VOGONS


GPU Suggestions?

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First post, by Alistar1776

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So, my Win98SE machine needs graphics drivers, but im not fully sure i want to keep the ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP card in it. Im curious whats a good gaming card that would pair up well with a 1.1ghz Athlon XP 3200+? Ive thought about possibly a Voodoo 3 card, then using the HD4650AGP in a Win2000 machine (cause i have games that will run on win2000, but not 98SE) Looking forward to some of your suggestions, and thanks in advance!

Reply 2 of 53, by Alistar1776

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-05-02, 11:47:

1.1GHz Athlon XP 3200+?
Do you mean 2.1GHz?

Are you sure that your board can use 3dfx cards? Does it have an universal AGP slot?

In BIOS, the cpu reads 1.1ghz. maybe settings somewhere are wrong? the board is an MSI socket 462 KT880 Delta MS7047 V1. It does have an AGP slot, is there 2 different AGP slots?

Reply 3 of 53, by DrAnthony

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I ran an AXP 3200+ as my primary machine for many years so I might be able to help a bit here.

Something is certainly amiss as that chip should operate at much higher clocks. Perhaps you're looking at something other than CPU clockspeed? It's hard to imagine what though as I don't recall anything running at 1.1 Ghz.

In terms of GPU selection it would be a little easier for us to give solid advice if you let us know what you planned to run on the system. My knee-jerk reaction is to say a Radeon 9800 Pro since that's what I matched with mine back in the day, but they are fragile and expensive (and may not have decent W98 drivers).

Lastly, check the capacitors on your motherboard. Given the age and specific vintage I'd imagine you have at least one that's ready to give you headaches.

Reply 4 of 53, by konc

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Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-05-02, 11:57:

In BIOS, the cpu reads 1.1ghz. maybe settings somewhere are wrong? the board is an MSI socket 462 KT880 Delta MS7047 V1. It does have an AGP slot, is there 2 different AGP slots?

Check out this picture from wikipedia about AGP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AGP_%26_AG … _Pro_Keying.svg
You need the first (or the 3rd) slot for Voodoo3, you have the second

Also the 3200+ is a 2.2GHz CPU so yes, it looks like something is wrong.

Reply 5 of 53, by Alistar1776

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DrAnthony wrote on 2022-05-02, 13:05:
I ran an AXP 3200+ as my primary machine for many years so I might be able to help a bit here. […]
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I ran an AXP 3200+ as my primary machine for many years so I might be able to help a bit here.

Something is certainly amiss as that chip should operate at much higher clocks. Perhaps you're looking at something other than CPU clockspeed? It's hard to imagine what though as I don't recall anything running at 1.1 Ghz.

In terms of GPU selection it would be a little easier for us to give solid advice if you let us know what you planned to run on the system. My knee-jerk reaction is to say a Radeon 9800 Pro since that's what I matched with mine back in the day, but they are fragile and expensive (and may not have decent W98 drivers).

Lastly, check the capacitors on your motherboard. Given the age and specific vintage I'd imagine you have at least one that's ready to give you headaches.

From what i can tell, in the bios under system info, the CPU Frequency reads 1.1 ghz (100x11). all capacitors look fine, no bulging caps.. I can set the cpu ratio as high as 1500mhz but i get a no post after reboot. however it will reboot thos speeds fine, bumping up the FSB, but not much further. In terms of gpu, Im intending on gaming with the system. one of my favorites is Homeworld 2.

Reply 6 of 53, by dormcat

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Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-05-02, 11:57:

the board is an MSI socket 462 KT880 Delta MS7047 V1. It does have an AGP slot, is there 2 different AGP slots?

More than two, in fact.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Gra … t#Compatibility

MS7047 has an 1.5V port with the "key" away from the back plate:

MS7047.jpg
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Voodoo3 has a 3.3V port with the "key" towards the back plate:

Voodoo3-3000AGP.jpg
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The only 3dfx card you can use with MS7047 would be Voodoo4 4500 with both 3.3V and 1.5V keys:

3dfx_Voodoo4_4500.jpg
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IMHO Radeon 9x00 series would be a more practical choice.

Reply 7 of 53, by Alistar1776

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dormcat wrote on 2022-05-02, 13:25:
More than two, in fact. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Gra … t#Compatibility […]
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Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-05-02, 11:57:

the board is an MSI socket 462 KT880 Delta MS7047 V1. It does have an AGP slot, is there 2 different AGP slots?

