So the one thing I didn't try was the CPU. I put the old P2 400 in and the graphic glitching was less. Thinking it was a speed thing, I lowered the CPU all the way down to 133MHz (2x66) and had no issues. I tried a 650MHz Pentium 3 and it went back to some glitching.

So I just spent the last two hours testing and found a pattern. The game does not glitch at 66MHz bus speed. 100MHz is a little and 133MHz is a lot. So the 933MHz @ 133MHz glitched a lot at 133MHz, some at 100MHz and none at 66MHz. I cannot change the 7x multiplier so I'm stuck with 433, 700 and 933 speeds.

Seeing that I want a DOS/Win98 hybrid with a Voodoo 3, I think the down-clockable P2 400 is the better choice. More accurately, it has the ability to lower the multiplier unlike the others.

Anyone know why this could be?

Could be a flakey stick of RAM. Or RAM that the board just doesn't like.

I would try cleaning ALL connections:

CPU - both the slot and the CPU connections.

RAM. Just the RAM itself.

AGP slot and video card connector.

Could also be dodgy capacitors or power supply.

Check AGP divider to ensure that the bus is running at 66MHz.

But I've had no issues anywhere in the system with any apps or games both older and newer than Arena. I'll try switching RAM.
Divider-wise, the board is in jumperfree mode so it should auto adjust. I only use 66/33, 100/33 or 133/33 FSB speeds. I don't use any non-standard speeds.

On the P2B-F, there is an AGP divider jumper located north of the ide connectors.

On the P3V4X, there are selectors in the back of DIP switches. They do have an auto option.

P2b-f is agp 2x, P3V4X is agp 4x. Of course it is backwards compatible but it might have a few bios options that work better when switched off with a voodoo?
At least set it to 2x agp speed if you can.

I'm running in JumperFree which means all switches have to be off and the JumperFree jumper set to On. AGP should be auto with that setup. How can I tell for sure? What utility in either DOS or Windows 9x can give me detailed system info like bus speed, voltages, etc.

So I just switched around everything and I'm back where I started. I think I'll start looking to build and AMD based system but a P2 at 266 MHz (4x66) works fine for even Half-life but really, and using this system for older games. I'll keep it at 400 most of the time, switch it to 66MHz when needed which seems to be 2D DOS games only, and use throttle for anything like Descent.

P.S. King's Quest 6 also had the same behavior, just much more subtle.

Of course I now have a 933MHz CPU without a home.

I've tried everything short of getting a PCI Voodoo 3 3000 or another AGP. I don't have that kinda money and I know no one that does retro around where I live. In this board with this card, if the FSB is not 66MHz, there is display issues. And it shows up as random inch long lines appearing on the right side of the screen. Annoying at 133MMHz, visible at 100MHz, non-existent at 66MHz.

I think I wanta get a nice K6-3 system and do the 4 in 1 retro PC Phil did. I did have an ASUS P5A back in the day with a K63 550 I believe.

PCI Voodoos are the best. 😀

Fusion wrote:

PCI Voodoos are the best. 😀

Why? Is it because they free up the AGP and/or avoid potential AGP bugs? (which is maybe what I'm seeing). Now I'm just talking V3, not V1 and V2.