Ok, on a hunch I tried a trick that sometimes had to be used to get old
games (or not-so-old like European Air War) to run on the Voodoo2. And it
WORKS, our beloved Grand Prix Legends looks just like it did on the Voodoo2.
Force the card to limit texture memory to 2mb. I had a feeling since it was
doing weird stuff with the textures this might work.
This is on a Windows 98 rig, may be different for Win 95 machines.
Go to Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> 3dfx Tweaks Tab
On the left of the panel, select Glide / OpenGL. Below this you will see a
checkbox for "Limit Texture Memory to 2mb" - check this.
putting about Kyalami with 19 AI opponents, the frame counter seemed pretty
close to 36 even running down pit road past multiple cars, and stayed right
at 36 when running near just a few cars, definitely FELT smoother to me than
my single Voodoo2 running 800x600. Ran it at 1280x960 (or something like
that) and got a decent 28fps, and it looked quite good. Might be a good one
for
replays. There was an option for 1600x1200 but I didn't feel brave enough,
that's for the P3-700's right there :-) Not sure how much limiting the
texture
memory affects the performance, might even pick up some when it can use all
the
card's memory.
You may want to try this on any other games that give problems. On ones
that work without it, just go through the panel and uncheck it (something I
couldn't seem to do on my Voodoo2 without a restart). With the previous
Voodoo cards you could usually make a batch (.BAT) file that set variables
for the card, and there was one made up for Euro Air War that launched it
and set this automatically, and reset it after the game if I remember
correctly - maybe this can be done for GPL until a proper fix is made.
Hey rreved heres one for you! :-)
--
Ken's Sig 2.01
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from
some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
Thanx for the info Ken,looks like I can go ahead & buy one after all :)
Why in the world did you buy a Voodoo3? If you had a Voodoo2 you should
have gotten another one. Why? Its cheaper AND if you looked at the reviews,
the 2 Voodoo2s in SLI are faster than both the Voodoo3 2000 and Voodoo3
3000. And btw, the Voodoo3s that sit in an AGP slot use it as nothing other
than basically another PCI slot and don't take advantage of the AGP2x specs.
And btw, with 2 Voodoo2s in SLI you don't have any of that weird texture
stuff either. :)
Runs at higher resolutions, actually the 3000 I'm gonna get soon is faster
than SLI in a lot of situations, and it replaces my Riva 128 for 2D. AND,
if you've tried to find a Voodoo2 on a store shelf lately, there aren't any,
at least not around here. And NO Creative Labs ones, to match the one I
have. Every so often there's an STB V2, and I could mix-and-match 'em with
hacked drivers but I'd rather not. Yeah, mail order or buying somebody's
used one, but I like to get something in a box that I can return easily if
need be, and not waiting a month for it to come in the mail because someone
is back-ordered.
Trust me, I read a lot of the reviews, and I know others who are doing the
same thing. See, with selling my V2 and my Riva 128, I almost paid for the
2000 with no out of pocket money. When I trade this one for the 3000 when
they come in, I'm spending another $50, making it a total investment of
about $75. Pretty good deal, IMHO.
--
Ken's Sig 2.01
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from
some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
>Why in the world did you buy a Voodoo3? If you had a Voodoo2 you should
>have gotten another one. Why? Its cheaper AND if you looked at the reviews,
>the 2 Voodoo2s in SLI are faster than both the Voodoo3 2000 and Voodoo3
>3000. And btw, the Voodoo3s that sit in an AGP slot use it as nothing
other
>than basically another PCI slot and don't take advantage of the AGP2x
specs.
>And btw, with 2 Voodoo2s in SLI you don't have any of that weird texture
>stuff either. :)
Higher resolutions? Mms.. my Voodoo2 SLI will run in 1024x768, however it
runs best in 800x600 on a p2400. I can't imagine that the Voodoo3 2000/3000
will be able to run at any higher resolution than that at a constant 36fps.
