Was in a similar situation until a couple of days ago. Planned on doing a SS7 MVP 3 build with my Creative Labs 3D Blaster Savage Pro 32 MB and Voodoo 1. CPU would have been K6 -2 500, same as yours. Unfortunately the motherboard has some issues identified a bit too late (shorted caps), so had to drop the build.
Replaced motherboard and changed build, K6-2 400, Vanta PCI 16 MB and Voodoo 1.
My first ever build was a Pentium 3 Celeron 533 MHz paired with a Savage 4 16 MB IIRC. So the K6-2 might be a bit underpowered for the Savage. There's plenty of benchmarks around with the K6-2 and some with Savage 4 so you know what to expect. Whatever you decide ,I think it's a fun build none the less. Good luck!

Performance and compatibility wise the gf2 mx400 is the best you can have.
I never had any compatibility issue with it while tnt\2 are more problematic.
Since you also have to buy those cards, gf2 mx400 are usually very cheap, if you aren't looking for higher models.
As for weak agp voltage delivery, I couldn't find any info about the wattage or tdp of the cards. That being said I doubt the gf2 mx has high requirements.

I mean it's going to be more expensive, but how about a PowerVR Kyro II? The chip itself only pulls like 4 watts so I doubt it would stress the system and would absolutely be period correct for a SS7 build. It traded blows with a GeForce 2 GTS pretty well back in the day and would be super unique. It also had driver issues that I'm not sure were ever taken care of and the lack of T&L is a bummer, but it might be something to think about.

Hey guys, thank you for your comments, keep'em coming, please 😁 !

Some notes triggered by them:

Nemo1985 wrote on 2023-04-30, 23:37:

the gf2 mx400 is the best you can have.
I never had any compatibility issue with it while tnt\2 are more problematic.

That's something I hadn't considered, thanks for the heads up!
(and I do have a GF2 MX400 64bits already)

kiacadp wrote on 2023-04-30, 23:36:

So the K6-2 might be a bit underpowered for the Savage. There's plenty of benchmarks around with the K6-2 and some with Savage 4 so you know what to expect.

uh!, so that means using any of those 'higher' TNT's will not be taken advantage of ?.... bummer

DrAnthony wrote on 2023-04-30, 23:50:

but how about a PowerVR Kyro II? The chip itself only pulls like 4 watts so I doubt it would stress the system and would absolutely be period correct for a SS7 build. It traded blows with a GeForce 2 GTS pretty well

Truth be told, the market here is a desert in that kind of cards. I see listed a handful of M64s, those 4 cards I listed, and some variety of basic low profile GF4.
That's it, period. No GF256, no GF3, no GFx Ti. PowerVR Kyro II?? Not a chance! 🤣

I also have a VA-503+ 1.2A and I've tested it with a Voodoo3 3000, as well as a TNT2 among others, and I haven't seen a problem. Have I just experienced a lot of dumb luck? I had heard of problems with other boards but not this one, so I hadn't thought to be careful. Yikes.

Is there a primary source of info on this subject that I just can't seem to find for some reason? Mostly all I find are forum comments that paint an incomplete picture of this issue.

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic.

I have gotten a radeon 9800 pro to work on ss7 believe it or not. But I don’t think the fic 503 liked it.

Gf2 or quadro 2 seems to be a good one for many others. Those cards have the 3dm records but idk if that translates to real world performance.

Personally I’d try cards gf4 or older 9000 or older. Newer than that and your drivers won’t like the cpu

My SS7 (K6-III at 550MHz) machine houses my TNT2 Pro, and a Voodoo 1.

Going any newer on the AGP card would be a waste, back in the day I had a TNT 2 Ultra on my first Socket A build, and even that was limited by the Duron 900, only when I switched out for a 1.4GHz Tbird did I need more GPU power, at which point I went GF2 PRO.

Never even considered my Kyro 4000/4500 cards in my SS7, as they are far newer and really benefit from the horsepower of a newer CPU, even moreso if trying to use EnTnL.

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-05-01, 06:57:

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic. […]
Show full quote

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic.

I have gotten a radeon 9800 pro to work on ss7 believe it or not. But I don’t think the fic 503 liked it.

Gf2 or quadro 2 seems to be a good one for many others. Those cards have the 3dm records but idk if that translates to real world performance.

Personally I’d try cards gf4 or older 9000 or older. Newer than that and your drivers won’t like the cpu

Doesn't the Radeon 9800 Pro have a molex connector? This nullifies the power draw issue no?

Depends on how much Radeon 9800 Pro can draw from AGP slot. Assumably at least 15W, which is heavy for AT boards with 3.3v voltage conversion. Some 9800 cards also worked without external power.

