It's probably quite viable for some games, but a GeForce 256 is faster and more flexible. I think there are fluidity problems with the early ATI AFR, and we also know ATI drivers weren't amazing back then.

It was a decent card for its time, but It doesn't work in dual GPU mode in Windows 2000 or XP - just fine in 98SE though.

From my experience, on mid to high framerates, the result is very good.
But on the low side of fps, the stutter is huge.

So you have to play the "correct" games on it, with newer ones you should go on the Geforce2+ road.

Artex wrote:

It was a decent card for its time, but It doesn't work in dual GPU mode in Windows 2000 or XP - just fine in 98SE though.

I've never heard that before - very interesting to learn. Is it a driver problem or something with the way 2k/XP changed how 3D accelerators are treated? Admittedly I don't know much about the MAXX so I've been watching this thread to see what "new info" pops up, and this certainly fits into "new info." 🤣

Question on the MAXX: doesn't it *only* use AFR, like the XGI Volari cards? So aren't there games that can't work with its AFR feature then? (like the XGI Volari cards)

From what I gather, AGP doesn't support multiple devices. A Maximum PC article said the MAXX enumerates one GPU as AGP and the other as PCI.[1] Apparently this doesn't work on NT5. Ooops. Voodoo5 works differently.[2]

Windows 9x is probably the best choice for a Rage card anyway though.

Yep, it was hardware incompatible with the NT core. I seem to remember some hacked up drivers that would allow the card to "work" but they essentially disabled one of the rage chips. Probably not worth it since the card is crippled on these NT core operating systems.

Yeah I never tried to use the card in anything other then 98 and ME. Everything I read pretty much told me that Xp and Win 2k was a no go. If it wasn't for the fact that my closet is overflowing with pc parts I'd just probably leave the thing in a box tucked away, but as is I cant think of any reason to justify keeping it when I have so much stuff as is. I'm never going to run out of parts for personal use 98 era machines, for at least another 20 years anyway, so I really just need to let this one go along with some other stuff. Going to drop the price of my MAXX to $44.99 low bid to see if that generates more interest or something.

I have other oddballs too like a couple of Kyro II cards and a Real3D Starfighter that I just don't need. Funny issue with the Kyro II cards I noticed. On Quake 2 with these cards installed if I try to run the game with cd audio for the music, the game stutters and runs less then 10fps. Remove the cd and the game runs full speed. Only happens when the Kyro II is installed. Install a different card and the problem is solved. Eventually I will get around to listing them too I guess.

Kyro IIs are pretty common. I'd keep the Real3d cards, especially if they are PCI.

Yeah Kyro is more common. If I remember right mine have had the stock cooling removed and replaced with larger cooling options. But either way, just not a fan of those cards. They really choke on Direct X 8 games. Really oddly enough my current favorite old card, though not that old, is my AGP Geforce 6800.