Jorpho wrote:

There might be 3DFX versions of them out there (I'm not sure offhand), but it is also possible to run them without a 3DFX card. […]
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computergeek92 wrote:

Since when are the Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena games not 3DFX supported? I did not mean they were made by 3DFX.

There might be 3DFX versions of them out there (I'm not sure offhand), but it is also possible to run them without a 3DFX card.

I don't know why you think I wouldn't want to play DVDs on the oldest PC possible. I love to bring old hardware back to life and make it as useful as I can. Just use older versions of software. They work just about the same as modern ones, but they're lighter and support older OS.

What's the point of using them as DVD players? It makes as much sense as using the fans to cool your house. Yes, they could conceivably be useful that way, but there are many other solutions that are far more practical and not nearly as problematic.

If we are throwing practical considerations to the wind, then yes, you might as well go out and put a Voodoo5 in your Pentium II, because who cares if it makes any sense or whether it's a "good choice" ?

We love to argue, don't we, haha..

My point is to recreate the old days. There's no point in having old systems collecting dust, there’s more to computers than playing games. It's always nice to have a backup system. I also try to be as period correct as I can with my computers, as well as being a perfectionist when upgrading them. Why do I use them on occasion as DVD players? Because I can, and that's one more "plus" in making them more useful.

Though using 3-pin fan to USB adaptors to make my very own house or desk fans does sound like a good idea to me! 😉

"but there are many other solutions that are far more practical and not nearly as problematic." ------ by Jorpho

What other solutions? I have almost no programming skills, I’m only a hardware freak. I build and troubleshoot PC hardware, install my OS choices, install and use software, that's it. If I’m stumped on an issue I look it up on the Internet and find out how to fix it. Just a consequence of being only 23 years old and learning about old computers as if I was reading a history book. I was a kid back in the 90's and 2000's, I only started getting into computers besides gaming when I was 19 years old. So I try to discover and learn what I can in this day and age.

There --- I said it. Hope it makes sense.

I don't see a problem in collecting systems as it is better than the parts going in the dump or in some gold scrapper's furnace, can always sell off the parts years from now or pass the system on to another generation that is interested in retro gaming. Hoarding up what I can so when I am older I won't be looking at a truck or mortgage payment for something that was once chicken feed and the explosion in 3DFX prices is a good example. DX8 and DX9 era stuff will be next to go through the roof in a few years, DX10 won't be far behind especially when things like the 8800gtx/ultra becomes fashionable again.

The 5500 is best in a fast P3 or a athlon rig, I once had one in a fast super 7 system and it didn't do the card any justice. I wish that I still had the card as it was a Good overclocker.
For a P2 rig a V3 is just fine and it makes things simple.

computergeek92 wrote:

My point is to recreate the old days.

Did you have a Voodoo5 in the old days? No one was buying that kind of hardware because they wanted smoother DVD playback, I can tell you that much for certain. If that is the standard by which you are determining your need for a Voodoo5, then that is a highly unusual standard.

What other solutions?

For playing DVDs? Any computer can do that nowadays, and even a standalone DVD player won't run you much more than thirty bucks.

For playing Unreal Tournament/Quake III Arena, Baldur's Gate II, Age of Empires, or Thief II? Those are all available on GOG and/or Steam and require no "programming skills" to get running.

computergeek92 wrote:

We love to argue, don't we, haha.. […]
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We love to argue, don't we, haha..

My point is to recreate the old days. There's no point in having old systems collecting dust, there’s more to computers than playing games. It's always nice to have a backup system. I also try to be as period correct as I can with my computers, as well as being a perfectionist when upgrading them. Why do I use them on occasion as DVD players? Because I can, and that's one more "plus" in making them more useful.

Though using 3-pin fan to USB adaptors to make my very own house or desk fans does sound like a good idea to me! 😉

"but there are many other solutions that are far more practical and not nearly as problematic." ------ by Jorpho

What other solutions? I have almost no programming skills, I’m only a hardware freak. I build and troubleshoot PC hardware, install my OS choices, install and use software, that's it. If I’m stumped on an issue I look it up on the Internet and find out how to fix it. Just a consequence of being only 23 years old and learning about old computers as if I was reading a history book. I was a kid back in the 90's and 2000's, I only started getting into computers besides gaming when I was 19 years old. So I try to discover and learn what I can in this day and age.

