haker120 wrote on 2022-04-13, 08:44:

Ok, as DirectX card I bought this one. 😁

Congrats, it's a really nice card. Here's a review of the 64 MB model.

Be sure to use driver version 45.23 or below under Win98. Later drivers can cause issues with some older games.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-04-13, 08:47:

Be sure to use driver version 45.23 or below under Win98. Later drivers can cause issues with some older games.

My recommendation for GeForce 4 Ti cards (the AGP 4X versions) is the nVIDIA driver version 30.82.
It's faster than Detonator 4x.xx and have had 0 issues with it, every game that I played / tested has worked flawlessly.

Of course, 45.23 is definitely a very solid driver, so you can't go wrong with this either (but it will be slower).

bloodem wrote on 2022-04-13, 10:46:

My recommendation for GeForce 4 Ti cards (the AGP 4X versions) is the nVIDIA driver version 30.82.
It's faster than Detonator 4x.xx and have had 0 issues with it, every game that I played / tested has worked flawlessly.

This has been my experience as well. I use 40.72 for AGP 8x cards and 30.82 for the 4x models.

I just mentioned 45.23 (or lower) because people tend to go to Nvidia's website, search for a GeForce4 driver, and then end up with something like 81.98. After installing that crap on Win98, they immediately come back here and ask why none of their games work. 😁

Of course, 45.23 is definitely a very solid driver, so you can't go wrong with this either (but it will be slower).

My use case for 45.23 is either:

1. I'm using an FX card
2. I'm playing Splinter Cell

Otherwise, I rarely go above 40.72.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-04-13, 11:30:

I just mentioned 45.23 (or lower) because people tend to go to Nvidia's website, search for a GeForce4 driver, and then end up with something like 81.98. After installing that crap on Win98, they immediately come back here and ask why none of their games work. 😁

Oh, for sure. In fact, I probably also did the same some years ago. 😁

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-04-13, 11:30:

My use case for 45.23 is either: […]
Show full quote

My use case for 45.23 is either:

1. I'm using an FX card
2. I'm playing Splinter Cell

Otherwise, I rarely go above 40.72.

Yeah, me too (regarding the FX cards). However, I don't play Splinter Cell on these GPUs, I need at least a GeForce 6800 / Radeon X850 to enjoy it.
I do know that Splinter Cell technically looks as it should on GeForce 3 / GeForce 4 (because of the whole shadow buffers situation), but unfortunately it's way too slow on these GPUs (and even on FX).

I would look for a Voodoo3 2000 AGP. ?Should? be not so expensive than the bigger 3000/3500 brothers. I had a V3 2000 AGP in 1999 and flashed the 3000 Bios without any problems, although my card only had 7 ns RAM, sepcified for the stock 143MHz. 166 MHz should be possible with every 2000 card (with a fan on the small heatsink!). Maybe you could find one with faster 6ns (166MHz) memory chips.

Here for a example a V3 2000 AGP from my 3dfx collection. The access time of the memory chip is circled in red. This is how you can recognize 7ns memory chips on the card and all the other brands on the market.

NostalgicAslinger wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:38:

I would look for a Voodoo3 2000 AGP. ?Should? be not so expensive than the bigger 3000/3500 brothers. I had a V3 2000 AGP in 1999 and flashed the 3000 Bios without any problems, although my card only had 7 ns RAM, sepcified for the stock 143MHz. 166 MHz should be possible with every 2000 card (with a fan on the small heatsink!). Maybe you could find one with faster 6ns (166MHz) memory chips.

Here for a example a V3 2000 AGP from my 3dfx collection. The access time of the memory chip is circled in red. This is how you can recognize 7ns memory chips on the card and all the other brands on the market.

Lol, not entirely the topic here, but I just realized for the first time that this forum allows photo attachments of a luscious 5 megapixel. Would not have guessed, most do about 1600 x 1200.
Guess I may set potato to stun some time when it counts.

Edit: Or so my browser claims, erroneously. Actually, it's 1920 x 1440 or 2.8 MP.
But, still more than I cared to produce with Mr. Potatoman lately.

I have scaled down the picture size and compression rate (from 1,5MB to 750 kb file size) for people with slower internet connection.

NostalgicAslinger wrote on 2022-04-13, 13:13:

I have scaled down the picture size and compression rate (from 1,5MB to 750 kb file size) for people with slower internet connection.

Ah, ok, then my browser isn't nuts, after all.

Nice to see that there's one person out there who still cares that not just anybody has a gigabit dsl connection these days. 😉

In my conservative understanding, 5 MP is already pushing the optical qualities of pocket cameras, under good conditions. So with most cellphone lenses, anything beyond 3 is probably just cockalorum by numbers.
Can only marvel at friends who send 30 MB attachment to a list just to peddle some old books.