Why buy on the shelf? Buy through places like buycomp.com, etc. You will
get a MUCH better deal and more variety than places like BestBuy and
CompUSA. I know buycomp.com and necx.com a couple weeks ago had CL Voodoo2s
retail boxes. I only buy retail boxes, so that what I looked for.
If I was going to get a Voodoo3, which you'd have to pay me to own....and
this even spite the fact I've owned now 4 Voodoo products and loved them
all, I wouldn't settle for anything less than a 3500. The Voodoo3
architecture has enough drawbacks as it is, anything less than their very
best one isn't worth it.
Well, on my P2-400 1024x768 was almost always 36fps, all graphics on, even
going down pit road passing a lot of cars - which it DIDN'T do at 800x600 on
my V2. From what I read with SLI, you actually slowed some from the single
V2 numbers by a frame or 2. Doesn't seem so on my "low-end" V3. And in
stuff like Quake2, it was just a tad slower than 1024x768 running at
1280x960 - never dipped under 28 at this res in GPL either. When I trade
for my 3000, I'm not going to be the least surprised if it gets a constant
33-36. Visual quality is noticeably better to me than the V2, everything
seems somewhat sharper. For me it was worth the ~$75 to get this (actually
only $25 for the 2000 so far) it may not be for you, that's why they make
all these different options for people to make their own decisions, right?
--
Ken's Sig 2.01
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from
some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
>> Runs at higher resolutions, actually the 3000 I'm gonna get soon is
faster
>> than SLI in a lot of situations, and it replaces my Riva 128 for 2D.
AND,
>> if you've tried to find a Voodoo2 on a store shelf lately, there aren't
>any,
>> at least not around here. And NO Creative Labs ones, to match the one I
>> have. Every so often there's an STB V2, and I could mix-and-match 'em
>with
>> hacked drivers but I'd rather not. Yeah, mail order or buying somebody's
>> used one, but I like to get something in a box that I can return easily
if
>> need be, and not waiting a month for it to come in the mail because
>someone
>> is back-ordered.
>Higher resolutions? Mms.. my Voodoo2 SLI will run in 1024x768, however it
>runs best in 800x600 on a p2400. I can't imagine that the Voodoo3
2000/3000
>will be able to run at any higher resolution than that at a constant 36fps.
>Why buy on the shelf? Buy through places like buycomp.com, etc. You will
>get a MUCH better deal and more variety than places like BestBuy and
>CompUSA. I know buycomp.com and necx.com a couple weeks ago had CL
Voodoo2s
>retail boxes. I only buy retail boxes, so that what I looked for.
>> Trust me, I read a lot of the reviews, and I know others who are doing
the
>> same thing. See, with selling my V2 and my Riva 128, I almost paid for
>the
>> 2000 with no out of pocket money. When I trade this one for the 3000
when
>> they come in, I'm spending another $50, making it a total investment of
>> about $75. Pretty good deal, IMHO.
>If I was going to get a Voodoo3, which you'd have to pay me to own....and
>this even spite the fact I've owned now 4 Voodoo products and loved them
>all, I wouldn't settle for anything less than a 3500. The Voodoo3
>architecture has enough drawbacks as it is, anything less than their very
>best one isn't worth it.
The Voodoo3 is definitely not a bad deal if you are able to re-sell
your Voodoo2 and 2D card or put them to other uses. Personally, I
plan to sell my Voodoo2 card to a 3D-less friend and use my 2D card in
another computer, so I'll basically be paying around $20-$40 for the
benefit of slightly better performance and the ability to free 2 PCI
slots that can be put filled with other cards, not to mention that
I'll be able to rely solely on 3dfx for new drivers rather than
piss-poor Canopus. If I had an SLI I'd actually be making money by
selling both cards and not losing any performance. Sure, the Voodoo3
doesn't take advantage of the AGP port, but it sure is nice for those
of use running short on PCI slots.
