VOGONS


First post, by SpeedySPCFan

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So, my Voodoo 3 3500 TV seemingly has died after only a few weeks of usage (vertical lines all over the screen, doesn't go away even if I use different drivers) and at the moment I'm using a Matrox Mystique 220 in my Win98 computer as a replacement which really doesn't cut it for 3D games, so I'm trying to find a replacement card that has good DOS compatibility, good 3D, and (preferably, but not necessary) has S-Video or Composite out so I can record gameplay. So far I've been looking at the ASUS V3800M Riva TNT2 card as it seems to meet everything I need but I'm not really sure. As a note, I don't care a whole lot about 3DFX/proprietary API support. Any help or suggestions for cards?

Win98 specs:
Motherboard: SE440BX-2
CPU: Pentium II 300MHz
GPU: Mystique 220
Sound Card: SoundBlaster 16 CT2290
RAM: 512MB

Thanks!

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 1 of 7, by PhilsComputerLab

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TNT2 is a great card, I think you will like it.

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Reply 2 of 7, by SpeedySPCFan

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PhilsComputerLab wrote:

TNT2 is a great card, I think you will like it.

Okay, thanks! Are there any particular models of the TNT2 you recommend? There seems to be a lot of them by different manufacturers so I don't want to end up buying a bad one by accident.

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 3 of 7, by brostenen

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TNT2-Ultra and TNT2-Pro are the ones you should go for.

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Reply 4 of 7, by Tetrium

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brostenen wrote:

TNT2-Ultra and TNT2-Pro are the ones you should go for.

^This

Try to avoid anything containing the words "M64" or "Model 64" or "Vanta" as these are the budget variants and instead of having the 128bit memory bus, these come with 64bit instead. Otherwise these isn't much difference I think (it's kinda similar to the difference between a GF2MX and a regular GF2) but why pick up a card that's about 50% slower?

Especially the M64 are plentiful. But if your seller has the TNT2 (doesn't really matter much whether it's a pro or ultra imo, except the pro's usually didn't come with a fan which is kinda a plus) and is selling a couple of the cheaper ones, then you might as well have a couple of those sent to you in the same lot 😀

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Reply 5 of 7, by PhilsComputerLab

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^^ Avoid the M64 versions

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Reply 6 of 7, by kanecvr

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SpeedySPCFan wrote:

So, my Voodoo 3 3500 TV seemingly has died after only a few weeks of usage (vertical lines all over the screen, doesn't go away even if I use different drivers)

While v3 cards rarely come with a fan, I strongly recommend you attach a fan to any V3 cards you use. I even cool my V2 cards when using then in anything faster then a K6. It will increase their lifespan.

There's also a good chance you can revive the V3 if you're not afraid of a little work and experimentation.

Reply 7 of 7, by SpeedySPCFan

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Thanks for the advice on what models, everyone. If I can't get my Voodoo 3 to work again then I'll go and buy one of the TNT2 Pro or Ultras. 😀
Just to confirm though, would this card (or really any AGP 4x card) work in an SE440BX-2 or would I have to stick to an older AGP 1x or 2x card?

kanecvr wrote:

There's also a good chance you can revive the V3 if you're not afraid of a little work and experimentation.

Really now? The card is pretty much dead at this point so I'm willing to try anything. I should clarify with it though that it only has lines if it's running something under Windows. DOS seems to be totally unaffected, and the Windows operating system is fine but anything running under it (at least, Hellbender, MDK (D3D and normal Windows versions), Rogue Squadron, and Heavy Gear 2 do it since they're the only ones I tested) has the lines. So I'm guessing if something runs under hardware acceleration it does it? I don't know, I'm still convinced the card is screwed up to a certain point since it didn't do this before.

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U