Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 11:37:

I have a rule clarification request - Can we use Quadro DDR cards since it is based on NV10?

Sorry. But the answer has to be no on this one.

Necrodude wrote on 2022-04-11, 14:52:

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 11:37:

I have a rule clarification request - Can we use Quadro DDR cards since it is based on NV10?

Sorry. But the answer has to be no on this one.

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance.

There's no point in entering this contest for me. I don't care how much "Turbo" one puts into the TurboGL of a G400 MAX, (my only other alternative) or a S3 Savage 2000 or how much bandwidth you can muster up out of the motherboard chipset; there's no way to win. Anyone who owns a GeForce 256 DDR is not going to be completely stupid the other direction in software/DLL/OS/ and so on. I'm not a software programmer, so that puts me even further behind. I'd have to spend a fortune (which I would like to do, but GeForce 256 DDR are nowhere to be found) to at least be able to compete. 256 DDR absolutely smoke every consumer-focused video card released prior to them. Ironically, for as much as I'd have to spend to qualify, I could buy 10 Voodoo3 2000's. So, it would be fun to enter the race, but not with both legs tethered to the starting line.

If anyone has the 256 DDR, the competition is among those owners.

Good luck to the ones who can enter, though!

I think it's a super fun idea. I wish there were more of these types of competitions here on the board to be honest. My stance is, we can grumble about the rules, or play the game and see what we can get out of the hardware we have. It ain't really about the prizes, it's about how far you can push things. And it's an opportunity to learn something.

For example, I hadn't watched Dave Plummer's recent video on the Quake 3 FISR.

Then I went down the whole rabbit hole of (post-source code release) derivative projects. ioQuake3, OpenArena, Quake3e, ....by and large the work is done for you here, the limit will likely be OS compatibility with these projects. Quake3e does look promising (thank you DosFreak).

So here's my approach.
The last time I tried to wring the last fps out of a Windows 9x machine, the hardware was bleeding edge.
I have never tried to performance tune Quake 3. So yet another opportunity to get into something totally new...decades later.

For hardware:
I've got a few ebay searches loaded up..and if they hit, they hit. Yes, a GeForce 256 is in there.
Otherwise I have a plan "B".

I will try to get everything I can out of what I have first. I do have a G400 MAX with minty fresh paste on the chip. Never heard of TurboGL before - I bought the thing for DOS compatibility. Let's see if it's anything.

doogie wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:29:

I think it's a super fun idea. I wish there were more of these types of competitions here on the board to be honest. My stance i […]
Show full quote

I think it's a super fun idea. I wish there were more of these types of competitions here on the board to be honest. My stance is, we can grumble about the rules, or play the game and see what we can get out of the hardware we have. It ain't really about the prizes, it's about how far you can push things. And it's an opportunity to learn something.

For example, I hadn't watched Dave Plummer's recent video on the Quake 3 FISR.

Then I went down the whole rabbit hole of (post-source code release) derivative projects. ioQuake3, OpenArena, Quake3e, ....by and large the work is done for you here, the limit will likely be OS compatibility with these projects. Quake3e does look promising (thank you DosFreak).

So here's my approach.
The last time I tried to wring the last fps out of a Windows 9x machine, the hardware was bleeding edge.
I have never tried to performance tune Quake 3. So yet another opportunity to get into something totally new...decades later.

For hardware:
I've got a few ebay searches loaded up..and if they hit, they hit. Yes, a GeForce 256 is in there.
Otherwise I have a plan "B".

I will try to get everything I can out of what I have first. I do have a G400 MAX with minty fresh paste on the chip. Never heard of TurboGL before - I bought the thing for DOS compatibility. Let's see if it's anything.

Awesome! I like your enthusiasm! 😀
About the TurboGL drivers. If I am not completely wrong they are early miniGL isch drivers. I could be wrong, but there are newer more complete G400 drivers from 2003 that works better.

doogie wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:29:

I think it's a super fun idea. I wish there were more of these types of competitions here on the board to be honest. My stance i […]
Show full quote

I think it's a super fun idea. I wish there were more of these types of competitions here on the board to be honest. My stance is, we can grumble about the rules, or play the game and see what we can get out of the hardware we have. It ain't really about the prizes, it's about how far you can push things. And it's an opportunity to learn something.

For example, I hadn't watched Dave Plummer's recent video on the Quake 3 FISR.

Then I went down the whole rabbit hole of (post-source code release) derivative projects. ioQuake3, OpenArena, Quake3e, ....by and large the work is done for you here, the limit will likely be OS compatibility with these projects. Quake3e does look promising (thank you DosFreak).

