Just about every "stubborn" staticly linked dos glide game which "requires a v1" can be forced to use a v2 through the use of environment variables and sometimes disabling SLI, if applicable.

So, no, imo there are no advantages to V1, and its framerates are shit

the 3dfx version of Mechwarrior 2 immediately comes to mind because i've never seen that work on other voodoo cards. There's also Interstate 76 Gold working properly.

Always use the Voodoo2 over the Voodoo Graphics card. There is no real compatibility loss and performance is much better without having to resort to 512x384.

For games designed for the Voodoo Graphics, like maxtherabbit said, applying some environment variables (found in the V2-AUTO.INF file) will make them work with the Voodoo2. In some cases, reducing the texture memory helps.

Few DOS games will still have troubles, but I did a work around to deal with them.

Earlier Windows Glide games need GLIDE.DLL and SST1INIT.DLL, those can be grabbed from an older Voodoo Graphics driver and should be put in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.

Edit: Fixed link.

Add both a Voodoo 1 and a Voodoo 2. Feed the output of one to the input of the other. Best of both worlds. 😀. Having said that I think Pentium Pro will bottleneck a V2. Though it would perform better than with a V1.

I am planning to put a Voodoo 2 in a Pentium II 300Mhz, and I think even with that it will bottleneck. I believe 400-500Mhz is going to make the most of a Voodoo 2.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2024-12-11, 13:24:

Add both a Voodoo 1 and a Voodoo 2. Feed the output of one to the input of the other. Best of both worlds. 😀. Having said that I think Pentium Pro will bottleneck a V2. Though it would perform better than with a V1.

I am planning to put a Voodoo 2 in a Pentium II 300Mhz, and I think even with that it will bottleneck. I believe 400-500Mhz is going to make the most of a Voodoo 2.

Even on a slower CPU, a single Voodoo2 outperforms the Voodoo Graphics. The hardware triangle setup, second TMU and higher clocks it has greatly helps.

Adding both cards just wastes a PCI slot for no reason. 😜

Gmlb256 wrote on 2024-12-11, 13:36:

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2024-12-11, 13:24:

Add both a Voodoo 1 and a Voodoo 2. Feed the output of one to the input of the other. Best of both worlds. 😀. Having said that I think Pentium Pro will bottleneck a V2. Though it would perform better than with a V1.

I am planning to put a Voodoo 2 in a Pentium II 300Mhz, and I think even with that it will bottleneck. I believe 400-500Mhz is going to make the most of a Voodoo 2.

Even on a slower CPU, a single Voodoo2 outperforms the Voodoo Graphics. The hardware triangle setup, second TMU and higher clocks it has greatly helps.

Adding both cards just wastes a PCI slot for no reason. 😜

This. Sure you may need 500MHz to absolutely squeeze every possible frame out of a V2, but even my Pentium Pro 233 system can get over 60FPS in quake 2 1024x768 timedemo with SLI

My only consideration on a Pentium or PPro system would be if I had a quality Voodoo Graphics card with a cleaner video signal than a cheap Voodoo 2.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2024-12-11, 13:36:

Even on a slower CPU, a single Voodoo2 outperforms the Voodoo Graphics. The hardware triangle setup, second TMU and higher clocks it has greatly helps.

Adding both cards just wastes a PCI slot for no reason. 😜

I wasn't really being serious with that suggestion. Haha. Sorry for confusion.

I have a Voodoo 1 in my Pentium MMX 300Mhz system and have a Voodoo 2 to put in my Pentium 2 300mhz. Not sure I would "waste" my Voodoo 2 by putting it in the MMX system, as the CPU is quite a bottleneck for it in some games. I just want it for early glide games that don't work out of the box with the Voodoo 2. I don't really want to muck around with patches and environment variables. But if a game works on the Voodoo 2 I would, of course, use the faster machine for those.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2024-12-11, 13:39:

This. Sure you may need 500MHz to absolutely squeeze every possible frame out of a V2, but even my Pentium Pro 233 system can get over 60FPS in quake 2 1024x768 timedemo with SLI

How does it do with a more CPU intensive game like Unreal at 1024x768?

