VOGONS


Reply 142 of 238, by tanasen

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I haven't had a single issue with my Viper V330 Riva 128. Paired with a Monster 3D Voodoo I get full compatibility for DOS and Windows 95 era 3D games.

PC1😜 III-S 1.4GHz, GA-6VTXE, 512MB SDRAM, Albatron FX5900XTV 128MB, SB Live! 5.1
PC2😜 III 800MHz, MS-6178, 256MB SDRAM, 3DFX Voodoo3 2000 PCI, Creative CT4810
PC3😜 MMX 200MHz, SY-5EAS5, 128MB SDRAM, Diamond Monster 3D, Diamond Viper V330, ESS 1868F

Reply 143 of 238, by Dracolich

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I've had no problems with a Millennium II + Voodoo1 in my K6/233 rig. I, too, use CF cards and swap between DOS 7.1 + WfW 3.11, Win95c, and OS/2 Warp 4.52. I started with a Virge/GX + Voodoo1 but switched because I did get some screen corruption in OS/2 when opening a full screen command prompt. I use Win98 in a Sempron 2GHz rig with a 256MB PCI Radeon 9250.

Reply 144 of 238, by lost77

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Regarding games that use their built in UNIVBE support.

UNIVBE support depends on the BIOS. A lot of people have had problems with varies types of TNT2 cards (including the normal version) and UNIVBE.

There is a modified UNIVBE driver that tries to fix the issue by using the video cards BIOS but I have not tested it.

Best is just to use cards that are older, maybe 1997-1998 at the latest.

Reply 145 of 238, by foil_fresh

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
tanasen wrote on 2019-11-23, 22:44:

I haven't had a single issue with my Viper V330 Riva 128. Paired with a Monster 3D Voodoo I get full compatibility for DOS and Windows 95 era 3D games.

i am so close to buying a v1 to pair up with a riva too. performance wise the riva is just fine but the voodoo is just a bit better on the renders.

do you also have a diamond sound card? 😁
edit: i read your sig, i expected the trifecta

Reply 146 of 238, by SETBLASTER

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hi I would not recommend ATI cards for DOS

I have tested many and they suffer issues with DOS gaming. You can clearly see on games like commander keen, as soon as you move the screen becomes glitchy

For DOS i would go for S3, Geforce, TNT , trident, cirrus logic maybe, tseng
for Win3.1 RIVA 128 ,tnt, s3 , geforce i cant remember if they got drivers for it , matrox,
windows95 the same as win3.1 i guess.

Reply 147 of 238, by ershn8d

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I use Riva128, so far needed only 8x14 font fixer. Windows 3.11 runs great.

TNT, TNT2 and M64 would also be good. But not sure they are required for P55C or older PCs.

At that period, after having a bunch of different S3 cards (Virge, 64), I was skyhigh having Riva128 even on P54 (133) - great performance and decent 85Hz refresh rate.

P5-233MMX (GA586TX) / Riva 128 / GUS PnP Pro 8Mb + SB16 / ATX + PS/2 + USB
K6-2-450 (K6XV3+) / TNT2 M64 / SB Live!
XP 3000+ (A7N8X) / FX 5600 / A7N8X Deluxe + Zalmans + 2CL RAM + Chieftec Dragon

Reply 148 of 238, by T-Squared

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I need some advice for a good card.

It needs:

  • to be PCI (AGP is already taken up by an NVidia FX5500, and ISA does not work for video cards on my chipset.)
  • to have a (WORKING) feature connector
  • to have compatibility with the odd Mode X games (and the Multimedia PC version of Myst)
  • to be $20-$40 (Cheap, but not so cheap that it seems too good to be true)
  • to have between 2-16 MB of memory (16 is a stretch)

Extra features I could use are bonuses. Also, it doesn't matter if it can't be used in Windows XP, because the 5500 already has dual monitor support (although with VGA and DVI).

I've considered Matrox, but that seems to have trouble with a lot of games (including Commander Keen), as I've read, and I haven't been able to find a reference for use of the extra black DB connector on the bracket. (It says Media XL somewhere, but I haven't been able to find that standard anywhere in the internet yet.)

I've tried ATI, but it has slight trouble with Commander Keen, and two of my cards seem
to have a bad or deteriorating signal on the feature connector (but nothing bad on the normal monitor):

  • Rage Pro shows a LOT of noise/static/missing pixels in brighter areas, and EGA is just-plain a mess, with horizontal streaks of colors, and wrong colors in certain places.
  • Rage Pro Turbo AGP All-in-Wonder is similar, but more subdued, with consistently-missing pixels in 256-color 320x200 mode, but somehow I remember it was crystal clear before.

I tried S3 Virge (in the form of the ExpertColor 325), but expanding the memory (from 2mb to 4mb) breaks the feature connector capability,
using it with Doom/Doom 2 in Win98's DOS shell makes it crash with a temporary blue screen back to the desktop, and MPC Ver. Myst doesn't seem to like it,
no matter what I try to change in the settings (Heck, I even updated the video card's BIOS. It was an EEPROM.). I'm not sure if it's just a fluke with that particular brand, though. (And like below, isn't out of the question) If the S3 Trio is good, I'll go to that.

nVidia RIVA/TNT/TNT2 I'm scared of trying (but isn't out of the question), because the feature connector didn't seem to work on a 16MB TNT2 card I used 3 years ago (and the card itself is completely dead now, even after a well-intentioned solder reflow attempt).

