Anyone with a deep technical knowledge about early PCI gfx-cards (ET4000w32p VS PowerVR PCX1) \ VOGONS

Anyone with a deep technical knowledge about early PCI gfx-cards (ET4000w32p VS PowerVR PCX1)

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First post, by dr.zeissler

dr.zeissler Offline

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Hi, I have tested my PCX1 PowerVR card in two different machines.

1. PCD-5H D943 P1-150Mhz CL5446 Onboard https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/siemen … stem-board-d943
2. PCD-5H D842 P1-133Mhz ET4000w32p Onboard https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/siemen … stem-board-d842

Beside several other strange things, I encountered:

- The PCX1 works in Machine1 in PVR-Mode but never in D3D mode.
- The PCX1 never worked in Machine2.

So why is that? Does the PowerVR PCX1 require certain features in the main gfx-card, perhaps features in hardware or in the driver?
These very early PCI cards have microsoft drivers within directX3/5 and both (TSENG/cirrus) seem to offer an early win95-driver.
I tested both machines with every driver (vendor (TSENG, CIRRUS, NEC) and the microsoft-direct-x drivers from 3/5, but the results kept the same.

Normally I would prefer a driver from the vendor, because I think the directx-drivers could perhaps not be optimized for the card/chip.
Perhaps I am wrong here.

Doc

Last edited by dr.zeissler on 2026-08-19, 13:32. Edited 3 times in total.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 1 of 7, by BitWrangler

Posted on Yesterday, 13:18

BitWrangler Offline

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Can each machine run software rendered D3D? Independently of the PCX 1 being installed I mean. That would tell you if some minimal Direct Draw compliance was being met.

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Reply 2 of 7, by dr.zeissler

Posted on Yesterday, 13:27

dr.zeissler Offline

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Did not have tested that. You mean dxdiag? does that come with DX6 ? I only installed DX1-5.

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Reply 3 of 7, by BitWrangler

Posted on Yesterday, 13:48

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There should be some form of it from DX2 up.

I seem to remember it was somewhat different than DX6 version, maybe had to launch it from somewhere in graphics settings or control panel. I thought there was also an independent Direct Draw tester prior to DX6 dxdiag but can't match vague memory to current search clues.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 4 of 7, by dr.zeissler

Posted on Yesterday, 15:36

dr.zeissler Offline

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I will look that up, perhaps Wb96/97 has that feature too. I am setting up a fresh install.

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Reply 5 of 7, by Dipshidian

Posted on Today, 07:57

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I recall trying out an STB Lightspeed PCI (ET4000/w32p) adapter on my Gateway 2000 P5-90 system, with Windows 95. There was always some weird freezing issue in various DirectX/DirectDraw games (Interstate '76, Worms 2, Outlaws, etc.) no matter if I used the standard Win95 drivers or otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised if the PCX1 gets confused when paired with an adapter like that.

Mind you, this was with an older revision w32p without the Linear Framebuffer (LFB) functionality. After installing a similarily aged Mach64GX, I've had no issues

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Reply 6 of 7, by MikeSG

Posted on Today, 11:30

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It supports DX3, PowerGL, and miniGL in some games. You need to try a variety of games, some work, some don't.

Quality is first-gen Matrox 3D. Not the best. There's no mipmapping, no fogging, basic/no transparencies. Sometimes z artifacts.

The freezing issue is due to enabling 'bus mastering' for the PCX1 card. Should be disabled.

Reply 7 of 7, by dr.zeissler

Posted on Today, 13:48

dr.zeissler Offline

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I did not have time to test both setups on software D3D. D3D was introduced in diretx3 afair, so my tests will use win95a DX3 with gfx-driver for DX3 from microsoft and after that I will checkout if installing the vendor-drivers make any difference.

matroxM3D is secondary NecPowerVR card! (PCX2) and it offers bilinear filtering if activated in the driver/supported game, I also have that card, but my tests concentrade on the first one (PCX1).

I nevery heard about disabeling of the busmastering for those cards.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

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