X86 Discussion

[Glen M]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Finally got around to properly setting up my ‘rig’, which in reality a very unassuming looking small form factor dell desktop from the early 2000’s.
I’ve gone for a voodoo graphics (not voodoo2) primarily to play Screamer 2.

What are the showcase games for voodoo 1, stuff that really shows it off and that you just cant see or play anywhere else? Or where the 3dfx version is superior by miles?
I already have Unreal which is really impressive.
Anything else from that era I should look at?

Screamer 2 on glide looks awful with lots of screen tearing. If you specifically want to play that game run it in software mode. Your early 2000's rig will fly through it.

If you are looking a game to show off the voodoo though then Unreal is my choice. That intro sequence around the castle still impresses me.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Glen M

If you are looking a game to show off the voodoo though then Unreal is my choice. That intro sequence around the castle still impresses me.

I ran Unreal on a Diamond Viper V550 with OpenGL rendering mode, it looked fantastic. I don't think you specifically needed a Voodoo card at that point.

[Mikerochip]

Originally Posted by gimbal

I ran Unreal on a Diamond Viper V550 with OpenGL rendering mode, it looked fantastic. I don't think you specifically needed a Voodoo card at that point.

You don't need one, but, without one, you don't get all the fancy reflective floor, and all that goodness.


I had 2x VoodooII (Still do!) and my god, Unreal looked amazing on them.


Even running it on much higher spec cards, it looks awful.
Try it with the dgVoodoo wrapper etc on a modern card, and sit back in wonder!!


[ Show youtube player ]


Have a look. (The video isn't great, but, it's a start!)


I cried when my Voodoo3 stopped working
I still have the massive blue breakout cable for it, too!

[rare_j]

Originally Posted by Glen M

Screamer 2 on glide looks awful with lots of screen tearing. If you specifically want to play that game run it in software mode. Your early 2000's rig will fly through it.

If you are looking a game to show off the voodoo though then Unreal is my choice. That intro sequence around the castle still impresses me.

Thanks for the tip, I played Screamer 2 in software mode back in the day, and yes the glide version arguably looks worse but I wanted to play it again with the massively increased framerate you get with it.

Unreal is a bit of a special case, the game was built for voodoo 2 so even though much later they came out with Direct3D and OpenGL patches, it always seemed to run best on glide.

After a bit of research it looks like all the voodoo graphics games I would want to play I had already (Unreal, Tomb Raider, Need For Speed 2 SE, Grand Theft Auto, Sreamer Rally) - I was under the impression that there was a lot more glide-only content.
Thanks for the tips though.

[lesta_smsc]

Originally Posted by Mikerochip

You don't need one, but, without one, you don't get all the fancy reflective floor, and all that goodness.


I had 2x VoodooII (Still do!) and my god, Unreal looked amazing on them.


Even running it on much higher spec cards, it looks awful.
Try it with the dgVoodoo wrapper etc on a modern card, and sit back in wonder!!


[ Show youtube player ]


Have a look. (The video isn't great, but, it's a start!)


I cried when my Voodoo3 stopped working
I still have the massive blue breakout cable for it, too!

That video is very impressive. 3DFX Voodoo took gaming to a whole new dimension. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to afford it but my friends had these cards and I was in awe of the graphics!

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[lesta_smsc]

It's gone quiet in here... been playing worms and got this to connect to my mobile too via Dosbox port for android!

[nathanm1991]

Sorry People i'm Back, Alive and Kicking have had a Very Dark Patch in my Life as of Late I haven't Touched my Computer but I Now am Feeling a Lot Better. Exercise Really does Help and I Have Started Tae Kwon do again to Keep the Anxiety/ Depression at Bay :-) Going to Catch up on whats Been going on I will Post my Latest x86 Adventures after ive read your Posts :-)

[nathanm1991]

So My Latest X86 Project is a Dell GX240 Which is being a Absolute Nightmare with Allocating IRQ Resources with the A3d Vortex Soundcard I have in there. It's Clashing with the Onboard usb so I Disabled them Through Bios and the Card then Worked Perfect! Me thinking I was Clever then added a PCI usb Card and now I am Getting the IRQ Conflicts again. Do I Just not have USB Support or Shall I just Swap the Soundcard for my SoundBlaster live! ct4780? I Reall wanted to See what the Vortex is Capable of but no matter what I try I Cant Change IRQ. Bleeping Dells!

[lesta_smsc]

Welcome back @nathanm1991. Sorry to hear you've been through a rough time but glad that things are moving in a positive direction.

[nathanm1991]

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

It's gone quiet in here... been playing worms and got this to connect to my mobile too via Dosbox port for android!

