First post, by eton975
Hi, last month I received this motherboard paired with a Pentium MMX 200. I have since updated the bios with Jan's modded J.2 version. I then upgraded it with a K6-2/500AFX (running at only 400MHz due to 66MHz bus limitations and the 6x multiplier limit). I am using 128MB SDRAM (2x64MB high density sticks) and a Corsair CX500 with 20A on the 5V rail as PSU. OS is Windows 98 SE.
Currently I am using a Matrox Millennium II paired with an Orchid 3dfx Voodoo for video. While a razor sharp and fast 2D card, this combo is very lacking when it comes to later 3D games. I would like to keep the Voodoo as a secondary card for games like EF-2000, Tomb Raider etc that use Glide or 3dfx-specific programming, but I would like to change the Matrox out for an ATI or NVIDIA . I would be playing games like Quake II or III, American McGee's Alice.
I tried a HIS Radeon 9250 (expensive!) with the universal PCI connector and it would not POST in this system. It is not a faulty graphics card, it works fine under Windows 10 in my more modern ASRock 980DE3/U3S3. So I am pretty reluctant to try another Radeon 9250 or 9000 series unless this one just doesn't have the right voltage regulation circuitry or something to step down 5V to 3.3V.
Currently I have my eyes set on the Radeon 7000 PCI for this board, but if this is not an option I am open to the NVIDIA TNT2 M64 or other options. Does anyone here know what the fastest and most compatible option is for a K6-2 at 400MHz? Does the card vendor or amount of RAM matter? (besides the ones with a BIOS for Macs of course) Of course, it can't draw too much on the 5V or 3.3V rail, but I am not running a power-hungry Athlon to be fair.
If nobody here knows I have ordered a cheap POST card off Ebay with an LED that indicates 3.3V support, but it's nice to make sure before I spend nearly 100 more AUD on a graphics card that may not be compatible with this motherboard's PCI voltages or PCI spec revision.
As for why I am doing this when I could run the games on a modern system easily, it's just fun getting stuff to work and you also get a unique feel running at a lower framerate at a natively supported lower resolution. Sounds odd, I know, but this is VOGONS where people could probably just use emulators for most things if they didn't care about authenticity and the unique soundfonts of old sound cards.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and perhaps respond.