Unless you consider an advantage the fact that you don't need to deal with environmental variables, batch files and seek the correct patch then no, you don't have any reason to not use the Voodoo2.

But to some like me this is not a small thing, it's an actual advantage. I stayed with a voodoo1 for this reason: install-optionally patch-play. I got tired of maintaining notes and settings and having to use the rush patch for that game or a specific .ovl for this demo etc.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2024-12-11, 14:01:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2024-12-11, 13:39:

This. Sure you may need 500MHz to absolutely squeeze every possible frame out of a V2, but even my Pentium Pro 233 system can get over 60FPS in quake 2 1024x768 timedemo with SLI

How does it do with a more CPU intensive game like Unreal at 1024x768?

Probably not great. I have since changed things around though so I can't test. I ended up swapping my pvr pcx2 into the single cpu ppro233 and the v2s are in my k6-2 375 system now. Yes I did this to get a little more from the v2s... but also the power vr was dramatically underperforming in the k6 system even with different 2d cards etc..

What you really won't like is my dual CPU ppro233 machine running XP is home to my V3 3k. There I get about 50FPS in the q2 timedemo in 1280x1024

maxtherabbit wrote on 2024-12-11, 15:16:

What you really won't like is my dual CPU ppro233 machine running XP is home to my V3 3k. There I get about 50FPS in the q2 timedemo in 1280x1024

A curious choice for sure. Any particular reason for that pairing of CPU/GPU? Why Windows XP on such a system? Is it not slow? I would have thought Win2k may be a bit lighter? I know win9x isn't going to utilise 2 CPUs.

I have a V3, but haven't yet decided whether to use it in a permanently built system. Probably would be in a PIII system between 700 and 1000Mhz. Out of curiosity I have tried the V3 in my Pentium MMX system. I did see minor gains in framerate in Unreal, but the CPU is a real bottleneck for that game.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2024-12-11, 16:09:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2024-12-11, 15:16:

What you really won't like is my dual CPU ppro233 machine running XP is home to my V3 3k. There I get about 50FPS in the q2 timedemo in 1280x1024

A curious choice for sure. Any particular reason for that pairing of CPU/GPU? Why Windows XP on such a system? Is it not slow? I would have thought Win2k may be a bit lighter? I know win9x isn't going to utilise 2 CPUs.

I have a V3, but haven't yet decided whether to use it in a permanently built system. Probably would be in a PIII system between 700 and 1000Mhz. Out of curiosity I have tried the V3 in my Pentium MMX system. I did see minor gains in framerate in Unreal, but the CPU is a real bottleneck for that game.

- it is a PCI only system and it is a PCI V3
- V2s don't work worth a shit in 2k/xp but the v3 works perfectly
- excellent DOS compatibility and image quality

No XP is not slow with dual 233/512kB Pros, having 512MB RAM is required.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2024-12-11, 16:14:

- it is a PCI only system and it is a PCI V3 - V2s don't work worth a shit in 2k/xp but the v3 works perfectly - excellent DOS c […]
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- it is a PCI only system and it is a PCI V3
- V2s don't work worth a shit in 2k/xp but the v3 works perfectly
- excellent DOS compatibility and image quality

No XP is not slow with dual 233/512kB Pros, having 512MB RAM is required.

Sounds like a sensible choice then.

The Orchid V1 gives you the nice satisfying relay click when it kicks in - no V2 does that 😜

As V1 doesn't have multitexturing* some games will look visually different as their lightmaps may be blended with more higher lighting volume (overbrights) such as Unreal and Half-Life, where they'll be appearing clamped and darker on a Voodoo2

(* on most, non-obsidian models)

I always tend to use a voodoo1 if the system is not faster than 350Mhz.