On Wed, 7 Apr 1999 08:27:18 -0500, "Chris Schletter"
Quoted text (8 lines)
>Why in the world did you buy a Voodoo3? If you had a Voodoo2 you should >have gotten another one. Why? Its cheaper AND if you looked at the reviews, >the 2 Voodoo2s in SLI are faster than both the Voodoo3 2000 and Voodoo3 >3000. And btw, the Voodoo3s that sit in an AGP slot use it as nothing other >than basically another PCI slot and don't take advantage of the AGP2x specs. >And btw, with 2 Voodoo2s in SLI you don't have any of that weird texture >stuff either. :)Its not just that it doesn't take advantage of the AGP slot, it doesn't take
advantage of the latest D3D and upcoming DX7 stuff either. Not to mention,
being able to handle large textures, etc. :)
I do understand the problems with lack of PCI slots...I have a BH6 and no
slots are available. :) One will be as soon as the TNT2s come out.
Personally, since I have an SLI rig with Diamond cards, I want better
performance. A Voodoo3 is just going to basically give me the same thing as
the SLI but in one card. TNT2 will give about the same performance but
offer a large variety of 16, 24, 32 bit options plus will take advantage of
AGP, etc for Quake3 and beyond. :)
I really wish that the Voodoo3 would be made into a PCI based add on card.
Then, I'd buy one and get rid of my SLI Voodoo2s. But definitely not going
to waste my AGP port on one. :?
Same thinking here on my end, with the added benefit of having GREAT 2D with
the V3. This is NOT the card to last me a year like my Voodoo2 was. This
is to accelerate my library of Glide stuff to SLI levels, and to have that
level of performance for 6 months for the new stuff coming out. Plus, in
MANY games, ones I play like GPL and Falcon 4.0, SLI doesn't do jack for
them vs. one V2, they actually run faster on a Banshee. V3 is the best of
SLI and Banshee, and from what I've seen from another SLI owner I know that
went to V3, Falcon 4.0 isindeed faster on the V3 than the SLI by a decent
margin, and that's MY experience with GPL - his 400 w/SLI was no faster in
GPL than my 400 w/single V2, but at 1024x768 GPL is just as smooth as it was
at 800x600 on either rig.
Ok, fast forward 6 months. By then, we either know 3dfx is coming out with
the Voodoo4 / Rampage, and whether it does all the neat things that the TNT2
and other cards coming soon do. We'll also see how the TNT2 lives up to the
hype, there should be stable drivers by then, and we'll actually have some
games that support all the 32-bit color and other stuff, maybe even one or
two where it actually makes a noticeable difference. There isn't anything
coming out between now and then that just isn't going to run well on the V3.
Maybe, then, I'll look at going to something else. And I'm out a total of
$75, not counting what I get selling the V3. I fail to see the problem here
myself.
--
Ken's Sig 2.01
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from
some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
>The Voodoo3 is definitely not a bad deal if you are able to re-sell
>your Voodoo2 and 2D card or put them to other uses. Personally, I
>plan to sell my Voodoo2 card to a 3D-less friend and use my 2D card in
>another computer, so I'll basically be paying around $20-$40 for the
>benefit of slightly better performance and the ability to free 2 PCI
>slots that can be put filled with other cards, not to mention that
>I'll be able to rely solely on 3dfx for new drivers rather than
>piss-poor Canopus. If I had an SLI I'd actually be making money by
>selling both cards and not losing any performance. Sure, the Voodoo3
>doesn't take advantage of the AGP port, but it sure is nice for those
>of use running short on PCI slots.
>On Wed, 7 Apr 1999 08:27:18 -0500, "Chris Schletter"
>>Why in the world did you buy a Voodoo3? If you had a Voodoo2 you should
>>have gotten another one. Why? Its cheaper AND if you looked at the
reviews,
>>the 2 Voodoo2s in SLI are faster than both the Voodoo3 2000 and Voodoo3
>>3000. And btw, the Voodoo3s that sit in an AGP slot use it as nothing
other
>>than basically another PCI slot and don't take advantage of the AGP2x
specs.