My standby potato is retro itself and has the sole purpose of being utterly expendable. And running on single use AAs.
Mostly used to describe repair jobs to iliterate contractors via e-mail. So, no point to produce any detail that won't fit the dude's screen. Set to 1.8 MP therefore.

bloodem wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:34:

I do know that Splinter Cell technically looks as it should on GeForce 3 / GeForce 4 (because of the whole shadow buffers situation), but unfortunately it's way too slow on these GPUs (and even on FX).

Heh, you just greatly diminished my interest in an FX5900 card. I was hoping it would be noticeably better than my Ti4200, while still supporting nearly all of the Shadow Buffer shenanigans, but I guess it was too much to hope for.

I endure the low frame rates in Splinter Cell because it's one of my favorite stealth games (though Chaos Theory is even better). In this particular case, I don't mind the performance drops much since the gameplay is not too twitchy, so I always crank up the details to the max.

How about this one? And I'm gonna buy V3 3000. 😁

It is a XFX GeForce 4 Ti 4200. Is there a photo showing the back of the card? It is to make sure wheter it is the AGP 8X version or not but very likely the former.

Either way it works on motherboards supporting the CPUs you are going to use even if is overkill.

It's AGP 8x and I think to buy it, will it work with Voodoo 3 2000/3000? I mean I need Glide then Voodoo, I need DX bought one or this one overkill. 😁

haker120 wrote on 2022-04-13, 19:35:

It's AGP 8x and I think to buy it, will it work with Voodoo 3 2000/3000? I mean I need Glide then Voodoo, I need DX bought one or this one overkill. 😁

Unless you're planning to buy a PCI version of the Voodoo3 (and swap back and forth in the BIOS betweeen PCI/AGP video boot), you will need a Voodoo2 or a Voodoo1 for Glide support.

And the Voodoo2 is the best choice if you want both the GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and Glide working at the same time overall. In addition to this there are ways to disable D3D for Voodoo2.

Won't Voodoo 1 fit for this?

Yes, but it is more risky using it on the system you're targeting due to CPU speed issues (depends of the motherboard chipset) and slower than the Voodoo2.

Unless you want higher eye candy games, then a Voodoo 3 is all you need for 99% of Windows games pre-2000. Don't bother with Nvidia and their crappy drivers. Don't bother with a pass through and potentially mismatching SLI. If you have a Voodoo 3 2000 AGP or PCI, then I would just roll with that in a 1ghz system and call it a day. I wouldn't go out buying Voodoo 2s unless you REALLY want them. The best Voodoo 2s (SLI) will never match the worst Voodoo 3 for image quality. The Voodoo 3 2000 is about on par with SLI for performance.

FioGermi wrote on 2022-04-12, 16:01:

I'm pretty sure they can do 800x600 in most games where as a regular V1 could not outside of some very specific examples that didn't use Z-buffer or whatever its called. Although I'm not sure how well the performance would be. The V1 is a tad bit slow as is.

MechWarrior 2 is a 3dfx game that supports 800x600 on the Voodoo 1 due to lack of Z-buffer as you said. Performance is actually only a bit slower than the default 640x480 and is perfectly playable.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-04-13, 13:38:

Heh, you just greatly diminished my interest in an FX5900 card. I was hoping it would be noticeably better than my Ti4200, while still supporting nearly all of the Shadow Buffer shenanigans, but I guess it was too much to hope for.

Well, don't get me wrong, the game is extremely playable on an FX 5900 (by 2002 standards), but not by modern standards.
In fact, 20 years ago I finished the game on a Palit GeForce 3 Ti 200, and even though there was a lot of stuttering going on, it didn't really bother me.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-04-13, 13:38:

I endure the low frame rates in Splinter Cell because it's one of my favorite stealth games (though Chaos Theory is even better). In this particular case, I don't mind the performance drops much since the gameplay is not too twitchy, so I always crank up the details to the max.

Same! I loved this game so much and still do. I've played all sequels too. Too bad that they haven't released a new one in almost a decade... Apparently there is a remake in the works, but it's still in early stages.

Now I don't know, I paid for 64MB TI4200 so add for it Voodoo 1 and I'm good to go?

Ahh, two systems, one Piii 500MHz and second Piii 1GHz, I give up with Tualatin mod. 🤣

Also I have P4 3.0GHz as Win9X gaming machine slowed down to 1GHz because of instability.

Should I buy that XFX GeForce Ti4200? I decided to buy Voodoo3 3000 because retro and I need it. 😁