GLide Video Cards

[felinusz]

I am considering buying a PCI 3DFX card for emulation use (glide=wicked awesome emulation).

Is it worth the money for the performance?

Now, which of the old 3DFX cards is the best deal and will provide the best performance with N64, PSX, etc emulation? I am putting this here instead of Hardware discussion as it seems appropriate.

Also, is it possible to have my moniter hooked up to two video cards (my GeForce ghetto, and the 3DFX so that I don't have to do cable changing all the time) simultaniously, with selection being made through windows?

(I'm well aware also that my GeForce2 MX is probably almost as bad as any glide card... I'm going to be picking up a 9700/9800 p sometime soon as well)

[fivefeet8]

The best glide card for use in emulation is a Voodoo5 pci.. Being pci, you can use both your agp card and the v5 simultaneously in a dual monitor setup.. There are some adapters that allow you to switch between vga cards.. I don't use them since I have 3 displays.. TV, 15", 19".. ;)

[felinusz]

O.K. I have only one moiter, can I still *switch* between the two cards without changing phsical cables? Also, is the V5 worth the cost for it's emulation 'power'?

[Kane]

>O.K. I have only one moiter, can I still *switch* between the two cards without changing phsical cables?

Not unless you have a monitor switch box I'm afraid.

>Also, is the V5 worth the cost for it's emulation 'power'?

IMO yes.... if you get a good price for it. For emulation it's fast, and it has the best FSAA around.

[felinusz]

Where can I purchase a 'moniter switchbox'?

Also, what is a 'good' price for a V5 PCI? I looked at a local store and they are selling a V5 AGP for $250 (Canadian) (also, it's their last one which they've had for almost a year now). So would a V5 PCI be cheaper or more expensive?

If I have to be changing the monitor cable to use the card in adition to my other (AGP) card then I don't want to spend more than $100 Canadian on it... Maybe I'm dreaming here... :hdbash: Nope. I'm awake.

Thank you for the info guys.

[Kane]

>Where can I purchase a 'moniter switchbox'?

Any good computer hardware store. Maplins in the UK does them. I think the stateside variant of that is Radioshack. Dunno what it is in Canada.

>Also, what is a 'good' price for a V5 PCI?

I purchased mine for around GB£50 I think, which is around US$75. I wouldn't pay nore than US$80 for it. The PCI variants are normally more expensive as they are more sought after.

> have to be changing the monitor cable to use the card in adition to my other (AGP) card then I don't want to spend more than $100 Canadian on it...

Monitor switch boxes aren't that expensive. I think they would be around US$10-20

[felinusz]

Thanks a lot Kane, I will investigate immediately ;)

[Aleksei (St)]

vodoo 5 5500 pci is a really good card for any kind of emulation cause the glide api is really good ( try glide 64, lewpy, and nicks plugins)

[navilink]

well, felinuz, last time u told me how to use Glide64 with TNT2, OK I can do it. But the graphic, the color is not correct, and some items on screen are blacken out...how come??? And the speed isn't much obvious. I still think Jabo D3D is the best!

[fivefeet8]

Originally posted by navilink
well, felinuz, last time u told me how to use Glide64 with TNT2, OK I can do it. But the graphic, the color is not correct, and some items on screen are blacken out...how come??? And the speed isn't much obvious. I still think Jabo D3D is the best!

Because you don't have a native voodoo card and probably using a glide wrapper.. You don't get those graphic glitches with a real Voodoo.. :D

[felinusz]

Navilink:
*Ouch*... which glide wrapper are you using? Evoodoo works pretty well for me...


LordKane, Fivefeet8:
Also, I'm picking up my Voodoo 5500 PCI tonight (or tommorrow) for $40 U.S. :grin: Radioshack sells the monitor switchbox that I need also, so I'm all set.

Thanks a lot for the the great info Lord Kane, and Fivefeet8 :) .

[Kane]

Glad you're happy man.

[felinusz]

I'm not as happy any more.... It turns out that the card I was aiming for is a 'Voodoo 5500 PCI for Macintosh'.... meaning that it is useless to me...

Looks like I'll have to shell out $50 (American, which means $75 Canadian) on Ebay for one... Oh, well, I'm sure it will be wrth it :)

[Lewpy]

Originally posted by felinusz
I'm not as happy any more.... It turns out that the card I was aiming for is a 'Voodoo 5500 PCI for Macintosh'.... meaning that it is useless to me...Not necessarily useless, as it is possible to re-flash the Voodoo 5500 PCI Mac model with a PC BIOS, and get a working PC version of the card ... with DVI as well :)

[felinusz]

Hmmm... Can you hit me with a link or the instructions on how to do this (I happen have an iMac in case that is required)? This would be quite useful as the Mac ones are quite a bit easier to find, and cheaper, for obvious reasons. If the procedure can be carried out safely (80% success is what I'm willing to risk) and effectively than I'm wiling to try it.

Also, this may be a me and my inability to pick up acronyms (or my n00bish lack of knowledge that sometimes pops up here and there :rolleyes: ) but what is DVI?

[Kane]

>Also, this may be a me and my inability to pick up acronyms (or my n00bish lack of knowledge that sometimes pops up here and there ) but what is DVI?

Digital Video Interface. Unfortunately, even if the card itself does have one, by flashing it with a PC BIOS, you lose that functionality.

[felinusz]

Erm. What is *that* functionality anyways? Do you know where a PC BIOS and flasher are (reliably) available? I'm googling it and not coming up with a whole lot...

