3dfx Archive - V2 SLI sadness...

paulpsomiadis

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V2 SLI sadness...
02.06.03 at 04:27:24

Well, I recently got a Radeon 9500 and did the usual 'resistor-mod' trick and BIOS reflash to a Radeon 9700. Grin

Although I have 'varying' results (most games work fine but some have extremely slight micro-checkerboarding of 'blue-dots' due to not totally perfect GFX pipelines...) I'm still happy with the card on the whole (the price difference makes it worth it!) Cheesy

Anyhow...unfortunately, my Voodoo 2 SLI's are not compatible with my new Radeon (they give a black screen when trying to render in Glide or doesn't start at all!) Cry

If anyone has any ideas about how to get my SLI working with the Radeon I'd appreciate them! Tongue

The only other thing I can think to do with my precious V2 SLI, if I can't get them to work with the Radeon in my MAIN rig, is to build the world's smallest SLI rig...using a VIA-EPIA motherboard, cos I don't want to sell them! (the EPIA mainboards are really small - 170x170mm!!!) 8)

Thanks for reading guy's and gal's! Wink

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« Last Edit: 03.06.03 at 04:14:58 by paulpsomiadis »

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FalconFly

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #1 - 02.06.03 at 05:41:30

Hm, I've read some incompatibilities exist with some VIA C3 Ezra combinations, but so far, nothing definitive...

So you run a Radeon 9500 in that System, a complete Micro ATX MiniSystem with a matching Power Supply ?

That would place the PSU on the edge possibly...

Otherwise, the Radeon 9500 (modded or non-modded) is a complete Overkill even for the fastest 1000MHz VIA CPU anyway Roll Eyes

It would have trouble keeping up with a Radeon 7500 in most cases....

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paulpsomiadis

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #2 - 02.06.03 at 21:14:12

Uh, nope...you seem to have mis-read my post Falcon! Tongue

I run the Radeon 9500(mod) in my MAIN system... Wink

Athlon XP 2400+
512 PC2700 RAM
WD Caviar 60GB
SB128PCI
Radeon 9500(mod)

This is the system I'd "LIKE" to run the Voodoo's in - alongside the Radeon...but they are incompatible with the Radeon. Cry

They 'did' used to be working in the MAIN system before installing the Radeon, but they don't work with it NOW! Tongue

As for the 'other' part of my post... Tongue

I suggested that if I CAN'T run the V2 SLI in my MAIN PC, then I can put them in an EPIA mini system! Grin

Hope this clears up the mess! Wink

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« Last Edit: 03.06.03 at 04:15:39 by paulpsomiadis »

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FalconFly

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #3 - 02.06.03 at 23:07:01

Ah, okay

Well, it is known that some people just are unable to run Voodoo2's in current, high end machines, while others seem to have no problem...

I ran a Voodoo2 on an AthlonXP recently for testing, and it worked.
Still, it seems like a gamble; it might work, but it may as well not Undecided

The exact reason for it I don't know... Might be the PCI latency or general treatment of PCI Devices of some modern configurations, or other Video related Bios settings (?)

I've seen similar Problems with other, older Cards of all types. Some run in modern Systems, some only with problems, and some just don't seem to work in a few systems...

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paulpsomiadis

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #4 - 03.06.03 at 04:14:03

The weirdest thing is that they worked before though... Tongue

But after the Radeon was installed, they stopped working, weird eh? ???

Anyhow, the only explanation I can come up with is that the 'corrupted' GFX pipelines are having an adverse affect on the Voodoo 2 passthrough... Undecided

Even though my system will STILL detect and install the Voodoo 2's without a hitch, they just won't do anything! Angry

Guess I'll just have to go with the Micro-ITX EPIA idea! Wink

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procerus

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #5 - 06.06.03 at 15:17:25

I've seen people claiming that fitting a Radeon disabled their Voodoo2s before. Don't know how it could happen really. I mean passthrough just passes through.

Motherboards can obviously disable Voodoo2s due to PCI latency and timing issues. But quite how a video card can do it I don't understand unless there is a plain old memory conflict as there was with S3 cards. ???

I'm sure you're correct, Paul. And just as surely, when I upgrade, I'm tempted to avoid ATI cards for that very reason. It's such a gamble getting a Voodoo2 compatible motherboard anyway without adding other confounding variables. My Voodoo2s (and the games I still run on them) are more important than a faster CPU or primary graphics card at the end of the day. Wink

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paulpsomiadis

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #6 - 13.06.03 at 01:04:57

Yeah, I'll miss my Voodoo 2's for a while, but I ain't givin' up on 'em! Cry

Soon as I have the cash together I'll build a mini SLI rig (see previous posts in this thread). Wink

For the moment though I'm happy with my Radeon 9500(mod) which REALLY kix-A$$! Grin

I'd have gotten an nVidia card, but the R9500 is MUCH cheaper and can be easily modded, so I'm stuck with it till I have more cash...which might be a while! Tongue

Anyhow, my matched pair of V2's isn't going anywhere, so I'll 'resurrect' them in a new system sometime soon... Wink

