Possibility to upgrade video card for better performance?

[singlung]

Hello there!
I´m using Project64 on my 1Ghz Pentium 3 with 512 MB Ram and a GeForce 2 GTS. My mainboard only has 2x AGP support. If I bought a new video card, would games like Goldeneye be faster? If yes, would you prefer Voodoo or Geforce? It´s just for emulating stuff, not for "normal" games. I also sometimes use other emulators like ePSXe , but it would be mainly for PJ64.
Thanks a lot,
singlung

 

[Reznor007]

You would probably get more performance if you upgrade your CPU. Emulators don't usually push the video card very hard.

If you do decide to get a new video card, get a Radeon 9200 or higher.

 

[Stezo2k]

they would be faster with a new graphics card, but not that faster, well you have enough RAM, so your best choice like reznor said, is to get a new CPU, 2GHz+ is recomended by me

 

[Doomulation]

For all emulation except for ps emulation, gfx cards are pretty irrelevant (unless you call for combiners needed). If you want perfect ps emulation, you need a good card, if for other emulation, then no, you won't get any speed boost.

 

[singlung]

hmm....so i will save some money for a new pc then... but, at the moment, would a voodoo 5 make pj64 faster?because it doesn´t cost that much and i dont want to wait so long until i have the money to upgrade the rest of my computer (i´m a pupil)
thanks

 

[Nighty0]

yes...... if you can't wait you can buy a voodoo card. it's really cheap and have a excelent n64 plugin for glide cards (Glide64 v0.5)..... if you don't have much money now is a good choice...

it don't help much in some games, like goldeneye or PD, coz they use so much CPU, but helps graphics quality and you can use framebuffer capabilities of glide extensions......

 

[singlung]

thanks nighty0,i will think about it...

 

[Reznor007]

I don't know about buying a Voodoo5 right now. 3dfx has been dead for 3 1/2 years now, and the drivers are really outdated/buggy. Also, if you have a Geforce2 already, you would be "upgrading" to a card that is either as fast or slower than what you have already.

 

[Tagrineth]

It might be a good idea to get a Voodoo2 if you want to have Glide64 support.

Other than that, if your mainboard only supports AGP 2x, then it probably will not support any 8x based cards (necessary voltage not available).

 

[Reznor007]

I don't know...AGP4-8x compatible stuff might work, provided they use a molex connector for power.

 

[Modem]

I don't know about buying a Voodoo5 right now. 3dfx has been dead for 3 1/2 years now, and the drivers are really outdated/buggy. Also, if you have a Geforce2 already, you would be "upgrading" to a card that is either as fast or slower than what you have already.

Not true. Yes, 3dfx has been gone for a long while, but their drivers are continually updated by dedicated 3dfx users. I'm currently using a voodoo4 4500 in my other machine with some snazzy drivers that came out not long ago, and I'm not even having one problem. Since the glide source got leaked, people have been working on drivers since 3dfx died out. Just first make SURE that the voodoo5 supports 2xAGP. It *may* only support 4x (not sure though).

 

[sheik124]

I don't know about buying a Voodoo5 right now. 3dfx has been dead for 3 1/2 years now, and the drivers are really outdated/buggy. Also, if you have a Geforce2 already, you would be "upgrading" to a card that is either as fast or slower than what you have already.

ditto that modem, i have 2x voodoo2's in SLI running some really nice drivers (FastVoodoo Gold 4.0 XP or something) and when playing tribes (which was made for Glide by the way) using Glide kills using OpenGL (which was implented like a year after the game came out) with my GeForce FX 5700, and it doesn't run any slower, mainly because of the [apparent] frame lock, the GeForce, the Voodoo2's, and my old S3 ProSavage all max out at 60, and don't budge

 

[Reznor007]

Not true. Yes, 3dfx has been gone for a long while, but their drivers are continually updated by dedicated 3dfx users. I'm currently using a voodoo4 4500 in my other machine with some snazzy drivers that came out not long ago, and I'm not even having one problem. Since the glide source got leaked, people have been working on drivers since 3dfx died out. Just first make SURE that the voodoo5 supports 2xAGP. It *may* only support 4x (not sure though).

I know what I'm talking about. Up until November 28 2003 I was using the Voodoo5 5500 AGP that I bought the day it came out(June 2000). I know about all of the 3rd party drivers, and they are still buggy(not ragging on the programmers, just stating a fact). I was a big 3dfx fan, but buying a 3dfx card now would be like buying an Aureal sound card...unnofficial driver support at best, and outdated technology.

Second, Voodoo5 doesn't technically support AGP at all. It will work in any AGP1x-8x compatible board as long as it supports 3.3v cards(AGP slots with a single key, dual keyed AGP slots won't work). V5 operates at PCI66, and doesn't really take advantage of AGP at all.

 

[Clements]

Hmm, buying a V5 would actually be a slight downgrade. The Glide plugin is great and all but Voodoo isn't all that good for anything else other than old Glide PC games. Buying a modern graphics card that can do N64 emulation AND PC gaming AND supports AGP all at the same time seems to be a much more future proof solution.

Anyway, a GPU upgrade would provide nowhere near the same boost as a CPU upgrade for N64 emulation. Games like Goldeneye almost require a decent CPU, and 1GHz is not really sufficient. But then having an expensive CPU won't exactly work wonders for PC games pound for pound as a graphics card.

You'll probably end up either buying a whole new PC or upgrading all the major components like I did just to remove bottlenecks. With a modern GPU you'll need more than AGP 2x, meaning you'll need a new mobo. If you want a new CPU, you are likely to need a new mobo and perhaps new RAM if yours is too slow. It's like a vicious circle of money spending if you ask me!