Win2000, G200, and Voodoo2 SLI

[noackjr]

I was recently given a pair of Creative Labs 12 MB Voodoo2 cards. I have a Millenium G200 and was wondering if it was even worth it to install them. I don't plan on buying a new video card till this summer, so I was thinking this could be a stop-gap thing. The image quality reduction theory really isn't valid for me because to play Quake 3 or UT I have to run in 16-bit color with detail turned down so I figure it won't make much of a difference. Will I really see much of an increase in speed? I know UT should run better in Glide, but I am worried about all the heat the cards will produce. Not to mention they eat 2 PCI slots...

Thanks in advance,
Jon

[Brian R.]

You will notice a huge increase in speed over the G200. I still use mine for Unreal and Q2, even though I have a MAX. They may not be the prettiest display, but they are fast.

[noackjr]

I just played UT with the beta Win2000 drivers - man that was fast! The drivers only support 1 of the cards (no SLI) in Glide and I can't change the refresh rate yet from the default of 60 Hz, but at 800x600 with everything on I am getting 50-60 fps, with half the time it is pegging the refresh rate at 60 fps (can't disable VSync yet either). Haven't had a chance to play under D3D or OpenGL, but Glide is pretty nice. As a strictly gaming card that is older than my G200, I can understand why people swore by these cards for a couple years now. May not be pretty, but at least there's no texture corruption and it's fast as hell. Can't wait for my G800, though. Forgotten what it was like to play games and they were fast...

Jon

------------------
My baby...

QDI Brilliant IV - Bios 2.0 Beta (email me if you want it!)
2 Pentium III 500 MHz
256 MB PC-100 SDRAM
Quantum Viking 4.5 GB UW SCSI HD (weak...)
Matrox Millenium G200 8 MB SGRAM
2 Creative Labs 3D Blaster Voodoo2 12 MB (SLI...)
Sound Blaster Live!
All more or less running on Windows 2000...

[This message has been edited by noackjr (edited 07 February 2000).]

[paulcs]

There are several issues I think you should consider.

3dfx has yet to post drivers for Windows 2000, although there may be hacks available. (I know there are for the Voodoo3.) This could be a real pain, and you might want to do some research on the 3dfx and W2K newsgroups.

The pass through cable has caused the degrading of *2D* image quality on some systems. You'll just have to try it. I didn't have a problem with my Canopus V2's, but the issue used to come up a lot.

You will, of course, lose two PCI slots. The good news is the Voodoo2 does not require IRQ resources.

Back in the days when Matrox just couldn't produce an ICD, many of us turned to the Voodoo2 SLI solution and were very pleased with the results. However, we were using Windows 95 or 98, not Windows 2000.

If you can get them to run properly, and you can afford the PCI slots, I think you should give it a try. At this point in time, with no official support from 3dfx, that may be a big "if."

Good luck.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[paulcs]

I was just on 3dfx's Voodoo2 driver page and couldn't find anything for W2K. Where did you find them?

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[noackjr]

Here we go:
1) Drivers - I contacted someone I found on dejanews.com and he sent me what appears to be 3dfx 2000/NT beta drivers. They don't look like the hacked ones all over the net cause they have 3dfx copyright everywhere. However, the method is the same as the hacked ones - an inf file with NT-based drivers. The difference is that these drivers actually installed on my system. As said earlier, only Glide is supported and no SLI. But Glide works well with 1 in UT.
2) Pass through - I only run at 1152x864 and there doens't appear to be a whole lot of degradation. I definitely know what you are talking about, cause my old PC-DVD Encore pass-through cable is bad even at 800x600. This one seems alright.

I'll have to play the waiting game till every driver on earth is released. But for the moment, UT on a single Voodoo2 and Quake 3 on my G200 (faster in 2000 than in 98) will work for me.

Thanks,
Jon

------------------
My baby...

QDI Brilliant IV - Bios 2.0 Beta (email me if you want it!)
2 Pentium III 500 MHz
256 MB PC-100 SDRAM
Matrox Millenium G200 8 MB SGRAM
2 Creative Labs 3D Blaster Voodoo2 12 MB (SLI...)
Sound Blaster Live!
Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400
Quantum Viking 4.5 GB UW SCSI (weak...)
Plextor UltraPlex 32X
Creative Labs PC-DVD Encore 2X

All more or less running on Windows 2000...

[moreau]

Someone gave you 2x12MBV2?

You must be very lucky, or wear size 15 bowling shoes, if you get my drift...

[moreau]

noackjr:
Quantum Viking 4.5 GB UW SCSI (weak...)
IMO, don't scoff at SCSI, even UW.

Check my work machine below, old hardware, nice performance. I do some photoshop, which is disk intensive but with SMP and SCSI (with its buff busmastering), I can work all day with no strain.

If only I had an AGP slot, a G400Max, and a second monitor. Sigh...

[noackjr]

The "weak..." reference was to the size of the hard drive. The only reason I haven't upgraded is because it is a very good performer. So I consider other things more important to upgrade first, leaving me with only 4.5 GB. As for the Voodoo2 cards, it was a person with a lot of money, a GeForce, and a generous spirit...

Jon