Rendition Verite? Probably even tougher to find.

I think both Descent2 and TR1 have S3 Virge patches... which would be super easy to find and cheap but of course your getting what you pay for... nearly zero 3d acceleration. 😀

BinaryDemon wrote:

Rendition Verite? Probably even tougher to find.

I think both Descent2 and TR1 have S3 Virge patches... which would be super easy to find and cheap but of course your getting what you pay for... nearly zero 3d acceleration. 😀

Will look into the Rendition. Already have a S3 Virge and a Matrox G100 neither of which offer 3D though. I do have a "weirdo" card called Starfighter 3D which I
know nothing about.

You can also try Ati Rage Pro. It's the only cards that accelerates TR1 in Windows. https://gona.mactar.hu/ATI_3D_CIF/ It is definitely better than Virge in terms of Direct 3D (apart of its proprietary Ati 3D CIF).

buckeye wrote:

I do have a "weirdo" card called Starfighter 3D which I
know nothing about.

Intel i740! Had one too!

the mystique ran TR1 ok there are 2 patches 1 for the 2mb card and one for the 4mb card

I am legally required to mention Tomb Raider has a NEC PowerVR PCX1/2 version that can reach 1024x768, and you can slip in a PowerVR PCX2 card in your computer no problem (as long as it's not nvidia geforce for host video)

The ATICIF version (actual Windows version) of Tomb Raider 1 may be the best looking one. I've not played it on PowerVR but from what I've read the 1024x768 setting runs like a slug. By contrast, my ATI Rage Pro Turbo (last/fastest CIF capable card) can do 800x600 at mostly 30 FPS and is, to me, superior looking to the 3dfx version which can have graphical anomalies even on a Voodoo 1 and appropriate speed CPU. They're also way cheaper and much less rare than PowerVR compatibles.

Gets my vote for the best TR1 GPU.

buckeye wrote:

Wanting to build a late DOS rig that can handle the 3D titles like TR1, Descent 2 and etc. but can't seem to find a voodoo 1 board
at a sane price so is there a viable option here? Banshee or Rush perhaps?

I find Banshee generally more expensive the Voodoo1, and you probably don't want a Rush anyway.

Davros wrote:

the mystique ran TR1 ok there are 2 patches 1 for the 2mb card and one for the 4mb card

Yup the Matrox Mystique did a good job with TR1. Basically allowed you run the game in SVGA with almost no slowdown (40fps+), although the card lacked the bi-linear filtering of the 3Dfx cards.

Not sure if the TR1 Mystique patch ran at 512x384 or full 640x480, but either way it looked and played great, as did Mechwarrior 2 and Moto Racer.

Mystique cards can be had fairly reasonably when they come up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GMesT4WKzI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tItGU1i0zsw&l … tLpEtHP&index=3

wasnt powervr the only version unlocked above 30fps?

leileilol wrote:

I am legally required to mention Tomb Raider has a NEC PowerVR PCX1/2 version that can reach 1024x768, and you can slip in a PowerVR PCX2 card in your computer no problem (as long as it's not nvidia geforce for host video)

I've found (2) versions: apocalypse 3dx and matrox m3d, are there anymore?

No these are the only PCX2 cards.

leileilol wrote:

I am legally required to mention Tomb Raider has a NEC PowerVR PCX1/2 version that can reach 1024x768, and you can slip in a PowerVR PCX2 card in your computer no problem (as long as it's not nvidia geforce for host video)

Well done! Consider your contractual obligation met for this quarter. The agreed upon funds have been deposited into your account.

blurks wrote:

No these are the only PCX2 cards.

There's also NEC PC3DEngine2 and Apocalypse 5D (PCX2 with a Tseng ET6100 / ESS Agogo)

Both machines in your signature would have enough performance to play TR1 and Descent 2 through Glide wrappers, and at at high resolution scaling supported by the Glide wrappers, too. Well, unless your focus is to get the fun of building the machine rather than playing the games, then just ignore my comment 😀

The YouTube video of ATI 3D version of TR1 shows wobbled texture. Not sure if this is ATI hardware problem or indeed the perspective correction in ATI 3D hardware implementation is flawed, which reminds me of an ad in the 90's that Matrox showed comparing Mystique and ATI Rage3D perspective correction, and claimed that ATI cheated in the implementation. Today, ATI version can also be played with ATICIF-to-OpenGL wrapper. The game would play nicely on one of your machine with NVIDIA GPU.

PowerVR PCX2 hardware is hard to acquire nowadays, and if you ever find one, then it would usually be at inflated price.

kjliew wrote:

Both machines in your signature would have enough performance to play TR1 and Descent 2 through Glide wrappers, and at at high resolution scaling supported by the Glide wrappers, too. Well, unless your focus is to get the fun of building the machine rather than playing the games, then just ignore my comment 😀

The YouTube video of ATI 3D version of TR1 shows wobbled texture. Not sure if this is ATI hardware problem or indeed the perspective correction in ATI 3D hardware implementation is flawed, which reminds me of an ad in the 90's that Matrox showed comparing Mystique and ATI Rage3D perspective correction, and claimed that ATI cheated in the implementation. Today, ATI version can also be played with ATICIF-to-OpenGL wrapper. The game would play nicely on one of your machine with NVIDIA GPU.

PowerVR PCX2 hardware is hard to acquire nowadays, and if you ever find one, then it would usually be at inflated price.

I have run TR1 on both machines, this is just my wanting to build something with a P2 300-350mhz as a "base" and go from there. The ATI cards are the only options I see for a reasonable price so I'll check out some videos before jumping on them.

PowerVR cards are for the "rich/famous"!

buckeye wrote:

PowerVR cards are for the "rich/famous"!

back in the day (1997) PCX2 was the bargain option, Matrox M3D was $99 in December 97, price of noname Virge card, half the price of Voodoo/Riva128 (and half the speed?).

Maybe it's a regional thing, but here in EU/NL I keep bumping into Verite Rendition cards (particularly the Diamond S220 PCI with V2100), both in old systems bought sight-unseen and for sale for very reasonable prices (I never got more than EUR 15 for one when offloading them...), so for a budget alternative to a V1 I'd say they make a lot of sense. V1 is fairly common, but commands higher prices, and PCX seems very rare (in 18 months time only spotted one locally...). Of course S3 Virge is everywhere for (almost) nothing, but there's a reason for that 😉

dionb wrote:

Maybe it's a regional thing, but here in EU/NL I keep bumping into Verite Rendition cards (particularly the Diamond S220 PCI with V2100), both in old systems bought sight-unseen and for sale for very reasonable prices (I never got more than EUR 15 for one when offloading them...), so for a budget alternative to a V1 I'd say they make a lot of sense. V1 is fairly common, but commands higher prices, and PCX seems very rare (in 18 months time only spotted one locally...). Of course S3 Virge is everywhere for (almost) nothing, but there's a reason for that 😉

So true... as the PCX is one of the very few cards missing in my collection. Don't think the Matrox M3D was popular here at the time..