All I know is that my Voodoo 5 5500 still appeared to be CPU constrained by a 1568MHz Tualatin Celeron. I'd imagine that it would scale OK up to slow P4 Northwood speeds (1.8-2GHz).

These were my Quake 3 Arena (32-bit textures and colours) tests:

V5/Pentium 3 952/640x480: 76.3fps
V5/Tualaron 1400/640x480: 90.8fps
V5/Tualaron 1568/640x480: 100.7fps

V5/Pentium 3 952/800x600: 76.3fps
V5/Tualaron 1400/800x600: 90.0fps
V5/Tualaron 1568/800x600: 100.0fps

V5/Pentium 3 952/1024x768: 73.9fps
V5/Tualaron 1400/1024x768: 88.4fps
V5/Tualaron 1568/1024x768: 97.5fps

Similar FPS regardless of resolution would indicate a CPU bottleneck!

paradigital wrote on 2023-09-29, 08:15:

All I know is that my Voodoo 5 5500 still appeared to be CPU constrained by a 1568MHz Tualatin Celeron. I'd imagine that it wou […]
Show full quote

All I know is that my Voodoo 5 5500 still appeared to be CPU constrained by a 1568MHz Tualatin Celeron. I'd imagine that it would scale OK up to slow P4 Northwood speeds (1.8-2GHz).

These were my Quake 3 Arena (32-bit textures and colours) tests:

V5/Pentium 3 952/640x480: 76.3fps
V5/Tualaron 1400/640x480: 90.8fps
V5/Tualaron 1568/640x480: 100.7fps

V5/Pentium 3 952/800x600: 76.3fps
V5/Tualaron 1400/800x600: 90.0fps
V5/Tualaron 1568/800x600: 100.0fps

V5/Pentium 3 952/1024x768: 73.9fps
V5/Tualaron 1400/1024x768: 88.4fps
V5/Tualaron 1568/1024x768: 97.5fps

Similar FPS regardless of resolution would indicate a CPU bottleneck!

Thanks a lot for posting the benmarks. That was very interesting.

It might be not a bad idea to change the cpu of my MSI board for a more powerful athlon xp or maybe getting another mobo with rather fast pentium 4.

@all is there a certain pentium 4 cpu/mobo combination you guys would you recommend?

and which athlon cpu for the

MSI K7T266 Pro 2

you would guys recommend? The 3200 xp?

I'm not too familiar with 3dfx cards, but I do have a KT266A motherboard. Assuming your board supports Thoroughbred CPUs (my board had to be modified to do so, but it was easy) your best upgrade option would be an Athlon XP 2600+ such as an AXDA2600DKV3C. There are also 2600+ CPUs that are for 333 FSB, so avoid those. The 3200+ is meant for motherboards that support 200 MHz FSB and the KT266A has 133. I have one (2600+) in my Soyo Dragon Plus running at 2189 MHz by overclocking the FSB to 145 MHz.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-29, 14:04:

I'm not too familiar with 3dfx cards, but I do have a KT266A motherboard. Assuming your board supports Thoroughbred CPUs (my board had to be modified to do so, but it was easy) your best upgrade option would be an Athlon XP 2600+ such as an AXDA2600DKV3C. There are also 2600+ CPUs that are for 333 FSB, so avoid those. The 3200+ is meant for motherboards that support 200 MHz FSB and the KT266A has 133. I have one (2600+) in my Soyo Dragon Plus running at 2189 MHz by overclocking the FSB to 145 MHz.

Thanks for your advice. I will look into the Athlon XP 2600+ as soon as possible.

I was not researching well enough abou the athlon xp 3200 so the info that this cpu does not watch with the front side bus of bus slipped my attention.

The athlon xp 2600 sounds like really nice cpu which also easily available on ebay at good price which is a big plus.

What do you guys think about the athlon xp 2400+ for the Voodoo 5?

I have done some further research and I could either get the 2400+ or the 2600+.

The 2400+ would be a bit cheaper.

I am more interested in the more powerful 2600+ but If I can get similar performance with the 2400+ I will consider that cpu as well.

gamefan_851 wrote on 2023-09-29, 12:18:

@all is there a certain pentium 4 cpu/mobo combination you guys would you recommend?

Asus P4S333 has universal AGP slot, limited to 400MHz FSB P4.
2.6GHz or 2.8GHz P4 400MHz FSB should be obtainable.

gamefan_851 wrote on 2023-09-29, 12:18:

and which athlon cpu for the

MSI K7T266 Pro 2

you would guys recommend? The 3200 xp?

Doubt Barton core is supported. I'd go with Geode NX1750 (TBred-B) .... 1.25V and has multiplier controllable by software (x6-x10.5). Useful, since some games do not like fast CPUs and there's no need to enter BIOS to change it. It's usually recognized as Mobile Athlon XP.
I have Geode on ECS K7S6A: download/file.php?id=105979&mode=view

stef80 wrote on 2023-10-02, 07:24:

Asus P4S333 has universal AGP slot, limited to 400MHz FSB P4. 2.6GHz or 2.8GHz P4 400MHz FSB should be obtainable. […]
Show full quote

gamefan_851 wrote on 2023-09-29, 12:18:

@all is there a certain pentium 4 cpu/mobo combination you guys would you recommend?