More than two, in fact.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Gra … t#Compatibility

MS7047 has an 1.5V port with the "key" away from the back plate:
MS7047.jpg

Voodoo3 has a 3.3V port with the "key" towards the back plate:
Voodoo3-3000AGP.jpg

The only 3dfx card you can use with MS7047 would be Voodoo4 4500 with both 3.3V and 1.5V keys:
3dfx_Voodoo4_4500.jpg

IMHO Radeon 9x00 series would be a more practical choice.

hows the driver support for Win98 for Radeon 9x00 cards tho?

Reply 8 of 53, by dormcat

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Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-05-02, 13:28:

hows the driver support for Win98 for Radeon 9x00 cards tho?

My Gigabyte GV-R96P256D is the workhorse for most of my late Win9x games. For vintage / retro hardware like these I prefer downloading drivers provided by the manufacturer (Gigabyte in this case) instead of the last / latest driver for chipset designer (ATI / AMD). OTOH not every manufacturer keeps their vintage drivers online (Gigabyte, MSI, and Asus are safer bets; Gainward and PowerColor only have drivers for recent cards designed with official chipset drivers in mind) so you might have to take that into consideration before your purchase i.e. make sure the seller has the original driver CD and/or suitable driver(s) can be found online with relative ease.

Reply 9 of 53, by Cuttoon

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Never cared too much about Radeons and their drivers. Some painful memory of a LAN party emergency.

Think Gf4 Ti are not too much of an overkill and still affordable.

Else, get one of these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274727064318
I own two of them and would like their value to rise. Thanks.

I like jumpers.

Reply 10 of 53, by Alistar1776

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Cuttoon wrote on 2022-05-02, 13:50:
Never cared too much about Radeons and their drivers. Some painful memory of a LAN party emergency. […]
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Never cared too much about Radeons and their drivers. Some painful memory of a LAN party emergency.

Think Gf4 Ti are not too much of an overkill and still affordable.

Else, get one of these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274727064318
I own two of them and would like their value to rise. Thanks.

the link sends me to an ended listing. ill take a look at some geforce cards

Reply 11 of 53, by Cuttoon

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Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-05-02, 14:11:
Cuttoon wrote on 2022-05-02, 13:50:
Never cared too much about Radeons and their drivers. Some painful memory of a LAN party emergency. […]
Show full quote

Never cared too much about Radeons and their drivers. Some painful memory of a LAN party emergency.

Think Gf4 Ti are not too much of an overkill and still affordable.

Else, get one of these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274727064318
I own two of them and would like their value to rise. Thanks.

the link sends me to an ended listing. ill take a look at some geforce cards

Sorry, that was not meant all too seriously. I would never link to an active listing here, my own or otherwise. The offer simply had a good set of photos.
And I'm not keen on selling mine or the spare, since I really love the design, not just that it's silent.

It appears that there were some later Radeons than the last Nvidia AGP cards, so probably faster ones, I did not check.
But I don't think it will trump matters of compatibility or taste in this context.

I like jumpers.

Reply 12 of 53, by dormcat

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Cuttoon wrote on 2022-05-02, 14:17:

Sorry, that was not meant all too seriously.

This is why I never joke with less experiences users: they might not be able to tell if you were joking or being serious.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-05-02, 14:17:

I would never link to an active listing here, my own or otherwise. The offer simply had a good set of photos.

Ditto. It would be self-promoting, which is against forum rules #7.

Reply 14 of 53, by matze79

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Why ? GeForce 4 also works in AGP 1/2x Slot

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 15 of 53, by ptr1ck

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matze79 wrote on 2022-05-02, 19:09:

Why ? GeForce 4 also works in AGP 1/2x Slot

Preference. Fewer systems support the Voodoo 3. They always seem to work with fewer issues too.

If my Nforce board supported it, I wouldn't have used a Geforce4 in that build.

"ITXBOX" SFF-Win11
KT133A-NV28-V2 SLI-DOS/WinME

Reply 16 of 53, by matze79

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Hm i wouldnt even think about pairing a nforce board with a lowest end agp card.

Well as you said preference.
i rather like to run Athlon XP era Games on nforce 😉

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 19 of 53, by Shagittarius

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Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-05-02, 22:36:

I was looking into a Radeon 9800, but im only seeing Windows XP drivers, and no Win98SE drivers. This is looking on Gigabyte's website.

Here is Phil's driver downloads, the ME drivers are for 98 too:
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/ati-9x-driver-archive.html