So here's my approach.
The last time I tried to wring the last fps out of a Windows 9x machine, the hardware was bleeding edge.
I have never tried to performance tune Quake 3. So yet another opportunity to get into something totally new...decades later.

For hardware:
I've got a few ebay searches loaded up..and if they hit, they hit. Yes, a GeForce 256 is in there.
Otherwise I have a plan "B".

I will try to get everything I can out of what I have first. I do have a G400 MAX with minty fresh paste on the chip. Never heard of TurboGL before - I bought the thing for DOS compatibility. Let's see if it's anything.

I agree it is fun to play. However in this hand, this is where you "fold" and wait for the next opportunity. Folding is part of the game, also. My time can be better spent elsewhere. I did get something out of it, though. I bought the best named video card ever: Elsa GLoria II (and also bought the III).

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 19:34:

[...] Anyone who owns a GeForce 256 DDR is not going to be completely stupid the other direction in software/DLL/OS/ and so on. [...]

Clearly, we haven't met. How do you do 😀. I'm zero at the software tweaking level, but I do have a Creative CT6970 (which I got out of the freezer this morning, popped off the heatsink and replaced it with a new old Thermaltake 4600 rpm blue orb). So if you want to team up, you're more than welcome 😀.

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 19:34:

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance. […]
Show full quote

Necrodude wrote on 2022-04-11, 14:52:

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 11:37:

I have a rule clarification request - Can we use Quadro DDR cards since it is based on NV10?

Sorry. But the answer has to be no on this one.

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance.

There's no point in entering this contest for me. I don't care how much "Turbo" one puts into the TurboGL of a G400 MAX, (my only other alternative) or a S3 Savage 2000 or how much bandwidth you can muster up out of the motherboard chipset; there's no way to win. Anyone who owns a GeForce 256 DDR is not going to be completely stupid the other direction in software/DLL/OS/ and so on. I'm not a software programmer, so that puts me even further behind. I'd have to spend a fortune (which I would like to do, but GeForce 256 DDR are nowhere to be found) to at least be able to compete. 256 DDR absolutely smoke every consumer-focused video card released prior to them. Ironically, for as much as I'd have to spend to qualify, I could buy 10 Voodoo3 2000's. So, it would be fun to enter the race, but not with both legs tethered to the starting line.

If anyone has the 256 DDR, the competition is among those owners.

Good luck to the ones who can enter, though!

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer.
It feels a bit silly because the Elsa Erazor X² is virtually identical to the Gloria II pro of which I own several. But I guess the Gloria II was only announced for late 1999 but not tested and one has to make the cut somewhere.

Given recent events, I now bit the bullet and ordered the Erazor with minor 2D issues on ebay for "best offer" and the most I ever spent on a retro card. I may or may not have gaslighted the seller into believing his specimen was a bit more fucked than he thought. But I'm not rich and this is either love, war or both.

Not that I have much hope on coming anywhere near this contest with my potato level game tweaking skills, but the Gf256 DDR seems to be the thing to have this season and I'm looking forward to the challenge of fixing that thing and maybe transplant DVI support from one of the Glorias.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:47:

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer. It feels a bit silly becau […]
Show full quote

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 19:34:

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance. […]
Show full quote

Necrodude wrote on 2022-04-11, 14:52:

Sorry. But the answer has to be no on this one.

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance.

There's no point in entering this contest for me. I don't care how much "Turbo" one puts into the TurboGL of a G400 MAX, (my only other alternative) or a S3 Savage 2000 or how much bandwidth you can muster up out of the motherboard chipset; there's no way to win. Anyone who owns a GeForce 256 DDR is not going to be completely stupid the other direction in software/DLL/OS/ and so on. I'm not a software programmer, so that puts me even further behind. I'd have to spend a fortune (which I would like to do, but GeForce 256 DDR are nowhere to be found) to at least be able to compete. 256 DDR absolutely smoke every consumer-focused video card released prior to them. Ironically, for as much as I'd have to spend to qualify, I could buy 10 Voodoo3 2000's. So, it would be fun to enter the race, but not with both legs tethered to the starting line.

If anyone has the 256 DDR, the competition is among those owners.

Good luck to the ones who can enter, though!

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer.
It feels a bit silly because the Elsa Erazor X² is virtually identical to the Gloria II pro of which I own several. But I guess the Gloria II was only announced for late 1999 but not tested and one has to make the cut somewhere.

Given recent events, I now bit the bullet and ordered the Erazor with minor 2D issues on ebay for "best offer" and the most I ever spent on a retro card. I may or may not have gaslighted the seller into believing his specimen was a bit more fucked than he thought. But I'm not rich and this is either love, war or both.

