap graphics card you can get a Geforce2/3 or an older Radeon for under $50.

[Tagrineth]

So you want to "upgrade" to a Voodoo 2? What kind of CPU do you have? The CPU is more important to N64 emulation so if you're computer is too slow (I'm thinking it must be to be upgrading to a Voodoo) then the graphics card doesn't even matter. If you do have a decent CPU and you want a dirt cheap graphics card you can get a Geforce2/3 or an older Radeon for under $50.

Um, he never said he wanted to upgrade.


Anyone give me any insight on how well the 3DFX cards word with the Glide plugin? I have used the Glide plugin with the evoodoo wrapper and it does a good job but I wouldn't say it does it any better that Jabo's plugin. I'm sure I could pick up an old Voodoo 2 or Voodoo 3 PCI card for $10 give or take a few $ and wouldn't mind doing so if there are some benefit's for N64 emulation. What does everyone think?

He wants a Voodoo if it'll let him run Glide64 with better quality, nothing more, nothing less.

I suggest one (or maybe 2, if you can spare an additional PCI slot) Voodoo2, so you won't have to juggle monitors to get a V3 to work along with your primary card.

[LazerTag]

I have a Voodoo2 here that I have used with Glide64 instead of Evoodoo. To tell the truth, the minor items that are fixed using a real Voodoo compared to the speed drop and low resolution I had to go to (800x600), It is not worth it, IMHO.

I assume V3 or better cards will not have the massive speed drop I witnessed?

But hey if you can get one cheap, go for it and try for yourself. Always the best medicine.

[Tagrineth]

Voodoo2 should sustain 60fps in 800x600.

Voodoo2 SLI and Voodoo3 should sustain 60fps in 1024x768.

[jdsony]

Yeah i wasn't planning on upgrading to a Voodoo 2 or 3 but downgrade. Game speed is perfect for most of the games except the problematic ones. I have a Radeon 8500 and an Atlhon XP 2000+ I was just wondering if Image quality would be better in some ways with a Voodoo and if Voodoo is a long term viable option for N64 emulation. It just seems to me that Glide must still be supported for a reason not just because people are still using the old video cards.

[Tagrineth]

Yes.

As a matter of fact, Glide seems rather well-suited to emulating N64's raster.

Voodoo2 SLI would supplement your rig quite nicely =)

[Hyper190]

if your going to get a voodoo get a voodoo 4 or 5

although every oneof them is good and cheap..!!

[Tagrineth]

if your going to get a voodoo get a voodoo 4 or 5

although every oneof them is good and cheap..!!

Well the nice thing about Voodoo2 SLI is that it'll always be useful somehow.

And getting a standalone PCI V3/4/5 to run Glide correctly on the secondary monitor is awkward - you have to like swap monitor cables and stuff.

[fivefeet8]

Well the nice thing about Voodoo2 SLI is that it'll always be useful somehow.

And getting a standalone PCI V3/4/5 to run Glide correctly on the secondary monitor is awkward - you have to like swap monitor cables and stuff.

I don't swap monitor cables at all with my V5 5500 pci. I have it connected to a spare 15" monitor I have. And use my 18" LCD as my primary. Both work at the same time(span or clone). It's always nice to be able to play N64/PSx games with glide in one display, while doing something else on the other. Hehe. ;)

[Legend]

I'm sorry Tagrineth, are you saying I can slap a voodoo 2 sli into my rig and NOT have to worry about juggling cables or deal w/ another monitor. That somehow I can use Glide 64 with no troubles aside from the lower res. Because that would be awesome and interesting. Thanks.

[jdsony]

heheh...he's saying you can use 1 monitor with a voodoo 2 since the voodoo 2 is an addon board and requires a primary video card as well. I don't really want to swap cables so I would probably go the with voodoo 2 based card SLI or single if I can't get 2 cards at the same time. It should be fast enough for N64 emulation since it is mainly but not totally processor dependant. I shouldn't have given away my voodoo 2 a year and a half ago. I remember it having a somewhat blurrier output than other cards which would probably work well with N64 and the 2D sprites that tend to look a little ugly meshed with the high res 3d backgrounds.

The voodoo 2 I gave away I got for $20 used from a computer store so I will go back to them again and see what they got. It's not a big investment so no loss if I'm not all that happy with it. Maybe it will come in handy for Arcade emulation such as San Francisco Rush and Gauntlet Arcade games which used 3DFX cards. As of now there is Voodoo emulation being added to make San Francisco Rush work so it would be a nice speed boost if 3DFX cards get supported natively.

