I recently got my hands on a GeForce4 MX440 and I can highly recommend it, if the following things are true:

1. Your version of the card has a 128-bit memory interface (some have a 64-bit interface and perform worse)
2. You don't intend to play games from 2001 and up which require DirectX 8.1 (referring to pixel shader functionality)
3. Your target resolution is 1024x768 with an occasional jump to 1280x1024 for older games

It's a great, affordable card with performance that matches a GeForce 2 GTS (and sometimes even the Ultra) with pretty much the same feature set. Also, fog table emulation and palleted textures work fine, so old Win9x games will look as intended. DOS compatibility is also pretty good, at least from what I've seen. Stick with drivers 40.72 (for AGP 8x cards) or 30.82 (for AGP 4x cards) to get optimal performance.

Offtopic: I like your bookshelf! Are you a physicist or an electrical engineer?

I would toss Radeon 9000 Pro or GeForce 4 MX 440 in there and call it a day.

ShovelKnight wrote on 2020-05-07, 14:43:

Offtopic: I like your bookshelf! Are you a physicist or an electrical engineer?

Used to be; am sort of retired now. Books will probably go in the attic during the next remodel.

Radeon 9000 Pro eh? G400 Max, 8500DV, Voodoo3 all too slow?

I think the gf2 gts is close to period correct.

I have a soft spot for the 8500, so that's what I would use

feipoa wrote on 2020-05-07, 22:30:

ShovelKnight wrote on 2020-05-07, 14:43:

Offtopic: I like your bookshelf! Are you a physicist or an electrical engineer?

Used to be; am sort of retired now. Books will probably go in the attic during the next remodel.

Radeon 9000 Pro eh? G400 Max, 8500DV, Voodoo3 all too slow?

The 8500DV should be faster than the 9000 Pro. The 8500 and 9100 (R200 based) models have twice the vertex shaders and TMUs of the other RV250 and RV280 9xxx models. The only way the 9000 Pro would be better is in memory bandwidth limited situations, but I would think that the TMUs would be even more important then. And of course, this is assuming that your card follows the normal 9000 Pro spec and has a 128bit bus. If it is only 64bit for some reason (super cheap model), I wouldn't touch it.

If this system is going to be used to get the most out of Windows games up to about the year 2000, I'd use the Quadro FX 1100 for high speed and compatibility. Assuming there are no Quadro specific quirks introduced, this is similar to an FX 5700 which is excellent for games from this era. Or maybe the 8500DV if you want to dabble with Radeons but I don't know if there will be any compatibility issues. As others have mentioned, the Geforce 2 GTS would be a good period-correct choice but it wouldn't be as fast. Personally, my first PC I built (to replace a Gateway G6-400) in about the year 2000 had an Athlon Slot A 750 with a PCI Voodoo 3 2000 (carried over from the Gateway) and I drooled over the V5 5500 for ages before admitting that nvidia had them beat in every possible way with the Geforce 2 (RIP 3dfx). I bought a 32MB GTS from VisionTek and it was an excellent addition to the system. I used it until I eventually upgraded to a Ti 4400.

For the sound card, the Vortex 2 is the clear choice for me. A3D is wonderful, the soft synth is decent and the DOS support is nice too if you need it.

What driver versions would be optimal for the Radeon 8500 or 9000 Pro? There is some appeal in using ATI w/AMD CPUs.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2020-05-08, 02:47:

I drooled over the V5 5500 for ages before admitting that nvidia had them beat in every possible way with the Geforce 2 (RIP 3dfx).

This is why I never bothered to buy a Voodoo5 back when they were cheap; I just didn't see the purpose. By the time the Voodoo5 came out, graphic chip competitors had caught up and moved ahead of 3dfx and 3dfx's appeal of less driver overhead didn't matter so much anymore because the CPUs had become sufficiently fast themselves.

EDIT: I decided to add the original 25 x 15 mm AMD Athlon case sticker back on after I removed it prior to retro-briting. It is pretty worn down, but I cannot find the sticker in this form factor online. I have a new 25 x 25 mm sticker, but it doesn't look good because to the left and right of the sticker, there is no space left for a border. Don't plan on putting the "Windows 98" sticker back on. Makes the case look cheap and tacky.

I have also bolded the short-listed graphics cards in the original post based on the responses.

G400 Max, 8500DV, Voodoo3 all too slow?

G400 and V3 are obviously slow. Radeon 8500DV is faster, but doesn't have simple VGA output.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2020-05-08, 15:44:

G400 Max, 8500DV, Voodoo3 all too slow?

G400 and V3 are obviously slow. Radeon 8500DV is faster, but doesn't have simple VGA output.

Using a DVI-to-VGA adapter isn't all that bad.