Not that I have much hope on coming anywhere near this contest with my potato level game tweaking skills, but the Gf256 DDR seems to be the thing to have this season and I'm looking forward to the challenge of fixing that thing and maybe transplant DVI support from one of the Glorias.

I wasn't going to ask initially, either, because I think the GLoria would be the top of the top and I didn't want to tip my hand. However, the amount of hardware I was eyeballing to get this to happen caused me to confront the likely -this card was released just a bit too late. ...But it would have been some piece of machinery I was going to put together. I still might because I need to own a dynamite system that has an Elsa GLoria II in it now.

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:52:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:47:

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer. It feels a bit silly becau […]
Show full quote

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 19:34:

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance. […]
Show full quote

Darn. OK, then. Thanks away. This was my only chance.

There's no point in entering this contest for me. I don't care how much "Turbo" one puts into the TurboGL of a G400 MAX, (my only other alternative) or a S3 Savage 2000 or how much bandwidth you can muster up out of the motherboard chipset; there's no way to win. Anyone who owns a GeForce 256 DDR is not going to be completely stupid the other direction in software/DLL/OS/ and so on. I'm not a software programmer, so that puts me even further behind. I'd have to spend a fortune (which I would like to do, but GeForce 256 DDR are nowhere to be found) to at least be able to compete. 256 DDR absolutely smoke every consumer-focused video card released prior to them. Ironically, for as much as I'd have to spend to qualify, I could buy 10 Voodoo3 2000's. So, it would be fun to enter the race, but not with both legs tethered to the starting line.

If anyone has the 256 DDR, the competition is among those owners.

Good luck to the ones who can enter, though!

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer.
It feels a bit silly because the Elsa Erazor X² is virtually identical to the Gloria II pro of which I own several. But I guess the Gloria II was only announced for late 1999 but not tested and one has to make the cut somewhere.

Given recent events, I now bit the bullet and ordered the Erazor with minor 2D issues on ebay for "best offer" and the most I ever spent on a retro card. I may or may not have gaslighted the seller into believing his specimen was a bit more fucked than he thought. But I'm not rich and this is either love, war or both.

Not that I have much hope on coming anywhere near this contest with my potato level game tweaking skills, but the Gf256 DDR seems to be the thing to have this season and I'm looking forward to the challenge of fixing that thing and maybe transplant DVI support from one of the Glorias.

I wasn't going to ask initially, either, because I think the GLoria would be the top of the top and I didn't want to tip my hand. However, the amount of hardware I was eyeballing to get this to happen caused me to confront the likely -this card was released just a bit too late. ...But it would have been some piece of machinery I was going to put together. I still might because I need to own a dynamite system that has an Elsa GLoria II in it now.

OT: I have an ASUS A7V with AGP pro somewhere but not even sure it works. The CUSL2 is period correct and my tip, though.

flupke11 wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:45:

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 19:34:

[...] Anyone who owns a GeForce 256 DDR is not going to be completely stupid the other direction in software/DLL/OS/ and so on. [...]

Clearly, we haven't met. How do you do 😀. I'm zero at the software tweaking level, but I do have a Creative CT6970 (which I got out of the freezer this morning, popped off the heatsink and replaced it with a new old Thermaltake 4600 rpm blue orb). So if you want to team up, you're more than welcome 😀.DSC_3468.JPG

Thanks! If you really want to win, see if you can get Leileilol to join. I bet this member could get a even a Cirrus Logic Laguna-based card to win. With your CT6970, you'd be unstoppable.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:55:

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:52:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:47:

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer. It feels a bit silly becau […]
Show full quote

Thank you for bringing up the Quadro issue. Apparently I wouldn't dare since I don't like the answer.
It feels a bit silly because the Elsa Erazor X² is virtually identical to the Gloria II pro of which I own several. But I guess the Gloria II was only announced for late 1999 but not tested and one has to make the cut somewhere.

Given recent events, I now bit the bullet and ordered the Erazor with minor 2D issues on ebay for "best offer" and the most I ever spent on a retro card. I may or may not have gaslighted the seller into believing his specimen was a bit more fucked than he thought. But I'm not rich and this is either love, war or both.

Not that I have much hope on coming anywhere near this contest with my potato level game tweaking skills, but the Gf256 DDR seems to be the thing to have this season and I'm looking forward to the challenge of fixing that thing and maybe transplant DVI support from one of the Glorias.

I wasn't going to ask initially, either, because I think the GLoria would be the top of the top and I didn't want to tip my hand. However, the amount of hardware I was eyeballing to get this to happen caused me to confront the likely -this card was released just a bit too late. ...But it would have been some piece of machinery I was going to put together. I still might because I need to own a dynamite system that has an Elsa GLoria II in it now.