Reply 149 of 238, by appiah4

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

PCI Riva 128, PCI Riva TNT or PCI Intel i740 are what you want. PCI Matrox Millennium I and II also have working feature connectors, but they may not fulfill all your criteria (Millennium I is better in terms of DOS compatibility IME). If you can find them for <$40 a PCI Voodoo Banshee or a PCI Voodoo 3 will also work.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 150 of 238, by Ozzuneoj

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-05, 22:44:

PCI Intel i740

Good suggestions but don't spend too much time trying to find one of these. I believe the Real3D Starfighter PCI is the only i740 based PCI card and they are extremely rare. I found one a few months back but those crappy little blue rectangular capacitors that always corrode had totally eaten away several solder pads and some nearby components, so the card is shot. It turns on the monitor but only displays a blank screen. In about 4 1/2 years of scouring the internet for retro PC components, this is the only one I've seen for sale outside of a collection (not saying they haven't been, I just haven't seen them).

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 151 of 238, by T-Squared

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-05, 22:44:

PCI Riva 128, PCI Riva TNT or PCI Intel i740 are what you want. PCI Matrox Millennium I and II also have working feature connectors, but they may not fulfill all your criteria (Millennium I is better in terms of DOS compatibility IME). If you can find them for <$40 a PCI Voodoo Banshee or a PCI Voodoo 3 will also work.

So a Riva TNT2 won't work?

Reply 152 of 238, by thenix

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hi guys, I used I believe this thread as reference to pick out a video card for my 98 machine. I got an NVidia FX 5500. When I put it in my computer the computer assigned it ATI 3D Rage Pro drivers for some reason. It didn't seem to be helping at all. I got the NVidia drivers and installed them and now it shows both the drivers in device manager. If I remove the ATI drivers it changes my video resolution to minimum and automatically reinstalls the ATI drivers. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Reply 153 of 238, by kolderman

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
thenix wrote on 2020-05-14, 00:59:

Hi guys, I used I believe this thread as reference to pick out a video card for my 98 machine. I got an NVidia FX 5500. When I put it in my computer the computer assigned it ATI 3D Rage Pro drivers for some reason. It didn't seem to be helping at all. I got the NVidia drivers and installed them and now it shows both the drivers in device manager. If I remove the ATI drivers it changes my video resolution to minimum and automatically reinstalls the ATI drivers. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Do you have onboard vga by any chance?

Reply 154 of 238, by thenix

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
kolderman wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:02:
thenix wrote on 2020-05-14, 00:59:

Hi guys, I used I believe this thread as reference to pick out a video card for my 98 machine. I got an NVidia FX 5500. When I put it in my computer the computer assigned it ATI 3D Rage Pro drivers for some reason. It didn't seem to be helping at all. I got the NVidia drivers and installed them and now it shows both the drivers in device manager. If I remove the ATI drivers it changes my video resolution to minimum and automatically reinstalls the ATI drivers. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Do you have onboard vga by any chance?

yeah the motherboard has vga

Reply 155 of 238, by kolderman

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
thenix wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:12:
kolderman wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:02:
thenix wrote on 2020-05-14, 00:59:

Hi guys, I used I believe this thread as reference to pick out a video card for my 98 machine. I got an NVidia FX 5500. When I put it in my computer the computer assigned it ATI 3D Rage Pro drivers for some reason. It didn't seem to be helping at all. I got the NVidia drivers and installed them and now it shows both the drivers in device manager. If I remove the ATI drivers it changes my video resolution to minimum and automatically reinstalls the ATI drivers. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Do you have onboard vga by any chance?

yeah the motherboard has vga

That's what it *might* be. Motherboard model? And what VGA port are you plugging the monitor in to?

Reply 156 of 238, by thenix

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
kolderman wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:25:
thenix wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:12:
kolderman wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:02:

Do you have onboard vga by any chance?

yeah the motherboard has vga

That's what it *might* be. Motherboard model? And what VGA port are you plugging the monitor in to?

the computer is a Dell Dimension v400 so whatever board that has 🤣. I have the the monitor plugged into the dvi port of the 5500 card.

Reply 158 of 238, by thenix

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
kolderman wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:54:

> According to that document the integrated video is the ATI Rage Pro AGP 2X

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-Gener … are/m-p/1135058

I guess that's the answer...

I figured it was something like that. However I have my monitor plugged into my card. I feel like even though I have both drivers it isn't using the correct one. For example playing half life I still can't use OpenGL and if i set the display resolution higher it is as laggy as before. Maybe the video card isn't that great? But it seemed to be a highly recommended card. hmmm

Reply 159 of 238, by kolderman

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
thenix wrote on 2020-05-14, 03:05:
kolderman wrote on 2020-05-14, 01:54:

> According to that document the integrated video is the ATI Rage Pro AGP 2X

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-Gener … are/m-p/1135058

I guess that's the answer...

I figured it was something like that. However I have my monitor plugged into my card. I feel like even though I have both drivers it isn't using the correct one. For example playing half life I still can't use OpenGL and if i set the display resolution higher it is as laggy as before. Maybe the video card isn't that great? But it seemed to be a highly recommended card. hmmm

Have you disabled onboard vga in bios?