Odiseo wrote:Hi all. I know that I'm kind of reviving this thread but as the matter of fact, I'm trying to do kind of the same thing as power […]
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Hi all. I know that I'm kind of reviving this thread but as the matter of fact, I'm trying to do kind of the same thing as powerpie was in June. I got this Compaq DeskPro 4000 (133mHz). It has a video card installed: a Cirrus Logic 5446 with 2MB of memory. I would want to know if it is possible to install a second video card in this system so as to boost its performance.
1)I was thinking of a Voodoo3 3500 or something alike. Would that work?
2)the card that's already installed is of the PCI-type. Does that mean that the new one also has to be PCI or can it be AGP?
3)Do you know whether these two card (the cirrus logic and voodoo3) could be used together with a hardware decoder card like the RealMagic Hollywood Plus? (that last card would allow this desktop to play DVD's).
Thanks for your help.
Oh, and I can figure people wondering why I want to upgrade THAT computer. I know I could just buy a new one, but I'm trying to develop my computer skills. I figure installing hardware myself is a good way of learning how to deal with such parts.
The VooDoo3 is an AGP card (normally) that combines 2D plus 3D, and TTBOMK, does not need to have any other video card to supplement it. IMO, it's not as generally useful as ATI's or nVIDIA's same-period graphics processors. AGP and PCI-e are data busses that provide video cards with a dedicated connection to the main system bus and the CPU. Your old Compaq is probably too old for the usual VooDoo3 -- it most likely hasn't any AGP slot in it.
PCI (plain old type) is a general-purpose system bus that all of the cards plugged into it must SHARE, which reduces its value for video. It is slow, at least compared to a dedicated bus, but was the most commonly used bus for the video cards when the VooDoo1 cards were brand new. AGP arrived on the scene at about the same time that the VooDoo2 did.
Both the VooDoo and VooDoo2 cards were strictly 3D, and needed a 2D video card for text handling and oridinary day to day video chores. The VooDoo2 was the first video card that could connect in SLI mode with another VooDoo2, and share the video load (3D). It doesn't "share" in that manner with the 2D card, and 2D cards cannot share that way with each other.
The PCs of that era predate DVDs by a great deal, and are comparatively slow for running movies on. PCI video is pretty slow, generally, so AFAIK, it makes no difference what CPU, movies are most likely beyond the pale for that Compq. The software at the time was on CDs, not on DVDs, so there is no other practical requirement to worry about using a DVD.
The video cards of that period, VooDoo2 included, were comparatively cool-running. It was the CPUs and hard drives that generated the most waste heat at the time, especially Intel's CPUs. If the case includes a fan mount in the front, with a decently free-flowing grill through the front panel, and a good-sized intake in the bezel, an intake fan will help the hard drive out a lot.
(Many of the cases for the period will need modification to breathe better. I know this, because I've recently assembled two period-correct systems myself.)