Matrox Millennium to a 3Dfx upgrade

I've got an old Matrox Millennium card, with 2Mb of WRAM, that I purchased over a year ago. I would like to make it 3Dfx compatible without having to buy a whole new card. I know that there are upgrade cards that work in conjunction with it. Matrox makes one, but is it the best choice? Does anyone have any reccomendations on which one to purchase? Sorry if this is a repost, but I'm new here. Thanks in advance Rod

sure, all you haveto do, is get a saw out and cut off the current chip, buy a 3dfx card and cut off those chips too and glue them onto the matrox. Works great for me, i've acheived framerates above anything else available, and it looks as good as sega's model 3. Good luck Regards, Luke Phillips

Go buy a Monster 3D, Righteous 3D, or a Pure 3D card. Install it into a free PCI slot, hook the monitor cable to the 3D card, hook the passthrough cable from your Millenium to the 3D card in the back, power up, install drivers when requested, and prepare to smile. Mike

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> I've got an old Matrox Millennium card, with 2Mb of WRAM, that I purchased over > a year ago. I would like to make it 3Dfx compatible without having to buy a > whole new card. I know that there are upgrade cards that work in conjunction > with it. Matrox makes one, but is it the best choice? Does anyone have any > reccomendations on which one to purchase? Sorry if this is a repost, but I'm > new here. > Thanks in advance > Rod

Rod, the Millennium is a super card for 2D/DOS work. That said AFAIK Matrox does not make a daughter card with a 3dfx chip. What you may be thinking of is the cards that interface with the Mystique to do video capture and TV tuning. Stay away from the new M3D card, it's next to useless. Just calling a card 3D does not a 3D make. Not that you have a problem, you have a good card to start with, a 3dfx add-on card is not going to have any problem living happily alongside the Matrox as long as you have an available PCI slot. Also, many of the Millennium cards have a slot to add extra VRAM, prices are low right now, you may want to upgrade your card to 4meg. Most of the modern games really need a 4meg card to work right and now the 3dfx add-on card has become the de-facto standard in the industry. Prices have come down alot on the 3dfx cards and they all use the same Voodoo chip, find one cheap and slam it in, you won't believe your eyes. All the best, Mike Davis -- Michael S. Davis Creative Media-Works Computer/Audio/Video Convergence "from Creative minds spring Creative solutions." http://www.creativemedia-works.com

> I've got an old Matrox Millennium card, with 2Mb of WRAM, that I purchased over > a year ago. I would like to make it 3Dfx compatible without having to buy a > whole new card. I know that there are upgrade cards that work in conjunction > with it. Matrox makes one, but is it the best choice? Does anyone have any > reccomendations on which one to purchase? Sorry if this is a repost, but I'm > new here. You only need a free PCI slot to add a 3Dfx card. It's an add-on card. No modifications are required to your Matrox card. The 3Dfx (any brand, just make sure it says *3Dfx* on the box) card comes with a pass-thru connector cable to plug from the Matrox (or any other 2d or 2d/3d combo card) into the 3D card. Your monitor plugs into the 3D card only. -- Neil Yeatman Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

The Matrox m3D is NOT 'next to useless'. Let's be sensible and objective here. I have a Millennium II 4MB and I added an m3D and now 3D games fly, with superb 3D acceleration effects. What's more I can run games like Jedi, Turok Dinosaur Hunter, Quake, Quake II, Tomb Raider etc in 1024x768 with no discernible loss in performance. In the UK, the Matrox m3D is half the price of a Monster 3D. True, 3DFX has the greater support at the moment, but PowerVR (PCX2) has only been around a few months and its support isgrowing fast. Games written for powerVR are every bit as good as the 3DFX versions in quality and speed (if you have at least a P166). The point is that there IS a choice. >> I've got an old Matrox Millennium card, with 2Mb of WRAM, that I purchased over >> a year ago. I would like to make it 3Dfx compatible without having to buy a >> whole new card. I know that there are upgrade cards that work in conjunction >> with it. Matrox makes one, but is it the best choice? Does anyone have any >> reccomendations on which one to purchase? Sorry if this is a repost, but I'm

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>> new here. >> Thanks in advance >> Rod >Rod, > the Millennium is a super card for 2D/DOS work. That said AFAIK Matrox >does not make a daughter card with a 3dfx chip. What you may be thinking >of is the cards that interface with the Mystique to do video capture and >TV tuning. Stay away from the new M3D card, it's next to useless. Just >calling a card 3D does not a 3D make. Not that you have a problem, you >have a good card to start with, a 3dfx add-on card is not going to have >any problem living happily alongside the Matrox as long as you have an >available PCI slot. Also, many of the Millennium cards have a slot to >add extra VRAM, prices are low right now, you may want to upgrade your >card to 4meg. Most of the modern games really need a 4meg card to work >right and now the 3dfx add-on card has become the de-facto standard in >the industry. Prices have come down alot on the 3dfx cards and they all >use the same Voodoo chip, find one cheap and slam it in, you won't >believe your eyes. > All the best, Mike Davis >-- >Michael S. Davis >Creative Media-Works >Computer/Audio/Video Convergence >"from Creative minds spring Creative solutions." >http://www.creativemedia-works.com

Here Here!