>>And btw, with 2 Voodoo2s in SLI you don't have any of that weird texture
>>stuff either. :)
Ok, no one is trying to sell you a Voodoo3, some of us like it for
OURSELVES. You've made up your mind about the TNT2, although it's not
shipping and nVidia hasn't once come close to the pre-release hype on their
other products, so buy one - but stop trying to sell us one, please. With
my V3, I got a great 2D card, SLI level (or better) performance in
everything, even GLIDE, and with the sale of my other cards it cost $75. To
get this level of performance with the TNT2, I'd still have to get another
V2 to speed up my Glide stuff, so about $250-$300 all total, not counting
the fans I'd have to buy to cool all that silicon off. Easy decision for
me.
--
Ken's Sig 2.01
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from
some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
>Its not just that it doesn't take advantage of the AGP slot, it doesn't
take
>advantage of the latest D3D and upcoming DX7 stuff either. Not to mention,
>being able to handle large textures, etc. :)
>I do understand the problems with lack of PCI slots...I have a BH6 and no
>slots are available. :) One will be as soon as the TNT2s come out.
>Personally, since I have an SLI rig with Diamond cards, I want better
>performance. A Voodoo3 is just going to basically give me the same thing
as
>the SLI but in one card. TNT2 will give about the same performance but
>offer a large variety of 16, 24, 32 bit options plus will take advantage of
>AGP, etc for Quake3 and beyond. :)
>I really wish that the Voodoo3 would be made into a PCI based add on card.
>Then, I'd buy one and get rid of my SLI Voodoo2s. But definitely not going
>to waste my AGP port on one. :?
>> The Voodoo3 is definitely not a bad deal if you are able to re-sell
>> your Voodoo2 and 2D card or put them to other uses. Personally, I
>> plan to sell my Voodoo2 card to a 3D-less friend and use my 2D card in
>> another computer, so I'll basically be paying around $20-$40 for the
>> benefit of slightly better performance and the ability to free 2 PCI
>> slots that can be put filled with other cards, not to mention that
>> I'll be able to rely solely on 3dfx for new drivers rather than
>> piss-poor Canopus. If I had an SLI I'd actually be making money by
>> selling both cards and not losing any performance. Sure, the Voodoo3
>> doesn't take advantage of the AGP port, but it sure is nice for those
>> of use running short on PCI slots.
Same thinking here as well. And if you consider that Papyrus sims
(namely N3) will FINALLY support 3dfx natively, I'll be sticking to
the Voodoo route for now. I haven't read anything about N3 supporting
OpenGL and GPL doesn't support it very well in some cases. TNT2 might
be the greatest thing since Al***invented the Internet :-) but if
the games I play don't support it or if it doesn't do much more for my
games than a Voodoo3 will, then it doesn't matter one iota to me.
Anyways, why pay $70 more for a TNT2 when we'll be upgrading again by
year's end?
On Thu, 08 Apr 1999 16:48:08 GMT, "Ken Beard"
Quoted text (22 lines)
>Same thinking here on my end, with the added benefit of having GREAT 2D with >the V3. This is NOT the card to last me a year like my Voodoo2 was. This >is to accelerate my library of Glide stuff to SLI levels, and to have that >level of performance for 6 months for the new stuff coming out. Plus, in >MANY games, ones I play like GPL and Falcon 4.0, SLI doesn't do jack for >them vs. one V2, they actually run faster on a Banshee. V3 is the best of >SLI and Banshee, and from what I've seen from another SLI owner I know that >went to V3, Falcon 4.0 isindeed faster on the V3 than the SLI by a decent >margin, and that's MY experience with GPL - his 400 w/SLI was no faster in >GPL than my 400 w/single V2, but at 1024x768 GPL is just as smooth as it was >at 800x600 on either rig. >Ok, fast forward 6 months. By then, we either know 3dfx is coming out with >the Voodoo4 / Rampage, and whether it does all the neat things that the TNT2 >and other cards coming soon do. We'll also see how the TNT2 lives up to the >hype, there should be stable drivers by then, and we'll actually have some >games that support all the 32-bit color and other stuff, maybe even one or >two where it actually makes a noticeable difference. There isn't anything >coming out between now and then that just isn't going to run well on the V3. >Maybe, then, I'll look at going to something else. And I'm out a total of >$75, not counting what I get selling the V3. I fail to see the problem here >myself.I couldn't agree more. It is my dime I am spending so I don't need to
justify my purchase to anyone other than myself (maybe my wife too-hehe). I
took all of the consequences under consideration, but the only opinion that
counts here is mine. I got all sort of ***like this when I bought the
Import Sega Dreamcast (yes, a game console) and the NG experts asked why.
