VOGONS


First post, by Mau1wurf1977

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I've run into a weird issue that only applies to SLI.

With Voodoo 2 cards you can set the refresh rates by using utilities or editing the registry:

QJOiCQp.png

With SLI disabled everything works fine. 512 x 384 runs at 60 Hz and displays correctly on my monitor.

However when SLI is enabled it seems to use 72 Hz (Monitors OSD tells me this) and not 60. The monitor displays an image for a while, but then blanks out. I can always "wake the monitor" up and get an image again but it's not perfect.

How can I get 512 x 384 to display at 60 Hz when using SLI?

Found this document and it also states that 72 Hz is used at 512 x 384 in SLI configuration:

http://img.4pk.ru/25455.pdf

Might this be a hardware limitation?

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Reply 1 of 14, by darksheer

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You can always try to force vsync at 60 hz by adding a new key or editing an existing one (it has been a while since I last tweaked my V2 SLI's reg variables 🤣) but I don't know if it will solve the issue. Never played in that resolution with my SLI though. 😐

Reply 3 of 14, by darksheer

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That some cases where keeping an old CRT monitor in the closet will be a life saver 😁
Yeah, I know you're investing a lot of your time into benchmarking (I'm like that too, and finally spend more time tweaking and benchmarking than playing 😈 ) and reviews and that's great and very helpful.
Easy way to compare our systems and learn some tips, but don't you really sometimes just want to sit with your computer and play games ? 🤣

Reply 4 of 14, by jwt27

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Still don't want to try a CRT? 🤣

Powerstrip should be able to fix it too. 😀

Reply 5 of 14, by Mau1wurf1977

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I simply don't have the space for a CRT and I haven't come across a decent unit for years anyway. I love my new Samsung 24" 1920 x 1200 to bits. Couldn't be happier.

And yes I love playing with the hardware. And I did play a lot of Splinter Cell recently. Finding these early Windows games really cool and a refreshing change to MS-DOS games.

We can now afford all the good parts, the top of the range, extremely expensive luxury parts we could only dream about. I read the review on the Tualatin CPUs and they cost twice as much as similar Pentium 4 chips. Just fascinating stuff...

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Reply 6 of 14, by smeezekitty

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I suggest trying a different monitor. Many LCDs are happy to sync even up to 75hz

Reply 7 of 14, by darksheer

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

We can now afford all the good parts, the top of the range, extremely expensive luxury parts we could only dream about. I read the review on the Tualatin CPUs and they cost twice as much as similar Pentium 4 chips. Just fascinating stuff...

Thats really true, even if prices are rising progressively since a few years now, that's not comparable to the original prices. 😀
Who would pay 600$ for an MT-32 today ? 😵

smeezekitty wrote:

I suggest trying a different monitor. Many LCDs are happy to sync even up to 75hz

You means old 4:3 lcd's ? Because I think that most of the 1080p ones do not support that 😐

Reply 8 of 14, by smeezekitty

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smeezekitty wrote:

I suggest trying a different monitor. Many LCDs are happy to sync even up to 75hz

You means old 4:3 lcd's ? Because I think that most of the 1080p ones do not support that 😐[/quote]
I don't think there is much need for 1920x1080 on a vintage box. I use a 1280x1024 monitor for that and it works fine at 50-75 hz and a lot less stretching too

Reply 9 of 14, by darksheer

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smeezekitty wrote:

I don't think there is much need for 1920x1080 on a vintage box. I use a 1280x1024 monitor for that and it works fine at 50-75 hz and a lot less stretching too

For sure, but if you're already using a recent lcd monitor for your main computer, and don't have any free space for an another one dedicated to old games next to it...
Not sure you would change monitors every time you want to plays old games or recent ones 😵
The good thing with some recent monitor is that you can hook up :
-a blu-ray reader/video game console on the hdmi
-a computer with a dvi interface
-a computer with a vga interface
and switch between the 3 with the source button... save a lot of space and troubles 🤣

Reply 10 of 14, by Mau1wurf1977

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smeezekitty wrote:

You means old 4:3 lcd's ? Because I think that most of the 1080p ones do not support that 😐

I don't think there is much need for 1920x1080 on a vintage box. I use a 1280x1024 monitor for that and it works fine at 50-75 hz and a lot less stretching too[/quote]

