First post, by crusher
Hi all,
in my Windows 98 gaming rig I had to replace the PSU.
Because of bad experiences with old periodic correct PSUs I started to use modern PSUs that in general work with such retro PCs.
Unfortunalety my Voodoo5 5500 is instable now and freezes the computer when in heavy load (mainly 3D gaming).
I tested it with another old PSU and I'm having no issues with that.
So I can say the modern PSU is not working reliable with the Voodoo5.
But because of bad experiences with such >30 years old PSUs I don't want to use them any more.
Now I have to decide which route to go to replace the Voodoo5.
2x FSAA was a good thing. But I think I can live without.
Games that support Glide (NFS, Unreal, Diablo 2 etc.) was a joy to play in Glide mode.
I never compared it to D3D/OpenGL but what I read is that these games look best when using Glide.
I can imagine 2 possibilities:
1. GeForce 4 4200Ti + Glide Wrapper for Glide (only) games
What do the gfx look like when using a Glide wrapper?
Exactly the same as using real 3dfx card in Glide mode or is it more that the wrapper is able to start Glide (only) games and it is still not looking as good as using real hardware?
What advantages would I have?
I think of T&L or such things. What games are using the technique for example?
What disadvantges would I have?
2. Voodoo3 3000
I'm hoping that a V3 is less power hungry and my PSU is able to feed it.
If Voodoo3, I would stick with the 3000 because I don't need TV-tuner from the 3500 model. Also I want to avoid that special display breakout cable.
If it's broken I cannot use the V3 3500.
Advantage would be to use Glide in native hardware mode.
What disadvantages would I have?
Not able to use T&L I think.
And of course no FSAA any more.
A third possibility would be to go with a Voodoo 4 and are able to use FSAA (2x?).
But I'm afraid it could be as unstable like the Voodoo 5.
V4 doesn't need external power supply. But it also operates with VSA-100 chip and I'm concerned it wouldn't work neither with my modern PSU.
Any thoughts, ideas, hints are welcome 😉