My question is..."why does it matter?" Do what you have to do and let me
enjoy my purchase.
BTW, I would like to give another nod to Ken on his research and testing.
Gary
> Ok, no one is trying to sell you a Voodoo3, some of us like it for
> OURSELVES. You've made up your mind about the TNT2, although it's not
> shipping and nVidia hasn't once come close to the pre-release hype on their
> other products, so buy one - but stop trying to sell us one, please. With
> my V3, I got a great 2D card, SLI level (or better) performance in
> everything, even GLIDE, and with the sale of my other cards it cost $75. To
mention,
of
> >AGP, etc for Quake3 and beyond. :)
> >I really wish that the Voodoo3 would be made into a PCI based add on card.
> >Then, I'd buy one and get rid of my SLI Voodoo2s. But definitely not going
Quoted text (23 lines)
> get this level of performance with the TNT2, I'd still have to get another > V2 to speed up my Glide stuff, so about $250-$300 all total, not counting > the fans I'd have to buy to cool all that silicon off. Easy decision for > me. > -- > Ken's Sig 2.01 > "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system > of government. > Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from > some farcical aquatic ceremony." > Go #43 and #44! > volksy (at) geocities (dot) com > volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com > >Its not just that it doesn't take advantage of the AGP slot, it doesn't > take > >advantage of the latest D3D and upcoming DX7 stuff either. Not toQuoted text (9 lines)
> >being able to handle large textures, etc. :) > >I do understand the problems with lack of PCI slots...I have a BH6 and no > >slots are available. :) One will be as soon as the TNT2s come out. > >Personally, since I have an SLI rig with Diamond cards, I want better > >performance. A Voodoo3 is just going to basically give me the same thing > as > >the SLI but in one card. TNT2 will give about the same performance but > >offer a large variety of 16, 24, 32 bit options plus will take advantageQuoted text (16 lines)
> >to waste my AGP port on one. :? > >> The Voodoo3 is definitely not a bad deal if you are able to re-sell > >> your Voodoo2 and 2D card or put them to other uses. Personally, I > >> plan to sell my Voodoo2 card to a 3D-less friend and use my 2D card in > >> another computer, so I'll basically be paying around $20-$40 for the > >> benefit of slightly better performance and the ability to free 2 PCI > >> slots that can be put filled with other cards, not to mention that > >> I'll be able to rely solely on 3dfx for new drivers rather than > >> piss-poor Canopus. If I had an SLI I'd actually be making money by > >> selling both cards and not losing any performance. Sure, the Voodoo3 > >> doesn't take advantage of the AGP port, but it sure is nice for those > >> of use running short on PCI slots.For what it's worth, I just installed a Voodoo3 2000 in a friend's machine this
weekend, and it ran GPL with no problems.
I don't know what his framerate looked like before the V3, (he ripped the old
setup out the second we got to his house...) but after the install we saw a
solid 36 fps in training, and 23-25fps at the back of a full grid at Monza,
dropping to 17-18 at the drop of the flag. (The fps returned to 30 or so shortly
into the first lap)
This was on a PII 333 on a Tyan Tsunami mobo, 64MB SDRAM.
