First post, by GordonFreeman
- Rank
- Newbie
Hi, I’m a new member but I’ve been coming to this forum for information for quite a while. I’m amazed that “GordonFreeman” wasn’t already taken.
I have a question about PowerVR cards. I’m interested in cards based on the PowerVR2, like the Matrox M3D. From what I understand, these cards have no ports, and instead send their output to the memory of the host card. What I was wondering is if I could use a PowerVR2 card with a Voodoo 3 as its host card.
I have questions about that: if I have both cards in the same system, which card will games use by default? Will they only use the PowerVR card for PowerSGL games, or will they also use it for OpenGL and DirectX games? I think my system would still use the Voodoo 3 as the primary display adapter, which I wouldn’t need to change. But if the system tries to use the PowerVR2 for all games, couldn’t I just disable it in the Device Manager when I don't want to use it? I really only need the PowerVR2 for PowerSGL games - I want the Voodoo 3 to handle everything else.
Another question: would having the drivers for both cards on the same system cause any problems? I would think it wouldn’t, but I’m not sure.
Some more information: I have a working P4-based system with a Voodoo 3 3000 (AGP), running Windows 98 SE. This system is pretty awesome already. However, I think it would be even more awesome if I could have a Voodoo 3 and a PowerVR2 in the same system - that, in my opinion, would be about the coolest setup you could have for playing older games. The other option is that I could just build another system, but there’s a certain appeal to having just one system with such a wide range of compatibility. I don’t know if it would work or not, though - thoughts?
Another thing: maybe I’m remembering incorrectly, but it seems like it used to be pretty easy to find these cards on eBay, but right now I don’t see anything. Any idea where I could get one? I’m specifically looking for a PowerVR2 card.
EDIT: I mention the PowerVR2 in this post, but what I meant was the PowerVR PCX2. I'll leave the post as is so the replies make sense.