[pandamoan]

I'm sorry Tagrineth, are you saying I can slap a voodoo 2 sli into my rig and NOT have to worry about juggling cables or deal w/ another monitor. That somehow I can use Glide 64 with no troubles aside from the lower res. Because that would be awesome and interesting. Thanks.

yeah, i've got a voodoo 3 just sitting here, i could do that too if that's the case. can you use the glide hardware without switching cables and etc?

that'd be groovy!

[jollyrancher]

Yeah i wasn't planning on upgrading to a Voodoo 2 or 3 but downgrade. Game speed is perfect for most of the games except the problematic ones. I have a Radeon 8500 and an Atlhon XP 2000+ I was just wondering if Image quality would be better in some ways with a Voodoo and if Voodoo is a long term viable option for N64 emulation. It just seems to me that Glide must still be supported for a reason not just because people are still using the old video cards.


In N64 emulation the game speed is primarily dependent on the speed of your CPU and it's unlikely that downgrading to a Voodoo is going to improve speed or image quality.

[Legend]

heheh...he's saying you can use 1 monitor with a voodoo 2 since the voodoo 2 is an addon board and requires a primary video card as well. I don't really want to swap cables so I would probably go the with voodoo 2 based card SLI or single if I can't get 2 cards at the same time. It should be fast enough for N64 emulation since it is mainly but not totally processor dependant. I shouldn't have given away my voodoo 2 a year and a half ago. I remember it having a somewhat blurrier output than other cards which would probably work well with N64 and the 2D sprites that tend to look a little ugly meshed with the high res 3d backgrounds.


To Ebay I go then to get my voodoo 2 SLI. This will be alot better than using evoodoo for a long time to come (no offense McLeod :freak: ). Just in time hopefully for the new release. :santa: Damn Gonetz and his plugin rock.

[LazerTag]

Voodoo2 should sustain 60fps in 800x600.

Voodoo2 SLI and Voodoo3 should sustain 60fps in 1024x768.

Interesting. I was slowing way down when using Glide64 on the system listed in my profile. Maybe I am not utilizing the proper driver that I should be? or Maybe this slow down I see is simply an issue with trying to use the V2 under Windows XP (I know the card was not meant to work in this OS supposedly)? Maybe the slowdown is simply due to all the new framebuffer features of Glide64?

Does anyone here have experience with V2 boards and Windows XP that could enlighten me on what drivers work best and which Glide64 settings are best for non SLI?

I'd be willing to give this a go again if I could get some direction on the matter.

[Tagrineth]

yeah, i've got a voodoo 3 just sitting here, i could do that too if that's the case. can you use the glide hardware without switching cables and etc?

that'd be groovy!

No... it won't work with Voodoo3.

Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo2 were designed as 'pass-through' cards. The primary video card's output would go into this beautiful, big, heavily shielded cable and into a dsub15 input on the Voodoo2. Your monitor would then be connected to the Voodoo2's video out.

During normal operation, the primary graphics would (due to FCC emissions regulations) be passed through a basic filter on the Voodoo2, meaning extra deluxe high resolutions (like over 1600x1200) will gain some extra blur, unfortunately... but otherwise things would be totally normal.

Any time a game requests the Voodoo2, the V2 will totally ignore input from your primary card and 'take over' the display, outputting its own 3D graphics (no 2D, except using in-game hacks like Diablo II's. Voodoo2 does not conform to VGA standard, and has no logic for running 2D graphics natively).

Voodoo3, on the other hand, is a fully integrated 2D/3D card, and as such doesn't use that pass-through. If you want to use a Voodoo3, you have two choices: Multimonitor, or multiple hardware configurations and swapping cables.

Mmm, it's been a long time since I last rambled about something 3dfx-related. :holiday:

[Modem]

I'd definatly have to agree with Tagrineth. I have my old Diamond Monster 3d 2 card and it works great (I'm just not using it, because I just prefer direct3d), and just using the passthrough would be a lot easier than using upgraded cards (voodoo3, 4, 5) without them. If you don't mind the 800*600 resolution, the looks and colors of the games look, frankly, better, IMO, than regular cards. Just be aware that in WindowsXP, there's NO DIRECT3D SUPPORT FOR VOODOO2's. So don't expect to play it with Final Fantasy VII, VIII, or any other program that uses direct3d with your voodoo2. If you can spare the PCI slot(s) though, they're more than worth it.

[Flash]

I'd definatly have to agree with Tagrineth. I have my old Diamond Monster 3d 2 card and it works great (I'm just not using it, because I just prefer direct3d), and just using the passthrough would be a lot easier than using upgraded cards (voodoo3, 4, 5) without them. If you don't mind the 800*600 resolution, the looks and colors of the games look, frankly, better, IMO, than regular cards. Just be aware that in WindowsXP, there's NO DIRECT3D SUPPORT FOR VOODOO2's. So don't expect to play it with Final Fantasy VII, VIII, or any other program that uses direct3d with your voodoo2. If you can spare the PCI slot(s) though, they're more than worth it.

