VOGONS


First post, by dukeofurl

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I've been having fun playing various 3d games on my Pentium ii with ATI 3d rage pro GPU. In theory my system meets all system requirements for ultimate race pro, and the game runs at a good framerate, however when I use the option for 3d acceleration, the graphics look like this.

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I'm not sure exactly what this is, if it might be related to the lighting or reflections used in the game, or something else. There are various graphics options to turn off things like reflections and particles and gaurad shading, but even with these items turned off, the same graphics bug occurs. The bug goes away if I use the software renderer option, but then the game does not look or run very well 😜

URP is a direct x 5 game. I've reinstalled dx5 and it should be compatible with my GPU, which can also do dx6, and which works in various other late 90s 3d games I've tried.

I found there is a patch for URP to bring it up to v1.5, which had a few enhancements mainly targeted at 3Dfx cards... But installing the patch does not change the graphics.

I did some Internet research but didn't come up on anything about URP having problems with ATI cards. Any theories on what is going on here?

Reply 1 of 8, by marxveix

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I will check this game out with my driver and let you know how it works there. ATi Rage Pro should work fine with Ultimate Race Pro.
Ultimate Race Pro has even drivers for ATi Rage Pro on its CD, so with correct driver and original version should be working normally.

Mostly ok with my driver, similar like in this video.Small white dots and some tiny lines sometimes, otherwise ok, not 100% perfect.
Strange that Rage Pro worked at better performance at this game than Rage XL, Rage XL had slowdown moments, but Rage Pro not.
ATi Rage Pro had more visible brake lines than Rage XL,all other at screen looked same on both cards and it was game version 1.0.0.1

Ulitmate Race Pro with ATi Rage Pro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQaRLZVgaj8&t=1887s

Best ATi Rage3 drivers for 3DCIF / Direct3D / OpenGL / DVD : ATi RagePro drivers and software
30+MiniGL / OpenGL Win 9x dll files for all ATi Rage3 cards : Re: ATi RagePro OpenGL files

Reply 2 of 8, by dukeofurl

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Very puzzling. Is the rage pro different from the 3D Rage Pro? My card has the latter name printed on it.

In the meantime, I've swapped gpus to a geforce2 on this system, and that has cleared up this issue with URP, though it's introduced a couple graphical artifacts and incompatibilities with early direct 3D games that I didn't have with the ati card, so I may swap back at some point 🤔

Reply 3 of 8, by marxveix

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dukeofurl wrote on 2026-04-22, 17:08:

Very puzzling. Is the rage pro different from the 3D Rage Pro? My card has the latter name printed on it.

Dont worry, its Rage Pro, i have also 3D Rage Pro printed there with ATi3D logo. If its Rage Pro, then its Rage Pro, be it Rage Pro Turbo, XL, XC and others, mostly the same core.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/ati-rage-pro.g185
Have you used other drivers or what drivers are you using now?

Best ATi Rage3 drivers for 3DCIF / Direct3D / OpenGL / DVD : ATi RagePro drivers and software
30+MiniGL / OpenGL Win 9x dll files for all ATi Rage3 cards : Re: ATi RagePro OpenGL files

Reply 4 of 8, by dukeofurl

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marxveix wrote on 2026-04-22, 18:42:

Have you used other drivers or what drivers are you using now?

I had done a fresh install of Windows 98 SE with this computer and during the install, it correctly recognized the card and installed a driver for it from the Windows install files. Seemed to work ok with other games.

Reply 5 of 8, by marxveix

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dukeofurl wrote on 2026-04-22, 19:49:
marxveix wrote on 2026-04-22, 18:42:

Have you used other drivers or what drivers are you using now?

I had done a fresh install of Windows 98 SE with this computer and during the install, it correctly recognized the card and installed a driver for it from the Windows install files.

I have never used Microsoft Win9x integrated drivers, cant say much about them.

Update 1.50: Rage XL slowdown fixed with newest patch update for Ultim@te Race Pro, but the latest update brings letterbox flashing lights issue (where it should be black area).
I will downgrade patch and look for the best suited patch for ATi (if that exist).Ultim@te Race Pro v1.2.1 is best for me and my ATi Rage3 cards: Re: ATi RagePro supported games

Best ATi Rage3 drivers for 3DCIF / Direct3D / OpenGL / DVD : ATi RagePro drivers and software
30+MiniGL / OpenGL Win 9x dll files for all ATi Rage3 cards : Re: ATi RagePro OpenGL files

Reply 6 of 8, by dukeofurl

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I am going to revert back to the ATI 3D Rage Pro card as the Geforce2 I replaced it with in my system seems to have incompatibilities with 96, 97 era very early directx / d3d games in that they either won't run at all, or will run with annoying graphical issues.