There --- I said it. Hope it makes sense.

It makes perfect sense to me 😀.

I don't think I'm as much as a perfectionist compared to you though, also not as period correct. But I do try to make rigs that make some sense and can be used in a similar way as how it was intended, trying to get the most out of these systems while running stable (I don't like hardware problems).

Jorpho wrote:

Did you have a Voodoo5 in the old days? No one was buying that kind of hardware because they wanted smoother DVD playback, I ca […]
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computergeek92 wrote:

My point is to recreate the old days.

Did you have a Voodoo5 in the old days? No one was buying that kind of hardware because they wanted smoother DVD playback, I can tell you that much for certain. If that is the standard by which you are determining your need for a Voodoo5, then that is a highly unusual standard.

What other solutions?

For playing DVDs? Any computer can do that nowadays, and even a standalone DVD player won't run you much more than thirty bucks.

For playing Unreal Tournament/Quake III Arena, Baldur's Gate II, Age of Empires, or Thief II? Those are all available on GOG and/or Steam and require no "programming skills" to get running.

I wasn’t saying I'm using the Voodoo5 strictly for DVDs. I haven't used it yet so I don't know how well it handles DVD rendering. I was talking about playing DVDs on old machines in general. I've use cards like the Geforce4 Ti and the Ati Rage 128 with mostly good results when upgrading system to system.

I really don't know how to tell you "what my point is" any better than I can now. I'm sorry.

As for the GOG.com versions of games: I like them. It's nice to have the games as standalone files instead of needing the CD to play. I've run the GOG games on Windows 2000 before with my 800MHz Athlon and they don't seem to strain the old hardware any more than the original retail CD editions. (I've had a 2006 multi-pack of King's Quest games that was designed for Win2k/WinXP and on the box it said it needed 800MHz. I tested the claim and it was true! -added bloat- )

Tetrium wrote:

computergeek92 wrote:

We love to argue, don't we, haha.. […]
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We love to argue, don't we, haha..

My point is to recreate the old days. There's no point in having old systems collecting dust, there’s more to computers than playing games. It's always nice to have a backup system. I also try to be as period correct as I can with my computers, as well as being a perfectionist when upgrading them. Why do I use them on occasion as DVD players? Because I can, and that's one more "plus" in making them more useful.

Though using 3-pin fan to USB adaptors to make my very own house or desk fans does sound like a good idea to me! 😉

"but there are many other solutions that are far more practical and not nearly as problematic." ------ by Jorpho

What other solutions? I have almost no programming skills, I’m only a hardware freak. I build and troubleshoot PC hardware, install my OS choices, install and use software, that's it. If I’m stumped on an issue I look it up on the Internet and find out how to fix it. Just a consequence of being only 23 years old and learning about old computers as if I was reading a history book. I was a kid back in the 90's and 2000's, I only started getting into computers besides gaming when I was 19 years old. So I try to discover and learn what I can in this day and age.

There --- I said it. Hope it makes sense.

It makes perfect sense to me 😀.

I don't think I'm as much as a perfectionist compared to you though, also not as period correct. But I do try to make rigs that make some sense and can be used in a similar way as how it was intended, trying to get the most out of these systems while running stable (I don't like hardware problems).

Just wait till someday once I clean out my collection I show everyone how nice I built my personal rigs!

😁 😁 😁

Then no one could argue thinking I'm low in tech skill! (Just saying)

If it's about playing a DVD on the oldest hardware possible. Get a Creative Encore DVD card and be done with it. Thats what I used with my Rage128 on a P3/800. It was the only way to get smooth playback with true (not emulated) 5.1 sound in one package. 3 years later I had a GeForce4 Ti (MX400 maybe?) in an Anthlon 2600 about 2002ish, and did not have to have a decoder card, in fact I could play avi and mov at 1920x1080 smooth.

