First post, by voodoo5_6k
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction (scroll down, original post)
2. Systems
2.1. Overview Q1 2021: Summary
3. Milestones
3.1. Initial hardware setup completed (Rev. 1 for all systems): Summary
3.2. All systems "game-ready": Summary
3.3. Grim Fandango on Voodoo5 6000: Summary
4. Interesting Information
4.1. Configuring Voodoo5 driver without 3dfx Tools or V.Control (via registry keys): How-to
4.2. Anti-Aliasing (Image quality improvement): Part 1, Part 2
4.3. Split-Channel MIDI setup for increased polyphony: Summary
<<< Original Post >>>
Hello all,
A while ago I have briefly presented my four retro machines that are currently assembled (links below). Four machines is basically the upper limit I have (in terms of space consumption and KVM capacity). Although everything is working, I came to the conclusion that I am not entirely happy with the system landscape in general…
Brief current overview:
- Hardware: Intel Pentium Pro 200MHz 1M, Intel VS440FX, 64MB Kingston EDO, S3 Virge/DX, 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics, Keropi’s Music Quest PC-MIDI Clone (connects to Roland CM-32L and SC-55), Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold, Transcend 32GB SSD, Asus DVD drive, Alps Floppy drive
- OS: MS DOS 6.22 / Windows 95c dual boot
- Hardware: Intel Pentium II 450MHz (2x), Asus P2B-DS (last revision supporting 133MHz FSB), 512MB Micron SDR PC100, Matrox Millenium G200, 3Dfx Voodoo2 12MB (2x, SLI), Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Player 1024, Corsair 60GB SSD, Plextor DVD drive
- OS: Windows 98SE / Windows 2000 Pro SP4 dual boot
- Hardware: Intel Pentium III-S 1.4GHz, Asus CUSL2-C, 512MB Micron SDR PC133, 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP, Sound Blaster Audigy2, SanDisk 64GB SSD, Asus DVD drive
- OS: Windows 98SE / Windows 2000 Pro SP4 dual boot
- Hardware: Intel Pentium III-S 1.4GHz, Intel D815EEA2, 512MB Micron SDR PC133, 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP, Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS, Corsair 60GB SSD, HP DVD drive
- OS: Windows 98SE
Retro 1 is basically fine, but Retro 2 and 3 are more or less redundant. The Pentium II SMP and Voodoo2 SLI configuration is definitely something nice, but it cannot do anything in terms of Windows based Glide games that the Voodoo5 couldn’t do. And then there is Voodoo5’s unmatched FSAA… And the Pentium III-S is way more powerful than the dual Pentium II setup. Retro 4 is still without a finalized case (I currently don’t have much time and motivation to work on that). Thinking about it, the sole purpose of Retro 4 is to “present” the Voodoo5 6000. Being totally realistic, I have at least two machine slots that could be used for something else…
So, what to do about that? The plan I came up with is the following.
Retro 1:
- Although basically fine, I don’t need a somewhat period-correct and general purpose late DOS/early Windows machine. What I want is a single machine that will run all my favorite adventure games in the best way possible. These games are solely the Lucasfilm/LucasArts adventures. Hence, I need DOS and at least Windows 95. OK. I need Roland MIDI support. OK. Furthermore, I need 3dfx Voodoo5 for FSAA (for Grim Fandango and Escape from Monkey Island). OK. Hence, I will remove S3 Virge/DX and 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics, and install 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI.
- New configuration: Intel Pentium Pro 200MHz 1M, Intel VS440FX, 64MB Kingston EDO, 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI, Keropi’s Music Quest PC-MIDI Clone (connects to Roland CM-32L and SC-55; maybe I'll use the MPU-401AT I aquired a while back on Amibay), Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold, Transcend 32GB SSD, Asus DVD drive, Alps Floppy drive
- OS: MS DOS 6.22 / Windows 95c dual boot
Retro 2:
- Disassemble everything. Replace with components of Retro 3 and 4. 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 will be installed whenever needed. Usually, 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 will be used for gaming. This machine is obviously focused on 3dfx Glide games (for Windows).
- New configuration: Intel Pentium III-S 1.4GHz, Intel D815EEA2, Micron 512MB SDR PC133, 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP / 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP, Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS, SanDisk 64GB SSD, HP DVD drive
- OS: Windows 98SE / Windows 2000 Pro SP4 dual boot
Retro 3:
- Disassemble everything. I will build a new system from my other parts, Pentium 4 based, for early Windows XP titles. It will use my GeForce FX 5900 Ultra (because the GeForce FX series is the last AGP GeForce that has close to perfect AF, GeForce 6 and 7 cheat like ATI and have angle-dependent AF which is a no-go). For Splinter Cell and its special shadows, I will use my GeForce4 Ti 4600 whenever needed (Thanks Phil for making all those great videos and comparisons about that).
- New configuration: Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition, Asus P4C800-E Deluxe, 4GB Kingston DDR 400 PC-3200, GeForce FX 5900 Ultra AGP / GeForce4 Ti 4600 AGP, Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. Series, SanDisk 120GB SSD, Samsung DVD drive
- OS: Windows XP Pro SP2
Retro 4:
- Disassemble everything. Because I really loved the socket 775 and always wanted to reuse it again, I decided to permanently configure a system for late Windows XP titles that is also capable of running the first DX10 titles (Windows Vista 64-bit).
- New configuration: Intel Xeon X5470 3.33GHz, Asus P5Q-E, 8GB Corsair DDR2 800 PC2-6400, GeForce GTX 580 3GB, Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Professional, Kingston 240GB SSD, Samsung DVD drive
- OS: Windows XP Pro SP3 / Windows Vista Business 64-bit SP2 dual boot
This will result in again four machines, this time without redundancy, spanning DOS 6.22/Win95 (mainly for my adventure games, everything else that might run is a bonus), Win98SE/2000Pro (mainly for 3dfx Glide games, but I could always install my GeForce 3 or 4 to have DX8), WinXP (early games), and WinXP (late games)/WinVista(DX10). I have installed an additional switch behind my pfSense firewall, so everything will be networked to access my home server (disc images, drivers, savegames etc.). All four machines are connected to a single CRT, keyboard, mouse, speaker set via KVM+Audio switch like before.
I don’t know when to do all of this, but at least I have a plan now. I know there could be plenty of discussion whether or not Retro 4 is really needed or should even being considered “retro” at all, but everything that I don’t do on my main rig is “retro” for me 😉 And of course there could be even more discussion about my approach for Retro 1. Because of this I made a very precise intended use statement. The primary task of that machine is running my Lucasfilm/LucasArts adventures in the best possible way on a single machine. This makes the configuration look somewhat “off”, especially the usage of a 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI. But like I said, I want FSAA for Grim Fandango and Escape from Monkey Island. And no one does a better job on that than the 3dfx Voodoo5.
Updates will follow whenever something major is accomplished, but currently, I have close to zero spare time left and can't do much, unfortunately.
Important note: The entire approach described above does rely on hardware and software I have readily available in storage. Hence, no additional cost is generated by its execution. Well, except for time of course 😉 So, there may of course be better solutions for some details...
PS: Sorry for the quite lengthy post, but I had to get this off my chest 😉
<<< End of Original Post >>>
Edit:
- Added ToC for easier navigation through the thread
- Updated ToC
- Updated ToC, fixed links & formatting
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