Trips
Quoted text (79 lines)
> I couldn't agree more. It is my dime I am spending so I don't need to > justify my purchase to anyone other than myself (maybe my wife too-hehe). I > took all of the consequences under consideration, but the only opinion that > counts here is mine. I got all sort of ***like this when I bought the > Import Sega Dreamcast (yes, a game console) and the NG experts asked why. > My question is..."why does it matter?" Do what you have to do and let me > enjoy my purchase. > BTW, I would like to give another nod to Ken on his research and testing. > Gary > > Ok, no one is trying to sell you a Voodoo3, some of us like it for > > OURSELVES. You've made up your mind about the TNT2, although it's not > > shipping and nVidia hasn't once come close to the pre-release hype on > their > > other products, so buy one - but stop trying to sell us one, please. With > > my V3, I got a great 2D card, SLI level (or better) performance in > > everything, even GLIDE, and with the sale of my other cards it cost $75. > To > > get this level of performance with the TNT2, I'd still have to get another > > V2 to speed up my Glide stuff, so about $250-$300 all total, not counting > > the fans I'd have to buy to cool all that silicon off. Easy decision for > > me. > > -- > > Ken's Sig 2.01 > > "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system > > of government. > > Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from > > some farcical aquatic ceremony." > > Go #43 and #44! > > volksy (at) geocities (dot) com > > volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com > > >Its not just that it doesn't take advantage of the AGP slot, it doesn't > > take > > >advantage of the latest D3D and upcoming DX7 stuff either. Not to > mention, > > >being able to handle large textures, etc. :) > > >I do understand the problems with lack of PCI slots...I have a BH6 and no > > >slots are available. :) One will be as soon as the TNT2s come out. > > >Personally, since I have an SLI rig with Diamond cards, I want better > > >performance. A Voodoo3 is just going to basically give me the same thing > > as > > >the SLI but in one card. TNT2 will give about the same performance but > > >offer a large variety of 16, 24, 32 bit options plus will take advantage > of > > >AGP, etc for Quake3 and beyond. :) > > >I really wish that the Voodoo3 would be made into a PCI based add on > card. > > >Then, I'd buy one and get rid of my SLI Voodoo2s. But definitely not > going > > >to waste my AGP port on one. :? > > >> The Voodoo3 is definitely not a bad deal if you are able to re-sell > > >> your Voodoo2 and 2D card or put them to other uses. Personally, I > > >> plan to sell my Voodoo2 card to a 3D-less friend and use my 2D card in > > >> another computer, so I'll basically be paying around $20-$40 for the > > >> benefit of slightly better performance and the ability to free 2 PCI > > >> slots that can be put filled with other cards, not to mention that > > >> I'll be able to rely solely on 3dfx for new drivers rather than > > >> piss-poor Canopus. If I had an SLI I'd actually be making money by > > >> selling both cards and not losing any performance. Sure, the Voodoo3 > > >> doesn't take advantage of the AGP port, but it sure is nice for those > > >> of use running short on PCI slots.Ah, but you ought to see the GPL replays (which work just fine with the out
of the box V3-3000...no wierd textures or anything) at 1600X1200. They are
amazing. Now I just need to hunt down Ken's fix.
And Falcon 4 at 29-35fps while in the 3d***pit at 1600X1200 is incredible.
This on a PIII-500
Steve
>Why in the world did you buy a Voodoo3? If you had a Voodoo2 you should
>have gotten another one. Why? Its cheaper AND if you looked at the reviews,
>the 2 Voodoo2s in SLI are faster than both the Voodoo3 2000 and Voodoo3
>3000. And btw, the Voodoo3s that sit in an AGP slot use it as nothing other
>than basically another PCI slot and don't take advantage of the AGP2x specs.
>And btw, with 2 Voodoo2s in SLI you don't have any of that weird texture
>stuff either. :)