Worms is Awesome no Matter how you Play it :-)

I had a Dream of being back at Nursery Last night Playing Worms on the Acorn Archimedes we had :-) If only the Archimedes had Worms! (Forgive me if there is already a Port)

[nathanm1991]

I also Have Been Messing Around with my Old Rooted Samsung Galaxy s3 to see if I could turn it into a Dedicated Dos Machine using one of those Remote Mouse and Keyboard Combo things people use for the Android Boxes

[Glen M]

It has gone a bit quiet hasn't it.

I started working on my Packard Bell 486 last week but discovered the board is just to far gone from Varta damage. Its a crying shame too as it was a great wee 486 board capable of taking up to the 5x86 overdrive chips.

The case is in great condition though so I've been thinking about what to do with it. I think it'd be perfect for a sleeper build but then again I don't have £1000 to put performance parts in it so I'm thinking of putting together an HTPC build for the man cave. I've got a spare AMD A10 APU on a mATX board with ram, psu etc sitting so I think it would look nice modded that way.

What do you think?

The alternative is to try and find another 486 board but they are like hens teeth and expensive as all hell. I do have my 286 to get stuck into at some point so I think that'll be the next x86 build.

I also need to have a mini clear out at some point as the cave is coming down with stuff so there are a fair few x86 parts I'll hand out to anyone interested. Let me pull a list of parts together and you lot can have first picks.

[nathanm1991]

Originally Posted by Glen M

It has gone a bit quiet hasn't it.

I started working on my Packard Bell 486 last week but discovered the board is just to far gone from Varta damage. Its a crying shame too as it was a great wee 486 board capable of taking up to the 5x86 overdrive chips.

The case is in great condition though so I've been thinking about what to do with it. I think it'd be perfect for a sleeper build but then again I don't have £1000 to put performance parts in it so I'm thinking of putting together an HTPC build for the man cave. I've got a spare AMD A10 APU on a mATX board with ram, psu etc sitting so I think it would look nice modded that way.

What do you think?

The alternative is to try and find another 486 board but they are like hens teeth and expensive as all hell. I do have my 286 to get stuck into at some point so I think that'll be the next x86 build.

I also need to have a mini clear out at some point as the cave is coming down with stuff so there are a fair few x86 parts I'll hand out to anyone interested. Let me pull a list of parts together and you lot can have first picks.

Its a Shame to hear About the 486 being too Far gone :-(

The AMD in the Case sounds Like a good Idea I would do that

Id be Interested to hear in What parts you have Buddy are you Changing the Man cave up a Bit then?

[005AGIMA]

YAY He's back!!!!! Welcome back buddy!

[Glen M]

Originally Posted by nathanm1991

Id be Interested to hear in What parts you have Buddy are you Changing the Man cave up a Bit then?

I'll try to sort out a list tonight. I'm only scaling back on some stuff to clear space as the cave is starting to get cluttered. I could move the vast majority of it to the garage but then it'll never get used so I'd rather stuff go to somewhere it will get use.

[nathanm1991]

Thankyou Bro :-)


And I Totally Understand on Space I am Looking for a Bigger Place to go to at the Moment

[Etze]

I hope it's ok to ask here:

I have a vintage PC with PentiumMMX 166. At the moment I only have a gfx-card with a S3 Trio32 chip. So I'd like to get a 3D-Card. In fact a Voodoo-I.

Now I'm not too sure, but would I have any disadvantages over a Voodoo-I card if I bought a Voodoo-Banshee card (PCI)?

Does this card go well with the processor? In other words: is the card used well with the processor, or is something slowed down and I should rather rely on Voodoo-I?

Advantage would be of course the non-existing loop-cable (picture-quality) and fast 2D-operation (in comparison to the Trio 32).

[Glen M]

The Banshee in terms of performance falls between the Voodoo and Voodoo 2 so yes if you can get one it'd be a good option for your system. 1997 processor and 1998 GPU. You might get some bottle neck from the processor but for the most part I think you'll be fine.

Phils Computer Lab on youtube did a nice review of the Banshee - [ Show youtube player ]

[Etze]

That's great, I will have a look at the video. Thank you!

[005AGIMA]

Banshee for the record was the BEST upgrade I ever did back then.

God I wish I still had that card!

As I'm sure you know, it's an all in 1 card (2d/3d) where as the Voodoo 1 and 2 needed a 2D card as well to work.

Also I could be wrong, but wasnt a single Voodoo2 12MB where as the Banshee was 16MB? Could be a blurred memory. But I thought the V2 was only better because it was dedicated AND could be doubled up (2x Voodoo 2's and a 2D card in the 1 machine).

Anyway for me, the Banshee was EPIC and an extremely cost effective solution at the time.

I think my old PII waiting for me in England has my 32MB TNT2 card in it though.....which while "better" does not hold a special place in my nostalgias

EDIT: To add, my Banshee was installed into a P200MMX which is around the same era as your P166. In fact my machine started as a P100 but got upgraded over time.