[Lewpy]

A quick search of the web showed that the files at V3Info are still available, so grab a Voodoo5 flashing utility from here (http://www.v3info.de/english/html/files.shtml).

I received this email last year from "someone" ;) which said

As for the dvi out bios, attached is a newer version which should work ok. i don't have a dvi monitor but upon flashing a mac v5 pci in a pc, 3dfx tools detected the dviout and the dvi tab in the tools was enabled.

I've attached the BIOS, but I can't verify that it works myself as I never managed to find a Voodoo5 Mac card in the UK for a reasonable price, so I ended up buying a normal PC one without DVI.

[felinusz]

The one I am looking at now is a PC PCI 5500 card with dual moniter output (one is normal, the other is for LCD moniters = DVI?)

Is this the same thing (DVI)?

Thanks for the BIOs and link I will investigate out of curiosity...

Also, sorry for the n00bish questions concerning this... Thanks for your patience ;)

[acepower]

What are you talking about switchboxes and other useless things? You can purchase a voodoo 1 or voodoo 2 PCI which includes in the box ( no extra hardware ) a pass through cable. You only have to connect this cable with your GF2 MX (or whatever) AGP and connect your voodoo with the monitor. This way you have the AGP working all the time and the voodoo card takes priority only when Glide comes in scene. No boxes, no extra hardware, no nothing! You can also connect two voodoo2 cards (2 free PCI) and still keep your AGP and you 'll have that way a powerfull glide machine, still no extra hardware (switchboxes etc.)
Gosh...!

[Kane]

A Voodoo 5 is considerably more powerful than a Voodoo 1 or 2 A Voodoo 3 or below also doesn't have FSAA, one of the main reasons fow owning such a cardI have a Voodoo 1, but I wanted a Voodoo 5.

[acepower]

Originally posted by Lord Kane
>O.K. I have only one moiter, can I still *switch* between the two cards without changing phsical cables?

Not unless you have a monitor switch box I'm afraid.

>Also, is the V5 worth the cost for it's emulation 'power'?

IMO yes.... if you get a good price for it. For emulation it's fast, and it has the best FSAA around.

You have all my respects Lord Kane but here is the man's question...

[felinusz]

Originally posted by acepower
What are you talking about switchboxes and other useless things? You can purchase a voodoo 1 or voodoo 2 PCI which includes in the box ( no extra hardware ) a pass through cable. You only have to connect this cable with your GF2 MX (or whatever) AGP and connect your voodoo with the monitor. This way you have the AGP working all the time and the voodoo card takes priority only when Glide comes in scene. No boxes, no extra hardware, no nothing! You can also connect two voodoo2 cards (2 free PCI) and still keep your AGP and you 'll have that way a powerfull glide machine, still no extra hardware (switchboxes etc.)
Gosh...!

Thanks for the additional information :) does this cord function with a Voodoo 5 also?

I am not interested in a voodoo 1 or 2 (or a double set of them, does that actually work?) but the idea of a glide-only card that automatically sets itself up is quite inticing... However, if the V5 does not have 'support' for this cable you speak of (or if it is hideously hard to find) A inexpensive moniter switchbox is probably where I will go (It will definetely work)...

Thanks to both of you (again ;) ) for the great advice and information :thumbup:

Don't kill each other ;) ;) *nudge* *nudge*

[Kane]

The Voodoo 1 and 2's were 3d accelerator boards rather than full 2d/3d cards. They had 2 ports on the back: VGA in and Monitor out. When 3d wasn't active, it was a simple pass-tru, but when you went into a 3d mode, it'd automaticaly switch.
This does not happen with the Voodoo 3 and above as they are complete graphics cards rather than simply accellerators.

[felinusz]

O.K. Moniter Switchbox it is.

BTW, I have secured a V 5500, it will ship sometime soon :)

Thanks for the lightning fast reply also ;)

[Demigod]

A Voodoo 2 is a more elegant solution than a Voodoo 3 or Voodoo 5 for Glide apps but doesn't have FSAA that 3Dfx fanatics seem to love so much. I have a Voodoo 2 and used to use it to run old Glide apps. I thought about getting a Voodoo 3 before but when I thought about it a Voodoo 2 made much more sense (plus 2 Voodoo 2s in SLI will match the performance of a Voodoo 3). There is really no substitution for the Voodoo 5 though, although I don't know if it's really that worth it (depends on how much you love Glide). IMO Direct3D and OpenGL do emulation just fine and doesn't require such an extravagant setup as having two videocards.

[felinusz]

Well, the card is purchased now :) I'm sure I will get $50 worth of enjoyment just plugging it in and getting it to work :p

OpenGL and D3D DO do emulation just fine, but some games really do require a Native-Glide card to play with full speed/enjoyment.

Also, this came up in another thread somewhere around here....:disgust:....... AH, here it is:
http://www.ngemu.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35397#post484074
someone was asking why glide is so fast emulation-wise. I am curious about this, anyone know the answer?

[ZappaZ]

Now your hurting my feelings... someone?

Anyway, im curious too about this cuz if i remember correctly
i played Zelda OOT like 5 years ago on a comp with a voodoo
card (in ultrahle) and it ran really nice both speedwise and gfxwise.

[Demigod]

UltraHLE isn't a very demanding program though. I ran it on my old Celeron 366 with a Voodoo 2 at full speed.

[felinusz]

Originally posted by ZappaZ
Now your hurting my feelings... someone?


Soooooory!!! :( (I only read my post when I searched...) :cry:

[Kane]

>someone was asking why glide is so fast emulation-wise. I am curious about this, anyone know the answer?

Simple answer is because Glide is so simple.