Image quality is about it, that and historically some brands boxed set had a better set of included software

https://www.anandtech.com/show/190

Thank you that's very helpful. At least now all I need to do is decide on exactly which Voodoo I'm after!

When add-on cards like Voodoo2 are considered, there cannot be an image quality difference.

Majority of Voodoo1 and 2 cards use a switch chip that isn't really up to the task and they will degrade image that passes through them (and to lower extent their own generated image). There is a fix though : Image quality fix for Voodoo1 and 2 cards

I've been using a KVM for video output, I like knowing when it's the 2D or 3D card outputting video.

I am now reasonably sure I've settled on what I want... I want a Voodoo 2 because I want to have separate 2D and 3D cards.

Ok... perhaps I can get a bit more advice here.

I am happy to use D3D cards where a game runs as well in D3D as anything else so my use of Voodoo is just for games where Voodoo is best. Previously I had come to a (I think the wrong) conclusion that the voodoo 1 was the best thing for me. I'm now realising that Voodoo 2 might be better and that there's probably no compatibility problems that I cannot overcome.

The PC I'll be using it in is a 233MMX, and the next PC up from that is a 1Ghz P3 with an FX5700 so my expectation is that almost anything that is too demanding for the 233MMX is going to run fine in D3D on the P3 so won't need a voodoo.

What do I need in terms of a voodoo card to run anything that the 233MMX can run, that needs to be on a voodoo to get the best out of it?

I don't understand the question?
You have already picked the 233MMX CPU and Voodoo 2 card which doesn't give us much to recommend? You even have the passthough or KVM option sorted.
Only really leaves drivers
I like the "authentic" 3DFX ones
Fastvoodoo is a popular alternative and useful if running mismatched SLI cards.
https://www.3dfxzone.it/dir/news/3dfx/fastvoodoo2_4.6/

Velociraptor wrote on 2023-02-16, 21:30:

Ok... perhaps I can get a bit more advice here. […]
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Ok... perhaps I can get a bit more advice here.

I am happy to use D3D cards where a game runs as well in D3D as anything else so my use of Voodoo is just for games where Voodoo is best. Previously I had come to a (I think the wrong) conclusion that the voodoo 1 was the best thing for me. I'm now realising that Voodoo 2 might be better and that there's probably no compatibility problems that I cannot overcome.

The PC I'll be using it in is a 233MMX, and the next PC up from that is a 1Ghz P3 with an FX5700 so my expectation is that almost anything that is too demanding for the 233MMX is going to run fine in D3D on the P3 so won't need a voodoo.

What do I need in terms of a voodoo card to run anything that the 233MMX can run, that needs to be on a voodoo to get the best out of it?

I mean technically the most rightish card for a 233 mmx would be a voodoo 1 , for playing early 3d titles circa 96 to 97.
Plus you wouldn't need to worry about batch scripts to make the voodoo 2 run earlier certain fussy voodoo 1 titles it would just run out of the box.
A voodoo 2 might be a better match for a faster cpu like a pentium 2 (300-450 mhz) , better yet in sli to hit that 1024 x 768 resolution in things like unreal circa 98 ,
you might be able to push the card run stuff to 99 when the voodoo 3 first came out?

The more performant card would be the voodoo 2 , but I guess the cpu might be a bottle neck depending on what you play.
I dunno ultimately its up to you.

AppleSauce wrote on 2023-02-20, 14:30:

I mean technically the most rightish card for a 233 mmx would be a voodoo 1 , for playing early 3d titles circa 96 to 97.

While the Voodoo2 is bottlenecked with a Pentium 233MMX CPU, it isn't wasted since it eliminates the need of using 512x384 resolution with titles from 1997 and 1998 to get decent performance.

Plus you wouldn't need to worry about batch scripts to make the voodoo 2 run earlier certain fussy voodoo 1 titles it would just run out of the box.

Not really a big deal, the drivers for Voodoo2 cards comes with a V2-AUTO.INF file that adds the necessary environment variables into AUTOEXEC.BAT (this needs more awareness) to deal with games designed with the Voodoo Graphics card in mind.

For the very few DOS games that doesn't normally work with Voodoo2 cards, I have modded two DOS Glide 2.4x files. Aside from market prices, there isn't any reason to stick with a Voodoo Graphics card anymore. 😀

Yes so originally I bought a 6MB voodoo 1 card. The reason was that A) it matches the era better and B) it avoids any problems.

Now that I've learned that there actually aren't that many problems and seemingly all can be avoided I thought the v2 might be a better option.

The MMX range came out in late 96, and the voodoo2 in early 98 so there's only 18 months of a gap and it doesn't feel wrong to have upgraded to a v2 in a 233MMX system at all. Not to the point where I would feel it's wrong at least.

I think this thread has now answered my questions on it. The right thing for me to do is keep an eye out for a voodoo2, and should I get hold of one I will pass on my V1 to offset some of the cost.

I know they come in 8MB and 12MB. I'm not sure the 12MB is warranted at all, but if it is I could just upgrade an 8MB. So I'll be looking for an 8MB V2 I think.

So thank to everybody who contributed on this thread. I feel my voodoo questions are answered. The voodoo3 is not something I should consider, I want to be able to change the 2D card, and voodoo2 in SLI doesn't seem like it would yield any performance gains that would be worthwhile on this system.

The first Voodoo 2 I owned went in my P200MMX system. When I had to replace the card I ended up with 2 for a moment so I tried SLI. besides resolution availability it didn't make it any faster at lower res.

I struggled with a similar issue. I have 2 voodoo 3, 2000s. One is a pci and the other AGP. I also have 2 voodoo 2 12 meg cards.
I have been running the first voodoo 3 in my pentium 1 233 mmx. Never had any issues with that setup.
I want to SLI the voodoo 2s in my pentium 2 and the other voodoo 3 is currently in a computer I dont use as I bought it for 5 bucks and its an athlon k6 . I might use that voodoo in a p 3

I did start to wonder what if I got a voodoo3 and could I use a different card for 2D, and then realised that no that's getting a little bit silly!

Velociraptor wrote on 2023-03-24, 11:43:

I did start to wonder what if I got a voodoo3 and could I use a different card for 2D, and then realised that no that's getting a little bit silly!

But if you wanted you could.
I do it for better D3D performance with a GF4 in the AGP slot and V3 2000 PCI in a dual screen setup.
With the GF4 card as primary all games default to this unless its glide where the voodoo drivers kick in and of course outputs to the voodoo. Only 1 game (powerslide) doesn't work so I have to disable the GF4 and reboot.