... and if you have 4 free PCI slots, about $350 and dual-input monitor or want to use a TV you can try to find this :
http://digilander.libero.it/F1Land/3dfxarchive/download/media/gallery/quantum3D-mercury-16x3dfxvoodoo2pci-96mb-3.jpg

[vleespet]

Wow, that's the strangest thing I've ever seen since the invasion of Mars :P.

[Modem]

Actually, come to think of it, there are cards out there that are two voodoo2's in one card already... now if I can just remember the name. Just thought of it since I was looking through an old PC Gamer... damn n' stuff, need to thiiiink of thaaaat name... it'll save a PCI slot after all. :)

EDIT:-----

After 30 seconds of searching, it's the Quantum 3D OBSIDIAN2 X-24 (long name, good card)

http://www.aberdeeninc.com/abcatg/dax351.htm

Now it's just a matter of trying to find one for sale. ^_^

[Flash]

Actually, come to think of it, there are cards out there that are two voodoo2's in one card already... now if I can just remember the name. Just thought of it since I was looking through an old PC Gamer... damn n' stuff, need to thiiiink of thaaaat name... it'll save a PCI slot after all. :)

EDIT:-----

After 30 seconds of searching, it's the Quantum 3D OBSIDIAN2 X-24 (long name, good card)
This is not exactly X-24 - X-24 is one board of four. Whole thing is called Quantum3D Mercury and it's like 96 Mb Voodoo2 with FSAA support (it's done through that AAlchemy board on the top) and it's faster than Voodoo5 5500 in Glide (of course it can't work with 32-bit color ) In Glide2x even V5 6000 can't beat this thing

X-24 alone is like 2x Voodoo2 w/ composite and S-Video out - not bad too but 4 of them with FSAA is really great, only bad thing is 4 PCI slots, not a problem if you have only PCI sound card but i have 2 SCSI controllers and sound card so i have only 3 free slots...

[vleespet]

Just wondering, is it possible create the same thing with a few voodoo5 cards?

[Modem]

Just wondering, is it possible create the same thing with a few voodoo5 cards?

Don't believe so. Voodoo 5's are not passthrough cards... at least that I know of. Don't have, or ever had a voodoo5 though. :)

[jdsony]

It would be cool if most other cards could be doubled up...It would definetly make sense for the consumer in cost savings. You wouldn't be able to get newer features by adding a second board but you would be able to get better performance. If your on a tight budget you would buy 1 video card and then when it comes time that games just aren't running well anymore chances are the card you already have is dirt cheap now and you could just buy another.

Of course this wouldn't make sense for the video card companies because they wouldn't be making much money. The way I see though is I'm not going to be shelling out the money for an expensive video card anytime soon but I would gladly buy another Radeon 8500 if I could run 2 at once.

[Flash]

BTW i was wrong about dual-input monitor - this thing can work in passthrough mode like any Voodoo1-2 card.

[Tagrineth]

I have an X-24, and they really do NOT like working in Windows XP.

Better off with normal Voodoo2 SLI.

Other thing about X-24 is, they tend to run -quite- hot, and often won't work at the stock 90MHz. When I can get mine to work, I have to run at 80MHz or it'll lock up.

[jessman1988]

So you want to "upgrade" to a Voodoo 2? What kind of CPU do you have? The CPU is more important to N64 emulation so if you're computer is too slow (I'm thinking it must be to be upgrading to a Voodoo) then the graphics card doesn't even matter. If you do have a decent CPU and you want a dirt cheap graphics card you can get a Geforce2/3 or an older Radeon for under $50.


Not to be contrary, but a GF2MX can cost well over $60, but then again Wal-Mart DOES rip people off. Even an employee said it to my face. My pc only came with 128MB DDR RAM, and that's not good enough to do anything. Now they're charging me $64+ for an out-dated GF card. This REALLY stinks, heaves, whomps, sucks, blows, or whatever else you can come up with.

[Clements]

Hmm, well it's nearly Christmas, so you could get on overhaul upgrade on your system, and if its a family comp, you could get it pretty powerful... All you need is a decent graphics card and motherboard with AGP 8X support (none of this PCI nonsense), and coupling an MX card with a superb 2400+ processor is a damn crime even if its better than a Savage!

I hope you're an atheist or Christian and celebrates Christmas and its ritualistic sharing of material goods :happy:

I'm going to upgrade my comp after Christmas when the prices go down to make it faster (like yours in a way!)

Buying from Wal-Mart was a pretty bad idea.. I saved hundreds of pounds buying from a small online retailer that is close to where I live. Go even further afield for major savings.

Anyway, I have no idea why this is in the Project64 forum, so I'll boot it to TechTalk where the techy guys are!