Radeon 9700 and 9500 series and older (9550 and 9600 variants are not 3.3v AGP conpatible, some variants of the 9800 are but hard to find and not easily identiable, AFAICR).

On the Nvidia front, the higher end Geforce FX series are options.

See also https://www.playtool.com/pages/agpcompat/agp.html

EDIT :
See also 440BX AGP experts, let's settle this once and for all.

EDIT 2: For Windows 3.1, you would might want to consider something like this https://bearwindows.zcm.com.au/win31x.htm

The "3.1 / 6.22 drivers" throws a wrench into this. They were dead long before AGP.

leileilol wrote on 2024-04-19, 03:38:

The "3.1 / 6.22 drivers" throws a wrench into this. They were dead long before AGP.

Might any AGP 3.3v cards simply display video properly without drivers DOS/3.1?

(Edited original post to clarify that I only need 1920x1080 in Windows 98SE)

No GeForce model has drivers for Windows 3.1x
The support ends at TNT2: Re: Windows 3.11 - nVidia TNT2 built-in GPU chip compatibility

Lylat1an wrote on 2024-04-19, 03:54:

leileilol wrote on 2024-04-19, 03:38:

The "3.1 / 6.22 drivers" throws a wrench into this. They were dead long before AGP.

Might any AGP 3.3v cards simply display video properly without drivers DOS/3.1?

(Edited original post to clarify that I only need 1920x1080 in Windows 98SE)

You don't need drivers for DOS games and demoscrne demos (320x200 256 color ones) to work, but you will hit limitations/issues on newer cards with things like wrong aspect ratio (which your monitor might be able to compensate for), soft/blurry forced scaling on Nvidia cards if using DVI, complete incompatibilities (on Radeon cards, especially). 70Hz mode being run at 60Hz and either reducing apparent motion smoothness or even slowing down audio to match (Second Reality). This last one can be addressed with a custom programmed EDID emulator.

The above are just off the top of my head and I can share some links to forum discussions on them if you are interested.

For Windows 3.1, on newer cards without drivers you will get 640x480 in 16 colors. The link I shared in my previous post provides an alternative driver ( I believe there may be others) that should allow 256 colors in higher resolutions on cards with VESA VBE support when using Windows 3.1, which most if not all of newer cards you might consider have (it is buggy in some of them, though).

Suppose I didn't use 3.1 and stuck with DOS and 98SE, would DVI and DOS drivers still be an issue?

And what cards even had DVI in the late 90's? I'm only seeing two options for TNT2s and I'd either have to import it or pay a lot more.

Some Geforce2 cards have DVI output and Mac versions of ATi Rage 128 Pro has DVI, but they both do not have Win3.1 drivers. Rage XL is latest from ATi with Win3.1 support and TNT2 from Nvidia, that was mentioned before, with Dos and Win9x they are both good, Geforce2 is better card overall for DOS and Win9x than ATi Rage 128 Pro.

Riva 128 have incredible DOS vesa3, good Win3x drivers with DCI support and win9x drivers

No idea about DVI

Some Geforce have dvi, all exelent vesa3, win9x drivers, and can use patched 256 colors vesa win3x drivers

Oldest video card with DVI?

Lylat1an wrote on 2024-04-19, 19:21:

Suppose I didn't use 3.1 and stuck with DOS and 98SE, would DVI and DOS drivers still be an issue?

And what cards even had DVI in the late 90's? I'm only seeing two options for TNT2s and I'd either have to import it or pay a lot more.

There are no DOS drivers for to use VGA functionality, nor are any needed because DOS games and applications talk to the video card using either VGA BIOS calls or by directly accessing the hardware. To use SVGA capabilities, the application or game must either support the specific hardware directly (very rare since the late 90s except for some early 3D accelerator cards for the 3D functionality) OR talk to the SVGA using VBE (VESA BIOS EXTENSIONS) which is a standard that nearly all SVGA cards from the late 90s implemented in their video BIOS, so no drivers required).

The below caveats, that I had previously mentioned, apply to software using VGA (not SVGA) functionality.

You don't need drivers for DOS games and demoscrne demos (320x200 256 color ones) to work, but you will hit limitations/issues on newer cards with things like wrong aspect ratio (which your monitor might be able to compensate for), soft/blurry forced scaling on Nvidia cards if using DVI, complete incompatibilities (on Radeon cards, especially). 70Hz mode being run at 60Hz and either reducing apparent motion smoothness or even slowing down audio to match (Second Reality). This last one can be addressed with a custom programmed EDID emulator.

Using an AGP card for Windows 98 and a different one for DOS and Windows 3.1 is an option, by the way. Many motherboards allow selecting either an AGP or PCI video card as the primary card in the BIOS setup.

I use an AGP Geforce FX 5900 over DVI and a PCI Voodoo 3 over VGA (with an OSSC to digitize its output into DVI). The FX 5900 is used in Windows 98 whereas the Voodoo 3 gets used in DOS and in Windows 98 when preferable (Glide games, old Direct3D games).

I'm back again,

I'm not having much luck finding a good TNT2 card with DVI:

So I'm curious whether any ATI card(s) might be advised that were available with a DVI port, DOS compatibility, and Windows 3.11, and 98SE drivers?

Lylat1an wrote on 2024-04-23, 01:49:

I'm not having much luck finding a good TNT2 card with DVI

I dont think there ever was one?
How about trying your luck with one of those Chinese $5 VGA to HDMI adapters?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/156098959647 https://www.ebay.com/itm/374806655675 etc

You may want to check this thread, if you haven't already: Best video cards with DOS / Win 3.x / Win 9x support

As noted previously, DVI is not a good fit for DOS games, as it can cause slowdowns and stuttering. Natively, most DOS games run at 70 Hz. However, many DVI implementations from the late 90s/early 2000s force DOS games to run at 60 Hz, which causes the aforementioned issues.

If your need for DVI comes from using a modern display, then you might want to look into converters or scalers, as others have suggested. The best (but also the most expensive) solution would probably be the RetroTINK 4K.

Well, I DO want the DOS games to run well, so I'll cave and use a VGA port.

Do you guys think I'd be better off with a Riva128, or a TNT2?

If I should go the TNT2 route, should I splurge on a Pro or Ultra variant?

Lylat1an wrote on 2024-04-23, 03:35:

Well, I DO want the DOS games to run well, so I'll cave and use a VGA port.

Do you guys think I'd be better off with a Riva128, or a TNT2?

AFAIK, the TNT2 drivers for Win 3.1 aren't very stable. If you want good DOS game compatibility, functional Win 3.1 drivers and excellent image quality, go with a Voodoo 3. Sadly, those cards are quite expensive now, so that's a pretty big issue. In terms of Win 3.1, Voodoo 3 cards will happily work with Velocity drivers. They are also great for Win9x.

Another card from that generation which has proper Win 3.1/Win9x drivers and exceptional image quality is the Matrox G400. The DOS compatibility of Matrox cards isn't the best though. See here for more details: https://gona.mactar.hu/DOS_TESTS/