Nice build! I liked the original Prodigy M case, I thought it was a nice compact layout that still had enough space for high end parts.

Is the SFX power supply necessary for this case? I think it's nice in there, and leaves the rest of the interior much more roomy... just wondering if ATX would fit.

Are you using an xbox [elite] controller? Did you get it working in Windows 9x??

bZbZbZ wrote on 2023-06-07, 05:27:

Nice build! I liked the original Prodigy M case, I thought it was a nice compact layout that still had enough space for high end parts.

Is the SFX power supply necessary for this case? I think it's nice in there, and leaves the rest of the interior much more roomy... just wondering if ATX would fit.

Are you using an xbox [elite] controller? Did you get it working in Windows 9x??

Nope, it supports a full-size ATX. I just happened to have that particular SFX one as a spare and thought it looked cute in there. (This was after spending time searching for a white ATX power supply and eventually deciding it wasn't worth it. 😅)

I have a USB4VC hooked up to this machine. Lets me use modern USB KBs, mice, controllers, including Bluetooth versions of each. It also allows me to hook this computer up to my slightly dodgy VGA KVM which also switches a USB 2.0 hub - the Raspberry Pi handles gaining and losing a USB kb/mouse and the AT computer never knows a thing.

That looks great, did you drill some new mounting points to get it all to fit?

The CPU speed is low enough that you shouldn't have a problem with the CPU being too fast for the Voodoo 1, so it's likely a bad bit on the memory. Might be worth posting a thread on it and/or check that all of the pins on both chips are soldered down correctly. Try squeezing chips at different points while playing a game to see if any points make a difference.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-06-11, 20:03:

That looks great, did you drill some new mounting points to get it all to fit?

The CPU speed is low enough that you shouldn't have a problem with the CPU being too fast for the Voodoo 1, so it's likely a bad bit on the memory. Might be worth posting a thread on it and/or check that all of the pins on both chips are soldered down correctly. Try squeezing chips at different points while playing a game to see if any points make a difference.

Yup, had to drill all new holes - bit of a learning experience trying to get a drill into some awkward places. Ended up using my Dremel for most of it, and not worrying about trying to thread the holes, just throw a nut on the back.

I think my Voodoo problems were mostly my system absolutely hating the USB 2.0 card I had in there. Cleared up with it out.

Otherwise while it's interesting to explore early 3Dfx, I think the Glide experience I'm actually pining for is my long-gone Voodoo 2 SLI. So hmm, more to follow.

Wow... does the USB4VC pass through the analogue triggers and both analogue thumbsticks?

My current Win98 gamepad solution is to use a Logitech F310 with the rear switch set to DirectInput... but then the analogue triggers are mapped as on/off buttons. And then for Gameport... I don't recall any controllers running through gameport with 6 separate analogue axis...

Lovely build! Love the modern aesthetics while still seeing the old hardware through the window.

Are the 3.5mm headphone jacks on the side also connected or do you just use the soundcard outputs?

The vertical slots for the additional PCI cards (with the PCI extension cables) are a nice touch, would be a perfect slot for two Voodoo2 in SLI (and the Matrox card relocating to one of the top slots).

Also, if the Matrox and the Voodoo swap places, the 3Dfx chips might face outward for more geek cred? 😉

How's the noise and how do you deal with floppy and CD-ROM (if at all)?

bZbZbZ wrote on 2023-06-12, 04:11:

Wow... does the USB4VC pass through the analogue triggers and both analogue thumbsticks?

My current Win98 gamepad solution is to use a Logitech F310 with the rear switch set to DirectInput... but then the analogue triggers are mapped as on/off buttons. And then for Gameport... I don't recall any controllers running through gameport with 6 separate analogue axis...

Nope, it can only do what a gameport supports, which is max 4 axis, 4 buttons. What is can do is have custom mappings that you can swap out on the fly, so you don't have to decide on a generic setup. For extra gamepad buttons, you can map them to keyboard keys. And you can also map the mouse to one of the joysticks...

thp wrote on 2023-06-12, 09:33:

Lovely build! Love the modern aesthetics while still seeing the old hardware through the window. […]
Show full quote

Lovely build! Love the modern aesthetics while still seeing the old hardware through the window.

Are the 3.5mm headphone jacks on the side also connected or do you just use the soundcard outputs?

The vertical slots for the additional PCI cards (with the PCI extension cables) are a nice touch, would be a perfect slot for two Voodoo2 in SLI (and the Matrox card relocating to one of the top slots).

Also, if the Matrox and the Voodoo swap places, the 3Dfx chips might face outward for more geek cred? 😉

How's the noise and how do you deal with floppy and CD-ROM (if at all)?

I haven't bothered with sussing out a way to connect the HDAudio header to anything - I'm pretty sure I've never used front-panel audio in my life, so not a priority.

And yes! Voodoo2 SLI is my dream config for the vertical slots. I put the 2d card in front just it was smaller but yeah...

Very minimal noise - the case fans are mostly just for looks and I keep them cranked down. 😉

As for removable media - I don't really own any old software on physical media, so my needs are very minimal - mostly just to get things up and running. For file transfers up till now I've mostly been just popping out the SD card and copying stuff on to it from my modern PC. That's been not the most convenient way of doing things, so I getting away from that a bit lately and messing with dual booting solutions.

Well, I kinda messed this build up. I have a Voodoo 3 3000 AGP that I really want to put through its paces, and for various compatibility reasons it just wasn't going to work out in my other machine (Dual Slot 1 build). I also recently acquired a Microsoft Sidewinder 3d Pro which has its own compatibility challenges that made my other system a no-go.

So... oops, it's a Slot 1 build now! But, I kept the Baby AT form factor!

Here's what I used:
Procomp Informatics B684 motherboard (440LX-based)
Celeron 533MHz on a slocket
2x128MB PC100 DIMMs
Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Sound Blaster Live!
Promise FastTrak S150 TX2 SATA controller
1TB WD M.2 2280 SATA SSD
NEC USB 2.0 card

Pretty happy with how this turned out - the PS2/Parallel breakout uses an otherwise unusable slot, and I've even got an ISA slot to spare. The onboard USB also works with case's USB jacks. The SFX PSU acting up (there's a reason I had it spare), so I tossed my bench full-size ATX PSU in there - it's big! The AGP slot extension cable lets the Voodoo 3 break away from those very oddly placed DIMM slots.. nice.

I was also inspired by Ricimer using a big SSD and multi-booting off different partitions. So far I'm finding it a slicker solution to juggling a bunch of SD cards.

Unfortunately, I made a big mistake when working up this build. I didn't want to put unnecessary miles on my Voodoo 3, so I used a Geforce MX440 while getting everything else up and running. So, I didn't realize until I was pretty much done that the Voodoo 3 hate hate hates the AGP extender. I think Voodoo 3s are a little finicky in the first place and if I had to guess, it wasn't getting power delivery in a way that it liked.

So, I'm not going to endanger my Voodoo 3 further trying to get it work in a somewhat silly configuration. Back to the drawing board...

Aw man... Sorry to hear the Voodoo3 doesn't work with the extender. I see that the case + mobo layout prevents you from plugging an AGP card directly into the AGP slot.

FWIW, I kinda liked your original setup better... There was just something so cool about seeing TWO graphics cards mounted vertically via extenders. I realize a Voodoo1 doesn't perform anywhere near a Voodoo3, I just thought seeing the pass through cable off to the side was terrific.