3dfx Voodoo 1 Framebuffer Single vs Double 3D Mark '99 \ VOGONS

3dfx Voodoo 1 Framebuffer Single vs Double 3D Mark '99

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First post, by dries_86

Posted on 2017-09-18, 20:42

dries_86 Offline

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Joined: 2017-06-03, 11:59

Hi all,

I am currently building a system PII MMX 223 Mhz, 64 MB SDRAM, ATI Rage Pro 8 MB (integrated) and a Maxi Gamer 3dfx Voodoo 4 MB. os Win98SE, latest drivers, DX6.1 or 7.0 .

However noticed upon running 3D Mark '99 on the 3dfx Voodoo I have to change the default option Single to Double Framebuffer or otherwise I get some strange kind of 'artifacts' (not really artifacts, more like 2 frames are mixed every frame).

When using the Ati Rage Pro I do not have to change any default options.

Is this expected behaviour for the 3dfx Voodoo 1 or is something wrong with my card ? I tested it on various systems and get same results every time.

Reply 1 of 3, by Imperious

Posted on 2017-09-19, 00:25

Imperious Offline

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Location: Brisbane, Australia

You have just told me how to fix that problem.

That is normal behaviour for a voodoo 1 in 3dmark99. Considering the cards were released
1997 it's not surprising.

Atari 2600, TI994a, Vic20, c64, ZX Spectrum 128, Amstrad CPC464, Atari 65XE, Commodore Plus/4, Amiga 500
PC's from XT 8088, 486, Pentium MMX, K6, Athlon, P3, P4, 775, to current Ryzen 5600x.

Reply 2 of 3, by shamino

Posted on 2017-09-19, 02:59

shamino Offline

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I tried single buffering on a Riva 128 and had garbage output also. From what little I read, it appeared that this is normal behavior, and single buffering is useless. My presumption has been that this would be the same on any card, but I don't think I actually ever tried it again with any other card.
Maybe this mode is useful for some sort of theoretical testing purpose, since it frees up more of the card's RAM, but it doesn't represent a mode you would actually use in a game.

The trouble with single buffering is that it's redrawing the screen while it's being displayed. Double buffering adds an offscreen area for the next frame to be prepared before it's displayed.
Single buffering in 2D was some degree of tolerable. In 3D it seems to be hopelessly nasty.

Reply 3 of 3, by Dani-01

Posted on 2017-09-20, 07:02

Dani-01 Offline

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Can confirm here as well, this behavior is normal.
In fact, if your only 3D card is the Voodoo 1, then it defaults to single buffer and you can't change it at all (the box will be grayed out)! The same goes for 3dmark 2000. I think it's because of the 2mb texture memory not being enough.

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