I'm unfamiliar with what was happening hardware-wise then. I remember DVD cards disappearing, those who had them could free up a slot, those who didn't never even needed to know about them. I'm sure this kind of hardware decoding would have been bundled in various forms (in GFX cards, integrated onto mobos), and I don't know when it stop happening but CPU's have been able to play DVD for while now so it all became moot with blu being the new fashion.

[EDIT] It wasn't just about the blu... there was HD DVD on the horizon too.

computergeek92 wrote:

Just wait till someday once I clean out my collection I show everyone how nice I built my personal rigs! […]
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Tetrium wrote:

computergeek92 wrote:

We love to argue, don't we, haha.. […]
Show full quote

We love to argue, don't we, haha..

My point is to recreate the old days. There's no point in having old systems collecting dust, there’s more to computers than playing games. It's always nice to have a backup system. I also try to be as period correct as I can with my computers, as well as being a perfectionist when upgrading them. Why do I use them on occasion as DVD players? Because I can, and that's one more "plus" in making them more useful.

Though using 3-pin fan to USB adaptors to make my very own house or desk fans does sound like a good idea to me! 😉

"but there are many other solutions that are far more practical and not nearly as problematic." ------ by Jorpho

What other solutions? I have almost no programming skills, I’m only a hardware freak. I build and troubleshoot PC hardware, install my OS choices, install and use software, that's it. If I’m stumped on an issue I look it up on the Internet and find out how to fix it. Just a consequence of being only 23 years old and learning about old computers as if I was reading a history book. I was a kid back in the 90's and 2000's, I only started getting into computers besides gaming when I was 19 years old. So I try to discover and learn what I can in this day and age.

There --- I said it. Hope it makes sense.

It makes perfect sense to me 😀.

I don't think I'm as much as a perfectionist compared to you though, also not as period correct. But I do try to make rigs that make some sense and can be used in a similar way as how it was intended, trying to get the most out of these systems while running stable (I don't like hardware problems).

Just wait till someday once I clean out my collection I show everyone how nice I built my personal rigs!

😁 😁 😁

Then no one could argue thinking I'm low in tech skill! (Just saying)

I recently did exactly this (P3 with 256-ish? RDRAM, 20GB harddrive and Voodoo 3), it was near silent and very responsive and shut down in 2 seconds or so, that impression is gonna last for sure! 😁

Oh yeah! And passive cooled (heatsink only, no cpu fan) Pentium III's are a great start for making a nice HTPC project! (I'll probably make one someday and use a Turtle Beach Montego PCI) Yes, I agree, they take so little power so there very adept at being a near silent PC if desired.

computergeek92 wrote:

I really don't know how to tell you "what my point is" any better than I can now. I'm sorry.

Your question was whether it was a good idea to put a Voodoo5 in a Pentium II 450. If there is something specific you want to accomplish, then whatever it is, there are probably other, cheaper ways of doing it without using a Voodoo5. If you want to do this for "teh feels", then it doesn't matter what anybody else has to say.

Jorpho wrote:

computergeek92 wrote:

I really don't know how to tell you "what my point is" any better than I can now. I'm sorry.

Your question was whether it was a good idea to put a Voodoo5 in a Pentium II 450. If there is something specific you want to accomplish, then whatever it is, there are probably other, cheaper ways of doing it without using a Voodoo5. If you want to do this for "teh feels", then it doesn't matter what anybody else has to say.

I'll consider going for a slower card and putting the Voodoo5 in an Athlon. I don't want to discuss this anymore. End of topic.

nforce4max wrote:

DX8 and DX9 era stuff will be next to go through the roof in a few years, DX10 won't be far behind especially when things like the 8800gtx/ultra becomes fashionable again.

DX10 era cards are already surpassing DX8/9 era ones in terms of pricing, FX5900's and Radeon 9800s go for noticeably less and are much more plentiful in numbers than higher-end DX 10 cards (at least thats what I see on ebay and local listings).
Increased heat output combined with insufficient cooling took care of most 8800GTXs at this point, so I expect those to be quite an expensive item soon.