Yes I guess it depends on the GPU PCB designer...some may take all they can from AGP and supplement it with the molex connector while others may use all what they can from the molex.

I tried several cards with my k6-3+ build.
Geforce 2ti
Geforce 2 GTS
Geforce 4 MX440 & MX460
Radeon 7200 SDR
Radeon 7500 DDR
FireGL 8800
TNT2 Pro
FX5500
FX5200
3dfx Voodoo 3 2000 and 3000

The best were the Geforce 2 based cards (including the 4 MXXX) and the 3dfx cards. I ended up leaving the Geforce 4 MX460 simply because it was the last of the cards that I tried.
These machines can be super sensitive to driver overhead so make sure you use the earliest drivers that you can find that are compatible with your games. It can make a huge difference on this K6 based machines. Have fun!

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2023-05-01, 13:23:

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-05-01, 06:57:

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic. […]
Show full quote

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic.

I have gotten a radeon 9800 pro to work on ss7 believe it or not. But I don’t think the fic 503 liked it.

Gf2 or quadro 2 seems to be a good one for many others. Those cards have the 3dm records but idk if that translates to real world performance.

Personally I’d try cards gf4 or older 9000 or older. Newer than that and your drivers won’t like the cpu

Doesn't the Radeon 9800 Pro have a molex connector? This nullifies the power draw issue no?

Yes, but it still seems to have issues on some boards. Why, idk.

danieljm wrote on 2023-05-01, 03:19:

I also have a VA-503+ 1.2A and I've tested it with a Voodoo3 3000, as well as a TNT2 among others, and I haven't seen a problem. Have I just experienced a lot of dumb luck? I had heard of problems with other boards but not this one, so I hadn't thought to be careful. Yikes.

Is there a primary source of info on this subject that I just can't seem to find for some reason? Mostly all I find are forum comments that paint an incomplete picture of this issue.

This is where my concerns come from:

Help! Keep burning voltage reg fic va-503+

Hi!

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-05-01, 06:57:

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic. I have gotten a radeon 9800 pro to work on ss7 believe it or […]
Show full quote

I’m trying to remember, but I think my radeon 9000 works in my fic.
I have gotten a radeon 9800 pro to work on ss7 believe it or not. But I don’t think the fic 503 liked it.

Gf2 or quadro 2 seems to be a good one for many others. Those cards have the 3dm records but idk if that translates to real world performance.
Personally I’d try cards gf4 or older 9000 or older. Newer than that and your drivers won’t like the cpu

Yeah, I don't inted to use cards newer than that. Radeon 9800 I haven't seen around here, but anything close to that would be used in a different build.

Jasin Natael wrote on 2023-05-01, 16:44:

[...]
The best were the Geforce 2 based cards (including the 4 MXXX) and the 3dfx cards. [...]
These machines can be super sensitive to driver overhead so make sure you use the earliest drivers that you can find that are compatible with your games. It can make a huge difference on this K6 based machines. Have fun!

It seems like GF2/4 are the most favoured ones, with the bonus of me having a couple already.

paradigital wrote on 2023-05-01, 07:06:

My SS7 (K6-III at 550MHz) machine houses my TNT2 Pro, and a Voodoo 1.

Going any newer on the AGP card would be a waste, back in the day I had a TNT 2 Ultra on my first Socket A build, and even that was limited by the Duron 900, only when I switched out for a 1.4GHz Tbird did I need more GPU power, at which point I went GF2 PRO.

So I guess that, even if it is not taking full advange of the card, you choose to run a TNT2 on your SS7.

Any comments regarding TNT2 power draw?

Do you know if your board has strong VRMS that can handle higher currents?

I have to admit that the one I saw, even if only 16 MBs, has already started to grow an itch on me... ah, decisions, decisions...

AngryByDefault wrote on 2023-04-30, 21:24:

Hi! […]
Show full quote

Hi!

So, by chance, I got myself a super socket 7 board: a FIC VA-503+ v1.2.

It also came with an S3 Savage4 Pro-M, which happened to be in my wish list so that was a nice surprise, and it will be fun to play with its proprietary API...

I plan to use a K6-2 500/550 MHz but for what I've been reading I could instead use a more powerful card to run the combo to it's fullest.

I'm aware that SS7's AGP implementation is lacking and it might get tricky, but that's part of the challenge.
What I did NOT know is that this board, as well as many others, can't handle the amount of power some card might need due to weak VRMS...

I already have a couple of AGP GF2 and GF4 at hand (64bit and one 128bit), a TNT2 M64 32 MB (64-bit), and the aforementioned Savage4.

