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Advice on Voodoo5 replacement: Voodoo3 or GF4 + Glide wrapper ?

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First post, by crusher

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Hi all,

in my Windows 98 gaming rig I had to replace the PSU.
Because of bad experiences with old periodic correct PSUs I started to use modern PSUs that in general work with such retro PCs.

Unfortunalety my Voodoo5 5500 is instable now and freezes the computer when in heavy load (mainly 3D gaming).
I tested it with another old PSU and I'm having no issues with that.
So I can say the modern PSU is not working reliable with the Voodoo5.

But because of bad experiences with such >30 years old PSUs I don't want to use them any more.

Now I have to decide which route to go to replace the Voodoo5.

2x FSAA was a good thing. But I think I can live without.
Games that support Glide (NFS, Unreal, Diablo 2 etc.) was a joy to play in Glide mode.
I never compared it to D3D/OpenGL but what I read is that these games look best when using Glide.

I can imagine 2 possibilities:

1. GeForce 4 4200Ti + Glide Wrapper for Glide (only) games

What do the gfx look like when using a Glide wrapper?
Exactly the same as using real 3dfx card in Glide mode or is it more that the wrapper is able to start Glide (only) games and it is still not looking as good as using real hardware?

What advantages would I have?
I think of T&L or such things. What games are using the technique for example?

What disadvantges would I have?

2. Voodoo3 3000
I'm hoping that a V3 is less power hungry and my PSU is able to feed it.
If Voodoo3, I would stick with the 3000 because I don't need TV-tuner from the 3500 model. Also I want to avoid that special display breakout cable.
If it's broken I cannot use the V3 3500.

Advantage would be to use Glide in native hardware mode.

What disadvantages would I have?
Not able to use T&L I think.
And of course no FSAA any more.

A third possibility would be to go with a Voodoo 4 and are able to use FSAA (2x?).
But I'm afraid it could be as unstable like the Voodoo 5.
V4 doesn't need external power supply. But it also operates with VSA-100 chip and I'm concerned it wouldn't work neither with my modern PSU.

Any thoughts, ideas, hints are welcome 😉

Last edited by crusher on 2024-05-16, 12:33. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 1 of 8, by Sombrero

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Sounds to me your modern PSU doesn't have enough oomph on 3.3V / 5V rails for your system. PC's have been mainly putting the load on 12V rails for the last twenty years so 3.3V / 5V rails are weak, often topping around 100-125W total.

You might be able to keep using the V5 with a modern PSU if you can find one that can deliver enough power on the 3.3V / 5V rails, depending how much power your entire system needs.

Reply 2 of 8, by crusher

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It's hard to find a suitable modern PSU that has enough power on 3.3V/5V.
I'm using EVGAs 450/500W PSUs in my retro PCs that have 120W on 3.3V + 5V combined.
I don't have any issues except for the Voodoo5 not getting enough power.

I don't want to go for a >600W PSU just to have around 150W on 3.3V/5V.
Besides that these are also hard to find.

That's why I think best option is to replace the Voodoo5.

Reply 3 of 8, by Gmlb256

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The most affordable one would be GeForce4 Ti 4200 + Glide wrapper.

Windows games using Glide API thru the wrapper won't look the same as what you get with a real 3dfx hardware, but it will work. You also get the advantage of using anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering in older games, hardware T&L and shaders are more of a thing in the 2000s+.

Voodoo3 isn't a bad choice but is limited in 3D games to 16-bit color depth and textures up to 256x256.

VIA C3 Nehemiah 1.2A @ 1.46 GHz | ASUS P2-99 | 256 MB PC133 SDRAM | GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB | Voodoo2 12 MB | SBLive! | AWE64 | SBPro2 | GUS

Reply 4 of 8, by crusher

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Thanks @Gmlb256 😀
Lots of info that I didn't know before.

Overall I think it's not worth to go the Voodoo3 route for just a handfull games that look better in native glide.
Glide wrapper seem a good way to play Glide only games even they do not look the same as with real 3dfx hardware.

Having other advantages seems a big plus. AA for example that now my Voodoo5 does.

Is the 16-bit color depth and textures up to 256x256 limit significally visible?

Reply 5 of 8, by Gmlb256

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I mentioned those two limitations since you're coming from the Voodoo5.

16-bit vs 32-bit color depth is more noticeable with gradients and alpha blended stuff. 256x256 texture limitation depend on the game, some of the early ones tend to have 512x512 textures.

For Glide games, they are insignificant.

VIA C3 Nehemiah 1.2A @ 1.46 GHz | ASUS P2-99 | 256 MB PC133 SDRAM | GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB | Voodoo2 12 MB | SBLive! | AWE64 | SBPro2 | GUS

Reply 6 of 8, by crusher

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Thanks again.
Will think it over but I'm tending more to GF4 + Glide wrapper solution.

Reply 7 of 8, by ultra

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I'm wondering which wrapper would work best with a GeForce4 Ti? nGlide require at least a DX9 card.

Reply 8 of 8, by Gmlb256

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ultra wrote on 2024-05-23, 20:37:

I'm wondering which wrapper would work best with a GeForce4 Ti?

Zeckensack's Glide wrapper.

VIA C3 Nehemiah 1.2A @ 1.46 GHz | ASUS P2-99 | 256 MB PC133 SDRAM | GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB | Voodoo2 12 MB | SBLive! | AWE64 | SBPro2 | GUS

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