Asus P4S333 has universal AGP slot, limited to 400MHz FSB P4.
2.6GHz or 2.8GHz P4 400MHz FSB should be obtainable.

gamefan_851 wrote on 2023-09-29, 12:18:

and which athlon cpu for the

MSI K7T266 Pro 2

you would guys recommend? The 3200 xp?

Doubt Barton core is supported. I'd go with Geode NX1750 (TBred-B) .... 1.25V and has multiplier controllable by software (x6-x10.5). Useful, since some games do not like fast CPUs and there's no need to enter BIOS to change it. It's usually recognized as Mobile Athlon XP.
I have Geode on ECS K7S6A: download/file.php?id=105979&mode=view

Thanks a lot for your advice for a potential p4 system and thx a lot for the cpu recommendation.

The Geode NX1750 sounds like a interesting cpu.

I was premature when talking about the barton. The bartons are not support by the MSI K7T266 Pro 2. So they are off the table so to speak.

But that does not matter at all. There plenty of neat alternatives.

I have no personal advice for you but since you are from Austria like myself you could be the number one German voodoo forum voodoo alert.

they have a nice thread about all the motherboards out there that are compatible with the Voodoo 5.

I hope it allowed to post the link here.

https://www.voodooalert.de/board/forum/index. … ten-mainboards/

The Voodoo5 looks good on benchmarks and it’s interesting from a technological past perspective, but once games past 1999 are played, you’re in for a tremendous disappointment and frame drops. You’ll constantly be playing around with reduced image quality and 16-bit color. And it’s too weak for 32-bit and/or AA for games of TnL.

Unless you are getting a deal you’d be crazy to pass up, buy 4 GeForce256 DDRs or 14 GeForce2 Ti cards, instead. Or better yet, buy a single Ti4200 and two Voodoo2 cards for playing Wheel of Time or Unreal, and put the rest of the money in the bank.

Your current CPU will be fine in all cases, particularly when you crank up AA and Aniso on the Ti4200, should you go that route.

The Voodoo5 won’t need more CPU power for earlier games and is too weak to use the power of even slightly later GPU demanding games.

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-02, 12:51:

The Voodoo5 looks good on benchmarks and it’s interesting from a technological past perspective, but once games past 1999 are pl […]
Show full quote

The Voodoo5 looks good on benchmarks and it’s interesting from a technological past perspective, but once games past 1999 are played, you’re in for a tremendous disappointment and frame drops. You’ll constantly be playing around with reduced image quality and 16-bit color. And it’s too weak for 32-bit and/or AA for games of TnL.

Unless you are getting a deal you’d be crazy to pass up, buy 4 GeForce256 DDRs or 14 GeForce2 Ti cards, instead. Or better yet, buy a single Ti4200 and two Voodoo2 cards for playing Wheel of Time or Unreal, and put the rest of the money in the bank.

Your current CPU will be fine in all cases, particularly when you crank up AA and Aniso on the Ti4200, should you go that route.

The Voodoo5 won’t need more CPU power for earlier games and is too weak to use the power of even slightly later GPU demanding games.

Thanks a lot for mentioning the drawbacks of vhe V5 again. I would be able to get the card at cheaper price compared to the standard ebay prices but it would be still a lot of money.

i think you have a point getting geforce 4 for the direct 3d games and one or 2 voodoo 2 cards to get a great glide experience sounds more reasonble.

The reason why I was aming for the v5 was to get a top notch glide card but I missed the point that during the time voodoo 5 came out glide was already declining and the area of direct 3d and opengl really begann.

And for opengl and for direct 3d there are better cards.

So it makes sense for me to get 2 cards. One for glide and another one for opengl and direct3d.

I will keep looking for voodoo 2 (these cards are not cheap but with the generous birhtday money i got still affordable) and geforce 4 4200.

gamefan_851 wrote on 2023-10-03, 06:46:

Thanks a lot for mentioning the drawbacks of vhe V5 again. I would be able to get the card at cheaper price compared to the st […]
Show full quote

Meatball wrote on 2023-10-02, 12:51:

The Voodoo5 looks good on benchmarks and it’s interesting from a technological past perspective, but once games past 1999 are pl […]
Show full quote

The Voodoo5 looks good on benchmarks and it’s interesting from a technological past perspective, but once games past 1999 are played, you’re in for a tremendous disappointment and frame drops. You’ll constantly be playing around with reduced image quality and 16-bit color. And it’s too weak for 32-bit and/or AA for games of TnL.