But I wonder if you would heavily recommend me to get any of these for this build:

1- TNT2 16 MB
2- TNT1 32 MB (Diamond S540)
3- TNT1 16 MB
4- NV Vanta 16 MB

The 'TNT2 16MB' and 'TNT1 32MB' would each cost me more than twice as much as the other two cards. But they are not proper full "32MB TNT2" cards either... Would you pay the premium tax for them or would you speculate to "maybe eventually" get a proper card?

I want a nice build without risking damaging components.

Honestly, I've been reading a lot on the forums and I gather that my GF2 MX400 could be a very nice card for this build too, but I am unsure about it's power draw and I'd also like to hear your overall opinions.

I don't have any particular game planned for this system, but I guess I'll tinker with some appropriate FPS and space combat titles to see how much it can handle.

What's you suggestion?

TNT1 32 MB (Diamond S540) is not a real TNT1, the Diamond S540 is a S3 Savage 4 Xtreme.

I had the same thought when I build my ss7 system and ended up using a Vanta and a (PCI) Voodoo 2.
I think in your case Vanta would be the safest bet. I'd guess the (proper) TNT2 32MB uses more power than a TNT1 16MB. GF2 MX400 may actually also be a card that draws little power. If it works in your board, that should be the best pick for your system (may even be a little bit overkill, but with a lower powerdraw).

Please keep in mind, I don't have the exact numbers regarding graphics card's power draws, nor do I have any experience with your particular motherboard.
But if you're worried about graphics card powerdraw, I would guestimate that Vanta and a GF2 MX would be safe bets (especially the Vanta, mine doesn't even come with a heatsink). Vanta isn't the fastest graphics card out there, but at least you should be able to at least get it in a working state with that card?

Voodoo 3 and TNT2 should have roughly similar power usage. Also depends on which exact version you have. GF2 MX and Vanta should have lower power draws. I don't know about the S3 Savage cards.

EDIT: Many links to old graphs are dead now, but I did find this https://www.vintage3d.org/rgraph/single/cons2.php

Gotta love these weekly Super 7 AGP threads.

TNT cards are alright and might be stable, but you really want a Voodoo Banshee or Voodoo3 for Super 7. Glide will help you get more from that slow CPU and the games back then were mostly targeting 3dfx cards anyway.

Savage4 (Diamond Stealth III S540) supports S3 Metal which is a native API that is nice for Unreal and UT. It should be low overhead like Glide. The S3 drivers aren't so hot outside of Quake and Unreal though.

I’ve seen some amazing results from many with those gf2/3 cards but they haven’t worked well for me. I’m all digital with most of my displays. And those cards just refuse to work correctly with booting from DVI

Fyi to those reading.

If you are vga I expect you won’t have this issue.

Also, better go win 9x/ME

Tetrium wrote on 2023-05-02, 15:46:

TNT1 32 MB (Diamond S540) is not a real TNT1, the Diamond S540 is a S3 Savage 4 Xtreme.

You are absolutely right, I got confused with two ads from the same seller at the same price, one for an S540 and the other for a Viper V550, the later being the TNT 1 I was trying to refer to. (I'll correct my post)
Thanks for all that info in your comments!

swaaye wrote on 2023-05-02, 17:12:

Gotta love these weekly Super 7 AGP threads.

TNT cards are alright and might be stable, but you really want a Voodoo Banshee or Voodoo3 for Super 7. Glide will help you get more from that slow CPU and the games back then were mostly targeting 3dfx cards anyway.

Savage4 (Diamond Stealth III S540) supports S3 Metal which is a native API that is nice for Unreal and UT. It should be low overhead like Glide. The S3 drivers aren't so hot outside of Quake and Unreal though.

Yeah, I reckon there's a lot of these, but I swear I did my homework as thoroughly as possible.
Yet, as I mentioned, it seems an AGP Voodoo might get damaged or cause damage in this mainboard, so that was my point actually, what could be a nice but safe option in this scenario.

Unless Banshees are significatively less demanding than Voodoos, but I doubt that' s the case...

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-05-03, 03:11:

I’ve seen some amazing results from many with those gf2/3 cards but they haven’t worked well for me. I’m all digital with most o […]
Show full quote

I’ve seen some amazing results from many with those gf2/3 cards but they haven’t worked well for me. I’m all digital with most of my displays. And those cards just refuse to work correctly with booting from DVI

Fyi to those reading.

If you are vga I expect you won’t have this issue.

Also, better go win 9x/ME

For now I'm using a VGA monitor but it wouldn't be strage to change that, so it's good to know that. Thank you.

(something odd happened in this msj. Disregard please)