L8R DUDES! 8)

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Lecram25

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #7 - 26.06.03 at 14:48:44

Maybe you should try getting a Voodoo 5 5500PCI. They are the best PCI cards out there. I'm gonna assume that you wanted to use your Voodoo2 for older glide games. The voodoo5 would be great cause it has FSAA and a whole other features. Plus running older d3d, gilde, and ogl games would look and run a whole lot better with the voodoo5. Just my opinion. Also, the voodoo5 PCI could run a dent in your wallet; they seem to be the most expensive voodoos on ebay, usually going for $60. Sad

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paulpsomiadis

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #8 - 27.06.03 at 00:16:12

Uh, yeah...but the point I'm getting at is that I use Voodoo 2's cos they can run in tandem with any of the NEW AGP cards [Radeon excluded...] and still work with 'older' Glide games (some of which are more 'fiddly' to run on a voodoo 5500 such as DOS Glide games). Tongue

And although the Voodoo 5500 is a really nice card (I bought an AGP V5500 for my uncle and a PCI V5500 for my mate)...I really need something 'newer' with more OOMPH factor if ya' get me! Roll Eyes

(Besides, there's something to be said for V2 SLI and the 'trials' involved in getting it to run properly...it's a fun journey to a nice conclusion if ya' get me!) Grin

Guess I'll just have to save up for a GeforceFX to run in tandem with my Voodoo 2's! Wink

PEACE! 8)

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FalconFly YaBB Administrator Offline 3dfx Archivist Posts: 2453 5335N 00745E Gender:	Re: V2 SLI sadness... Reply #9 - 27.06.03 at 03:33:50 Hm, last time I used a Voodoo2 in my System, it ran fine under Glide (tested Unreal Tournament) besides a Radeon 9700pro
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paulpsomiadis

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #10 - 01.04.04 at 16:03:31

O.K.. here I am revisiting this thread after a LONG time! Wink

I'm trying again with my twin V2's and Radeon...but I STILL get the same problems (GLiDE won't run, etc...)
Roll Eyes

My specs are: -

AthlonXP 2400+
512MB RAM
120GB Maxtor HDD
WinMe (all windows updates and DX9.0b installed)
Radeon 9700Pro (Catalyst 3.4)
Dual Gainward Dragon 3000 Voodoo 2's in SLI (FastVoodoo2 4.0 GE)
SBPCI 128 Sound
Rockwell 56K modem
100Mbps LAN card

I have also 'shortened' the SLI cable to avoid SLI problems associated with 'extra long' SLI cables... Wink

I've also heard that there can be problems with AGP aperture over 64MB? ???

Anyone with any tips...let me know! Grin

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amp_man Ex Member	Re: V2 SLI sadness... Reply #11 - 02.04.04 at 23:13:22 AGP Aperture could be an issue. The FV4 drivers for XP I think were supposed to clear up this issue (I was supposed to beta test them, but my V2 is no good). Also, why did you do the resistor mod and not just go with a soft-mod? Or was this from before the soft-mod? And do the V2s work with any other card?
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paulpsomiadis God Member Offline -=3Dfx still rox!=- Posts: 2011 Newcastle U.K. Gender:	Re: V2 SLI sadness... Reply #12 - 02.04.04 at 23:53:48 First off, I did the 'resistor' MOD on my Radeon so it is PERMENANTLY an R9700Pro - the modded drivers can cause 'issues' when selecting a rendering device for some games... Second off, does anyone know if the FastVoodoo2 4.0 XP GE actually DO fix the radeon problems? ??? And is this the same for the Win9x release? ???
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FalconFly

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #13 - 03.04.04 at 00:48:08

I'm afraid this is up to Trial & Error.

Also, many people forget that the Voodoo2 still shares unresolved Hardware compatibility Issues with several AMD Athlon/AthlonXP Motherboards together with the Banshee (according to Quantum Corporation statements).

To a lesser extend, even the Voodoo3 has issues (significantly increased thermal conditions in some Boards).

I've seen Voodoo3-2000's run nice & cool in some Boards, while becoming lighting hot in others, seen Banshees (built for passive cooling normally) approach the thermal brink of destruction within Seconds of Operations.

Just see how your Voodoo2 behaves.

My best guess is, that this Problem cannot be 100% overcome by Drivers. It either works, or not.

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paulpsomiadis

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Re: V2 SLI sadness...
Reply #14 - 04.04.04 at 04:41:00

Nah, it's nothing to do with cooling - besides, I can just mount a cooling fan over the V2's to help with that. Wink

Also the neat thing about the Dragon 3000 V2's is that the pixelfx and texelfx chips ALL have green heatsinks pre-mounted (it makes the card look like a dragon [apparently] - hence the name!) Roll Eyes

The problem is that the V2 conflicts with the Radeon in D3D and 'hijacks' all D3D ops. - effectively disabling the Radeon! Angry

Maybe this would work better in 2K or XP (due to lack of D3D suppport in these O.S.'s)? ???

Which O.S. were you using when you got yours to work Falcon? Tongue

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