Your 1280 x 1024 monitor unfortunately has a 5:4 aspect ratio. I used to use a Samsung 19" LCD as my main retro machine but this issue bugged me. Many modern widescreen monitors have a setting for 4:3 aspect ratio which pillar boxes the image. The Samsung Monitor I got does this also and the 1920 x 1200 resolution allows beautiful 1600 x 1200, which is THE 4:3 resolution 😀

Here an image of Splinter Cell in 1600 x 1200:

5Q2oOR6l.jpg

And here an old DOS game:

6Mvs4tVl.jpg

Also, have you tested 512 x 384 on your monitor on a Voodoo 2 SLI? It's really an odd resolution / setting and not something someone with SLI would run a lot 😀

So you see as I test DOS games and modern Windows games I need a monitor that can do all of it. 1920 x 1200 gives me this flexibility. The 72 Hz 512 x 384 is unfortunate. But I do get an image for 30 seconds, so it's not like I can't see anything. It's just a really odd resolution that Samsung didn't put in the firmware. 512 x 384 60 Hz works flawless though.

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Reply 11 of 14, by darksheer

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So bad, I disassembled my V2 SLI rig (wanted to play with it some days ago after +- 7 months of not being used, and won't start because of the psu 😒 ).
Apparently, whether the psu can't supply enough power for the motherboard anymore, whether it's shutting itself to prevent damages. (well f*ck... it was brand new and served only 2 hours or so in total 😒).
And for those who're curious is a 350W Corsair unit 😳

Fortunaltly I bougth a new psu and case for a another rig before 🤣 , that may arrives today or tomorow 😊 .

But I'm pretty sure my lcd monitor is not supporting 512 x 384 resolution or 72 hz refresh rate because even by forcing 60hz refresh with my 3dfx voodoo, every time I run games in 512 x 384 the screen goes blank and I won't come back until I reset the system, sames go with my matrox M3D. I play in 640x480 instead 😁 Just too lazy to replace my LCD by my 19" iiyama Sync Master CRT 🤣

Reply 12 of 14, by darksheer

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Ok received my new PSU and case today, just finished to assemble it and it's working 😊
I have bad news for you though, because I tested UT, Tomb Raider 4 and HL Opposing Forces and they all run perfectly well in 512x384 (I verified under dxdiag, my SLI is working like it should) 😮
You can always try lowering your voodoo's clock or plug directly your monitor on the voodoo vga outpout when game is running (should indicate a problem with your pass through cable in that case) ? 😐

Edit : awww just saw it, your swap_interval key is wrong it must be a string and not a dword... btw if you're using your SLI you must set it to 1, if not you're gonna have bad image tearing on your screen while playing.
You can also add SSTV2_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC an set it to 0 and see if it helps.
I could post my reg files here if you want ? 😀

Reply 13 of 14, by Mau1wurf1977

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darksheer wrote:

Edit : awww just saw it, your swap_interval key is wrong it must be a string and not a dword... btw if you're using your SLI you must set it to 1, if not you're gonna have bad image tearing on your screen while playing.
You can also add SSTV2_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC an set it to 0 and see if it helps.
I could post my reg files here if you want ? 😀

Is that for V-sync? I specifically have this disabled because I'm benchmarking.

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Reply 14 of 14, by darksheer

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At 0 it tells the cards to not syncing to your vsync, that imrpoves performances.
You can always take a look here for tweaking your cards (damn, first time I received my voodoo's I tweaked them for days with that, testing each change with 3dMark2000 and games 🤣 😵 ) :
http://www.plasma-online.de/index.html?conten … 0voodoo_env.htm

for your monitor issue you can test that for example :
"SSTV2_VSYNC"="1"
"SSTV2_SCREENREFRESH"="60"
"SSTV2_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC"="1"

Edit : fun fact with Voodoo 2 SLI : my PIII 800 Mhz is so a bottleneck that I must underclock them to get better performance (the good point is that they run cooler and faster).
Using 3dMark2000 default settings (1024x768 16 bits, Triple buffer, Z-buffer depth 16 bit and PIII cpu optimisation).
With my SLI @90 Mhz => 1988
With my SLI @75 Mhz => 2154 😎
3dfx were way too ahead of their time 🤣 (not for their lacking technologies in the late period though 😵)