See my recent post titled "Performance Report: Diamond Monster 3D vs Matrox m3D"... I just went thru what you trying to do. You want the Diamond Monster3D.... the Matrox m3D is a feeble performer. Email me if you want the particulars. Regards, Ed Reynolds >> I've got an old Matrox Millennium card, with 2Mb of WRAM, that I purchased over

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>> a year ago. I would like to make it 3Dfx compatible without having to buy a >> whole new card. I know that there are upgrade cards that work in conjunction >> with it. Matrox makes one, but is it the best choice? Does anyone have any >> reccomendations on which one to purchase? Sorry if this is a repost, but I'm >> new here. >You only need a free PCI slot to add a 3Dfx card. It's an add-on card. >No modifications are required to your Matrox card. The 3Dfx (any >brand, just make sure it says *3Dfx* on the box) card comes with a >pass-thru connector cable to plug from the Matrox (or any other 2d or >2d/3d combo card) into the 3D card. Your monitor plugs into the 3D >card only. >-- >Neil Yeatman >Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

says... >>The Matrox m3D is NOT 'next to useless'. Let's be sensible and objective >>here. >Here Here! Well, for my money, an extra $60 USD is well worth a two-fold increase in 3D performance. Regards, Ed

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> The Matrox m3D is NOT 'next to useless'. Let's be sensible and objective > here. > I have a Millennium II 4MB and I added an m3D and now 3D games fly, with > superb 3D acceleration effects. What's more I can run games like Jedi, Turok > Dinosaur Hunter, Quake, Quake II, Tomb Raider etc in 1024x768 with no > discernible loss in performance. In the UK, the Matrox m3D is half the price > of a Monster 3D. True, 3DFX has the greater support at the moment, but > PowerVR (PCX2) has only been around a few months and its support isgrowing > fast. Games written for powerVR are every bit as good as the 3DFX versions > in quality and speed (if you have at least a P166). The point is that there > IS a choice. > >> I've got an old Matrox Millennium card, with 2Mb of WRAM, that I > purchased over > >> a year ago. I would like to make it 3Dfx compatible without having to buy > a > >> whole new card. I know that there are upgrade cards that work in > conjunction > >> with it. Matrox makes one, but is it the best choice? Does anyone have > any > >> reccomendations on which one to purchase? Sorry if this is a repost, but > I'm > >> new here. > >> Thanks in advance > >> Rod > >Rod, > > the Millennium is a super card for 2D/DOS work. That said AFAIK Matrox > >does not make a daughter card with a 3dfx chip. What you may be thinking > >of is the cards that interface with the Mystique to do video capture and > >TV tuning. Stay away from the new M3D card, it's next to useless. Just > >calling a card 3D does not a 3D make. Not that you have a problem, you > >have a good card to start with, a 3dfx add-on card is not going to have > >any problem living happily alongside the Matrox as long as you have an > >available PCI slot. Also, many of the Millennium cards have a slot to > >add extra VRAM, prices are low right now, you may want to upgrade your > >card to 4meg. Most of the modern games really need a 4meg card to work > >right and now the 3dfx add-on card has become the de-facto standard in > >the industry. Prices have come down alot on the 3dfx cards and they all > >use the same Voodoo chip, find one cheap and slam it in, you won't > >believe your eyes. > > All the best, Mike Davis > >-- > >Michael S. Davis > >Creative Media-Works > >Computer/Audio/Video Convergence > >"from Creative minds spring Creative solutions." > >http://www.creativemedia-works.com

-- Michael S. Davis Creative Media-Works Computer/Audio/Video Convergence "from Creative minds spring Creative solutions." http://www.creativemedia-works.com Guys, I left the entire post intact so what I said could be put in perspective. I said the Matrox M3D is "next to useless." Here in the States that statement is entirely true. 3dfx cards are way too cheap to waste your hard earned cash on something like a PowerVR card. I also said the original Millenium's are super cards, they still are, I ran an 8meg for years when they were the hottest thing around. The point is I hate to see somebody buy a product that will get by, when it's only a small amount more to get something really special, like 3dfx cards. I realize prices are high in the UK. I was there this time last year and I know what things cost. Heck, most of us have no idea what the really hot stuff even looks like, or costs like. At work I use a 500mhz Alpha that runs both a Intergraph Intense 3D Pro 1000 128bit 20meg OpenGL video card _and_ a Quantum 3D Obsidian 100 SB video card. The Quantum has only 16megs of SDRAM onboard, but it does have 4 3dfx chipsets. The price of those two cards alone would buy a pretty decent 'puter. Now quite your complaining, please, everybody knows that performance costs money. I just don't like to see people make the wrong choice because then three months down the road you will be saying "Why didn't I buy the 3dfx card?" All the best, Mike Davis

months down the road you will be saying "Why didn't I buy the 3dfx card?" All the best, Mike Davis< Mike, I wish I had found this news group before I plopped down my $$ for the m3d, what a pile....You can bet I'll do a lot more research before anymore updates...then again the Monster 3d/4mb/3dfx is in this mornings paper for $149.00 , and it's raining outside and I have nothing else to do today.... don