VOGONS


First post, by Byrd

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Hi all,

My first post to this wonderful forum 😀 I'm currently building up desktop PC, specs of:

- ABIT BP6, dual Celeron 466 @ 583Mhz (83Mhz FSB)
- Geforce 4 MX440 AGP
- "New" STB Voodoo 2 12MB matched x 2, with home made SLI cable, triple checked 😀
- Audigy 2 ZS sound card

I've never had a Voodoo 2 equipped computer (mainly Voodoo 3 in Macs), and not sure if SLI is enabled or working properly.

I decided on Windows 2000 as the best OS choice for this machine, and have installed the FastVoodoo drivers. Certainly I can only select up to 800 x 600 resolution and the control panel info tab states SLI isn't enabled but then again doesn't detect anything else like MB of card etc.

When I plug a VGA cable into one Voodoo card, I can run the demo program provided by the FastVoodoo driver, but plugging it into the other results in a squashed display output. Is this normal - are both meant to display output or just one?

Are there any definitive tests to know if SLI is running?

Thanks

JB

Reply 1 of 16, by lazibayer

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First I would check if either card works.
1, set FSB to 66MHz
2, use official driver
3, test each card individually

Then,
1, set FSB to 66MHz
2, use official driver
3, put two cards in SLI mode

If you can get things work so far, introduce overclocking and 3rd party drivers.
Only one card is supposed to give video signal under SLI mode.

Reply 2 of 16, by chinny22

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If your not getting the below image its fair to say its not enabled.
1467657053-bureau.png

Go though lazibayer's list

Reply 5 of 16, by weldum

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Byrd wrote:

I decided on Windows 2000 as the best OS choice for this machine, and have installed the FastVoodoo drivers. Certainly I can only select up to 800 x 600 resolution and the control panel info tab states SLI isn't enabled but then again doesn't detect anything else like MB of card etc.

First off all, nice build!

Second, sadly you're making a mistake, because SLI only works in Windows 9x/ME, but in these OS your dual processor build isn't as effective as in a NT based OS.

Your best bet for such a build, despite having a processor that's gonna be unused, is Windows 98SE, that OS will give the best support for SLI, GLIDE and games for that card.

DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
LT: C-N2840/A64-TK57/N2600/N455/N270/C-ULV353/PM-1.7/P4-2.6/P133
TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
Others: Drean C64c/Czerweny Spectrum 48k/Talent MSX DPC200/M512K/MP475

Reply 6 of 16, by Gamecollector

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weldum wrote:

SLI only works in Windows 9x/ME

Works like a charm in WinXp.

Asus P4P800 SE/Pentium4 3.2E/2 Gb DDR400B,
Radeon HD3850 Agp (Sapphire), Catalyst 14.4 (XpProSp3).
Voodoo2 12 MB SLI, Win2k drivers 1.02.00 (XpProSp3).

Reply 7 of 16, by derSammler

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weldum wrote:

Second, sadly you're making a mistake, because SLI only works in Windows 9x/ME, but in these OS your dual processor build isn't as effective as in a NT based OS.

Windows 9x/ME doesn't make use of a second CPU at all. It's a single-core OS. Having said that, it may not make a difference anyway, as to my knowledge the Celeron does not support SMP. So even if he has two installed and running Windows 2000, only one CPU is used.

Reply 9 of 16, by derSammler

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As a budget processor, the Celeron does not support a dual processor configuration using multiple CPU sockets

(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron#Dual_processor_support)

So no, unless he's using Socket 370 Celerons with Mendocino core.

Reply 10 of 16, by chinny22

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weldum wrote:

SLI only works in Windows 9x/ME

Not sure where you got that from, I've experienced SLI first hand with 2000 and XP, Win2k even has official 3DFX drivers.
I'd be surprised if NT4 wasn't the same story, but never tried

Reply 11 of 16, by weldum

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chinny22 wrote:
weldum wrote:

SLI only works in Windows 9x/ME

Not sure where you got that from, I've experienced SLI first hand with 2000 and XP, Win2k even has official 3DFX drivers.
I'd be surprised if NT4 wasn't the same story, but never tried

Well i've read in some sites that sli could only be enabled in 9x OS, through i now think i'm confused with the rage fury maxx

DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
LT: C-N2840/A64-TK57/N2600/N455/N270/C-ULV353/PM-1.7/P4-2.6/P133
TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
Others: Drean C64c/Czerweny Spectrum 48k/Talent MSX DPC200/M512K/MP475

Reply 12 of 16, by Byrd

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Thanks all for your advice! I have never owned a dual x86 machine before, hence the desire to try getting it all functional with Windows 2000 so that both CPUs can be utilised. However, it hasn't been easy getting there. The BP6 is one of the pickier boards with RAM and it was completely unstable until I found the culprit, a VIA USB 2.0 PCI card, since removed. And it took half a day to install Windows 2000 SP4 as well.

With the Voodoo IIs, while the control panel states 0MB and SLI not enabled, I know that one card works while the other displays a garbled picture.

I've a preference for Windows 98, and I might trial a single Pentium III next - pretty sure I've a 900 or 933Mhz part somewhere. Yes, it defeats the fun of SMP but it's still a working ABIT machine (and early revision so getting dual PIIIs running will be next to impossible). Then I'd at least have a solid BX board, fast single CPU and more reliable SLI.

JB

Reply 13 of 16, by weldum

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Have you tested each card separated and in otver board? Maybe one is faulty

DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
LT: C-N2840/A64-TK57/N2600/N455/N270/C-ULV353/PM-1.7/P4-2.6/P133
TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
Others: Drean C64c/Czerweny Spectrum 48k/Talent MSX DPC200/M512K/MP475

Reply 14 of 16, by chinny22

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I actually missed this was a SMP system at first! I'm a believer in more is better and have a SMP/SLI build myself (amongst other SMP builds)
Asus P2B-DS Build

Its actually what converted me to using Win2k as my main OS for Win9x games, but even then its not like you need 2 CPUS to run win2k, the fact is you don't need 2 CPU's for any reason on a gamming PC.
But once its up and running its soo much cooler, and I don't think your problems come from the 2nd CPU, Once you have Win2k Installed nothing else really knows about the 2nd CPU so your USB card for example would still probably not play nice even with a single CPU.
So don't let old failing hardware deter you, that's all part of the fun!

Reply 15 of 16, by Byrd

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Yes SMP chinny! Like your build, I thought I'd do the dual GPUs and dual CPUs thing.

I spent several evenings trying to get it stable without even thinking such an innocent VIA USB card could be the culprit. Of course I believed it was due to overclocking, RAM (well it was in part - sometimes not all of it would detect, now it does), the usual culprits. But no - as soon as the USB card was pulled, everything worked stably @ stock, then I've trialled 83Mhz FSB which it doesn't baulk at. I'll downclock it to stock of course when troubleshooting the V2 cards.

I'll post some pics up one day. It's all housed in a TPG branded (a current Australian ISP) desktop case - quite a plain Jane in appearance.

JB

Reply 16 of 16, by kixs

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I've the same board for testing purposes - 2x500MHz. Has dual boot Windows 98SE and Windows XP. I find it very stable. Albeit I didn't overclock.

Requests are also possible... /msg kixs