HWiNFO reports the Matrox G400Max is running in AGP 1x mode. Is this normal?

G400Max runs in 1x mode in NT4. Changing it to 2x, it still runs in 1x mode. G200 runs in 2x mode by default.

I'm experiencing an odd problem. Whether I use the AGP G400/G200 or PCI G200, GLQuake 1/2/3 all crash shortly after loading. Unreal won't work in OpenGL mode. But These games work with the G400 in Win98se. A G200 works with the Quakes even on a 486 in NT4, so I'm not sure what is going on.

I have a softspot for R200, so my vote goes to the 8500DV ...and ALL the sound cards daisy-chained together! Go nuts!

Off topic: it looks like the shelf of an E.E.
You have Sedra/Smith and you're from Canada: did you have either as a professor?!

Since the G400Max is having some issues in NT4 using OpenGL, I have begun testing the 8500DV, or R200-based, Radeon. It is a little difficult finding the NT4 Radeon 8500 drivers. I am using a driver for the Radeon 7000 that seems to work. I should have a newer driver on the original CD-ROM as well. I bought the 8500DV new when it came out. I thought the card would be dead by now as I had run it for years without a fan on the GPU.

No, I didn't have a course with Sedra or Smith. It is a popular text that's for sure. I've taken a course with one of the authors of one of the books up there though. What I can say about this, though, is just because they "wrote" the book, doesn't mean they can teach in class well. I put "wrote" in quotes because very often other professors write chapters in texts or they get graduates to do much of the dirty work for little pay.

<EDIT>
I was able to install the Radeon 8500DV driver from the CD image, which is version 4.3.3286. I'm not sure if there is a newer version for NT, but this is all I have saved. The Quakes run fine. Unreal Tournament works as well, and in OpenGL mode, but there is no sound coming out of the speakers in UT. Descent 3 works once the game is loaded, but the menus are all badly garbled - just keep pressing <return> to get into the game.

Most my rigs are Intel/Nvidia/Creative

So I'm planning on rebuilding my own Slot A as the "Alternate A list PC"
AMD/ATI/Aureal Vortex

Still new to Slot A, does this have buggy AGP like early chipsets?

I'm also new to Slot A systems. I don't know if it has any early AGP bugs. I do know that NT4 doesn't like the G400Max on this system. Radeon 8500DV seems OK.

Ideally I'd like to figure out how to remove the CPU's plastic casing and adjust the CPU multiplier in a manner similar to the gold finger devices (GFD), http://www.cpu-world.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28887 I'd like to run the board at 850, 900, 950, and 1000 MHz to determine the fastest stable operating speed. Doesn't seem like I'll run across a GFD anytime soon so I'd have to do some messy solder work, then remove the mess.

It depends on what you want to do. I would either go with the G400 MAX if you want to run mostly DX7 stuff or the Voodoo3 if you want to build a crazy stupid fast Voodoo box. For DX8, the Radeon 8500 is a great card to put in any Athlon system, just remember it's not as good for DX5/6 games as a GeForce3/4.

I'm noticing that both the G400max and ATI 8500 are getting put into AGP 1x mode. Was AGP 2x on the Irongate not stable?

In what aspects does the 8500 not do as well in DX5/6 games? Slower, or display problems?

feipoa wrote on 2020-06-05, 12:36:

I'm noticing that both the G400max and ATI 8500 are getting put into AGP 1x mode. Was AGP 2x on the Irongate not stable?

In what aspects does the 8500 not do as well in DX5/6 games? Slower, or display problems?

Something about ATI SmartGART was probably not set up correctly on the system, it may have to do with requiring updated motherboard drivers (the driver will default to 1x without VIA 4-in-1 on VIA motherboards for example.)

With regards to the second question: It lacks pallattized textures and tablefog.

feipoa wrote on 2020-06-05, 12:36:

I'm noticing that both the G400max and ATI 8500 are getting put into AGP 1x mode. Was AGP 2x on the Irongate not stable?

yep! Irongate is what I have as well

My Slot A was a dumpster find with a V3 PCI I suspect was original to get around the whole issue.

This gives more info
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd,155.html

feipoa wrote on 2020-06-05, 11:56:

...
Ideally I'd like to figure out how to remove the CPU's plastic casing and adjust the CPU multiplier in a manner similar to the gold finger devices (GFD), http://www.cpu-world.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28887 I'd like to run the board at 850, 900, 950, and 1000 MHz to determine the fastest stable operating speed. Doesn't seem like I'll run across a GFD anytime soon so I'd have to do some messy solder work, then remove the mess.

I've never used either SlotA nor a GFD, but you can look to Robert B (Bobby B?!) for guidance on how to open the cartridge.