Unless you are getting a deal you’d be crazy to pass up, buy 4 GeForce256 DDRs or 14 GeForce2 Ti cards, instead. Or better yet, buy a single Ti4200 and two Voodoo2 cards for playing Wheel of Time or Unreal, and put the rest of the money in the bank.

Your current CPU will be fine in all cases, particularly when you crank up AA and Aniso on the Ti4200, should you go that route.

The Voodoo5 won’t need more CPU power for earlier games and is too weak to use the power of even slightly later GPU demanding games.

Thanks a lot for mentioning the drawbacks of vhe V5 again. I would be able to get the card at cheaper price compared to the standard ebay prices but it would be still a lot of money.

i think you have a point getting geforce 4 for the direct 3d games and one or 2 voodoo 2 cards to get a great glide experience sounds more reasonble.

The reason why I was aming for the v5 was to get a top notch glide card but I missed the point that during the time voodoo 5 came out glide was already declining and the area of direct 3d and opengl really begann.

And for opengl and for direct 3d there are better cards.

So it makes sense for me to get 2 cards. One for glide and another one for opengl and direct3d.

I will keep looking for voodoo 2 (these cards are not cheap but with the generous birhtday money i got still affordable) and geforce 4 4200.

If you put it this way everything makes sense. But wouldn't be a athlon xp 1400 to fast for something like the V2?

I have no first-hand experience with a V2, (Just have V3 2000 agp) but I have read that it could be problematic to use v2 with a fast 1 GHz plus CPU.

I want to reiterate that's just third-hand information so no reason to be alarmed yet. Just wait for what the more experienced people have to say.

Voodoo cards are collectors items and are priced accordingly! I would like to get at least one voodoo card but the prices being as they are I gave up! So i choose the next best thing: geforce 4 TI 4600. It has performance way above the Voodoo 5500 and is compatible with every single motherboard I have. Expensive but not Voodoo 5500 expensive!!
If you are ready to pay for a Voodoo than you are probably willing to pay for the best motherboard with AGP 2X compatiblity: Abit AT7-MAX 1 with VIA KT333 chipset - if you think VOODOO 5500 is rare and expensive wait until you search for this board!
That being said I would not pay the money they are asking for a voodoo card on Ebay - it's simply absurd! Get a geforce and keep the rest of the money!

V5 (AGP) are actually not rare, number of them are on sale at every moment. They are just expensive.
geforce 4 TI 4600 .... collectors item and power hog, if you can find one that works. Exception to the rule is maybe Albatron Medusa one (Ti 4680).
You can go for Quadro equivalent, they have better components, mainly polymer caps.
Ti 4200 and Radeon 9600/Pro/XT or 9500Pro are almost always available for good price (~ 30$).
I'm running V5 on Intel Desktop Board i815 + 1GHz Coppermine. Intel Desktop Boards of that era had quality Japanese caps and are compatible with most of other stuff.

A word of caution about motherboards with universal AGP slots. Not all of them properly support 3.3V which is needed for AGP 1.0 cards. Make sure to carefully read the motherboard manual beforehand. It's possible to damage the graphics card and/or motherboard if the proper voltage is not supplied. As an example, the VIA KT333CE chipset still supports 3.3V while KT333CF does not, even if the motherboard has an universal AGP slot.

For more info on AGP card and slot compatibility see here. There's also some useful info in this thread: List of 3.3 volt AGP AMD motherboards anywhere?

nd22 wrote on 2023-10-03, 09:01:

Voodoo cards are collectors items and are priced accordingly! I would like to get at least one voodoo card but the prices being as they are I gave up! So i choose the next best thing: geforce 4 TI 4600. It has performance way above the Voodoo 5500 and is compatible with every single motherboard I have. Expensive but not Voodoo 5500 expensive!!
If you are ready to pay for a Voodoo than you are probably willing to pay for the best motherboard with AGP 2X compatiblity: Abit AT7-MAX 1 with VIA KT333 chipset - if you think VOODOO 5500 is rare and expensive wait until you search for this board!
That being said I would not pay the money they are asking for a voodoo card on Ebay - it's simply absurd! Get a geforce and keep the rest of the money!

Thanks a lot for the reply. I was not aware of the potential problems with the AGP compability.

@Joseph_Joestar Thanks a lot for the warning about the unversial agp slots and the very interesting links.

Getting something like geforce 4 4600 or another gf4 really sounds like a good idea. These cards are powerful and the some cards of the gf4 family ar not that expensive.

The same can be said about the radeon 9500.

I will go the easy way and will get one of the above mentioned cards for the msi board. Maybe i will get a v2 for glide gaming eventually for that system as well if I can find one at a good price.

But for the main purpose of the msi system (having gaming rig for the years 1999 to 2002) a geforce 4 or Radeon 9000 series card should server me really well.

I am still fascinated by the voodoo cards but not at all costs. there are better gpu to make my retro system shine.

I will study the market carefuly to check if I can find a v2 at some point in the future.

But i will also check out the different glide wrappers availably to run the glide games on my modern day pc.