OT: I have an ASUS A7V with AGP pro somewhere but not even sure it works. The CUSL2 is period correct and my tip, though.

Yep... the A7 punch to the gut followed by a 256 DDR uppercut.

This was (and others, I presume) largely part of the point. Everyone knows what hardware will give the best odds. If you can't get a hold of them, software skills will have to be legendary.. and it's likely those people will with the hardware will also be legendary in software (which is a compliment to them).

*sly side-eye of NF2 motherboard*

Is onboard video allowed?

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 21:02:

Thanks! If you really want to win, see if you can get Leileilol to join. I bet this member could get a even a Cirrus Logic Laguna-based card to win. With your CT6970, you'd be unstoppable.

I don't really want to win, though. It was a good enough reason to finally replace the heatsink on that card. I do am surprised it is so sought after.

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 21:13:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:55:

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:52:

I wasn't going to ask initially, either, because I think the GLoria would be the top of the top and I didn't want to tip my hand. However, the amount of hardware I was eyeballing to get this to happen caused me to confront the likely -this card was released just a bit too late. ...But it would have been some piece of machinery I was going to put together. I still might because I need to own a dynamite system that has an Elsa GLoria II in it now.

OT: I have an ASUS A7V with AGP pro somewhere but not even sure it works. The CUSL2 is period correct and my tip, though.

Yep... the A7 punch to the gut followed by a 256 DDR uppercut.

This was (and others, I presume) largely part of the point. Everyone knows what hardware will give the best odds. If you can't get a hold of them, software skills will have to be legendary.. and it's likely those people will with the hardware will also be legendary in software (which is a compliment to them).

Just realize that I had a Freudian typo there: My board is the A7N, with the nforce2 chipset. And, I'm not even one of those "everyone" people you mentioned - no idea whether the nforce or the VIA would be better, just more used to VIA boards.
I only remember wondering what the AGP pro is and finding out that there was such a board on the heap all along 😉
(usually that modern stuff is off my focus)

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 21:25:

Just realize that I had a Freudian typo there: My board is the A7N, with the nforce2 chipset. And, I'm not even one of those "ev […]
Show full quote

Meatball wrote on 2022-04-11, 21:13:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-11, 20:55:

OT: I have an ASUS A7V with AGP pro somewhere but not even sure it works. The CUSL2 is period correct and my tip, though.

Yep... the A7 punch to the gut followed by a 256 DDR uppercut.

This was (and others, I presume) largely part of the point. Everyone knows what hardware will give the best odds. If you can't get a hold of them, software skills will have to be legendary.. and it's likely those people will with the hardware will also be legendary in software (which is a compliment to them).

Just realize that I had a Freudian typo there: My board is the A7N, with the nforce2 chipset. And, I'm not even one of those "everyone" people you mentioned - no idea whether the nforce or the VIA would be better, just more used to VIA boards.
I only remember wondering what the AGP pro is and finding out that there was such a board on the heap all along 😉
(usually that modern stuff is off my focus)

I knew immediately to which board you were referring. If you have the KT880, you'll still be in good shape... but it's like entering the contest with a 256 SDR instead of DDR. Both great, but one is still "greater" than the other, especially with Quake III. If this contest was limited to the GeForce 256 SDR, that would blow the doors wide open. Most of the top cards of the time can compete, then.

And for everyone else... this is not complaining or passive-aggressive. I am just discussing...and dreaming.

God bless the rules, the people who came up with the rules, and the hardware meeting the rule requirements!

Hmm.. this looks interesting... might join the "fight" if time permits... I should have all the necessary parts 😉

I'm hoping to try with my P3 i820 + RDRAM machine, although a DDR Athlon will probably be faster. Hopefully have time over Easter to set it up.

mwdmeyer wrote on 2022-04-11, 21:59:

I'm hoping to try with my P3 i820 + RDRAM machine, although a DDR Athlon will probably be faster. Hopefully have time over Easter to set it up.

Athlon with DDR is fast, wont spoil to much.
BUT I dont have a P3 with DDR/RDRAM but I have taken RAM/FSB up to 166 wit the right ram SDR 6ns ram at Cas2 when I was overclocking with the owner of another board and CPU and its fast.

Idk what FSB you can get with i820 and RDRAM but if its 166+ I think its has a good chance, definitely interesting submission.

Yeah I suspect I will be limited due to the board being Dell OEM 🙁

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-04-11, 21:15:

*sly side-eye of NF2 motherboard*

Is onboard video allowed?

Yeah sure. As long its pre 2000.