Is there a particular version of the ATI drivers I should try for good performance and compatibility? I'd like to try something other than the Win98 included driver just in case it will fix the URP issue, and perhaps give me faster performance with some games (Dethkarz for instance runs sluggishly at 640x480 with this card, and ran very noticeably faster and smoother with the geforce at same detail settings).

It sounds like I should also try version 1.21 of URP instead of v 1.5.

I was flipping through your forum threads about ATI cards. What is Rage Pro Tweaker? A program that will oc the card and provide greater performance?

Reply 7 of 8, by marxveix

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dukeofurl wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:05:

It sounds like I should also try version 1.21 of URP instead of v 1.5.

I was flipping through your forum threads about ATI cards. What is Rage Pro Tweaker? A program that will oc the card and provide greater performance?

For me URP v1.21 works better, less white small dots and lines, almost perfect. I think you can just change .exe file or add second one with different name (added .7z, game shortcut at default location and .bat file - both Direct3D+URace.exe). ATi Rage Pro Tweaker is tool for changing some ATi settings easier with Rage3, you can OC your Graphics card Ram and Core. I think its not gona hurt you to try my latest 5.40 drivers, it has glide2x.dll for some 3dfx games and this game automaically detects 3Dfx and you cant choose Directx (Direct3D) option. Ultim@te Race Pro does not work with added glide wrapper, just delete glide2x.dll from windows/system folder or start game with -d3d, then Directx (Direct3D) option available and you dont need delete glide2x.dll (wrapper file). Use High Color 16 bit at your desktop, many games need High Color 16 bit for Rage3 to accelerate. Use GlideWrapper @ ATi Rage Pro Tweaker with 565 settings / Some CIF games like 555 so turn it off with Tomb Raider (ATi version). Restart after setting change!

Try ARx2611x3Dfx.7z drivers with Ultimate Race Pro v1.21.7z added files and use Direct3D.bat or Direct3D shortcut and select DirectX from the Game.
ARx2611x3Dfx.7z download here: download/file.php?id=239658

More info here about latest ARx2611x3Dfx.7z driver (i use it at the moment) Re: ATi RagePro drivers and software
or use eariler ATi Rage Pro 5.38 or 5.40 drivers from first post ATi RagePro drivers and software

Hope you can get this game going with it and many others!

Best ATi Rage3 drivers for 3DCIF / Direct3D / OpenGL / DVD : ATi RagePro drivers and software
30+MiniGL / OpenGL Win 9x dll files for all ATi Rage3 cards : Re: ATi RagePro OpenGL files

Reply 8 of 8, by dukeofurl

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marxveix wrote on 2026-04-23, 23:17:
For me URP v1.21 works better, less white small dots and lines, almost perfect. I think you can just change .exe file or add sec […]
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dukeofurl wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:05:

It sounds like I should also try version 1.21 of URP instead of v 1.5.

I was flipping through your forum threads about ATI cards. What is Rage Pro Tweaker? A program that will oc the card and provide greater performance?

For me URP v1.21 works better, less white small dots and lines, almost perfect. I think you can just change .exe file or add second one with different name (added .7z, game shortcut at default location and .bat file - both Direct3D+URace.exe). ATi Rage Pro Tweaker is tool for changing some ATi settings easier with Rage3, you can OC your Graphics card Ram and Core. I think its not gona hurt you to try my latest 5.40 drivers, it has glide2x.dll for some 3dfx games and this game automaically detects 3Dfx and you cant choose Directx (Direct3D) option. Ultim@te Race Pro does not work with added glide wrapper, just delete glide2x.dll from windows/system folder or start game with -d3d, then Directx (Direct3D) option available and you dont need delete glide2x.dll (wrapper file). Use High Color 16 bit at your desktop, many games need High Color 16 bit for Rage3 to accelerate. Use GlideWrapper @ ATi Rage Pro Tweaker with 565 settings / Some CIF games like 555 so turn it off with Tomb Raider (ATi version). Restart after setting change!

Try ARx2611x3Dfx.7z drivers with Ultimate Race Pro v1.21.7z added files and use Direct3D.bat or Direct3D shortcut and select DirectX from the Game.
ARx2611x3Dfx.7z download here: download/file.php?id=239658

More info here about latest ARx2611x3Dfx.7z driver (i use it at the moment) Re: ATi RagePro drivers and software
or use eariler ATi Rage Pro 5.38 or 5.40 drivers from first post ATi RagePro drivers and software

Hope you can get this game going with it and many others!

Awesome, this is fantastic! You seem like the definitive source about ATI cards 😎. I never heard much about them myself, but they seem decent and have good compatibility for the late 90s era of games I should be able to play with a pentium ii. Looking forward to trying out some new configurations with the drivers and tips you provided!