my initial Retro 3dfx build so far, AMD Athlon XP 2200+, 512MB, EPoX 8K3A, Windows 98 SE:

  • specs:

    CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2200+

    RAM: 512MB

    MOBO: EPoX 8K3A

    OS: Windows 98 SE

    ---

    Looking for a Matrox Mystique for the 2D accelerator to pair with the Voodoo1?

    Goal is to experience Tomb Raider 1

  • I wouldnt assume any kind of hardware issue in first place. Actually I would also guess you might turned on 2x fsaa or did not turn off vsync.

    If the fps are locked to 60 every frame drop under 60 will reduce the final value.

    If you turn on the onscreen fps timer in Quake 3 are you figuring any higher numbers than 60?

    Did you try any other benchmarks?

  • I wouldnt assume any kind of hardware issue in first place. Actually I would also guess you might turned on 2x fsaa or did not turn off vsync.

    If the fps are locked to 60 every frame drop under 60 will reduce the final value.

    If you turn on the onscreen fps timer in Quake 3 are you figuring any higher numbers than 60?

    Did you try any other benchmarks?

    i am wondering also about V-Sync. i am not noticing any Screen Tearing during game play. Will check.


    is the Matrox Mystique very appropriate to pair as a 2D card with a Voodoo1 for the Authentic original Tomb Raider 1 experience? The Shock and Wow factor going from CPU to Voodoo acceleration?

  • Soweit ich mich erinnere hatten ich und meine Kumpel ähnliche Setups. Einer hatte sich zwar keine v1 geholt, hatte dann aber eine v² + Mystique. Ein anderer hatte eine Mystique mit Rainbow Runner Upgrade und eine v1. Ich selber hatte eine Matrox Millennium 1, auch mit einer v1, später mit v².

    Ich denke die Mystique + v1 Kombination war eine recht gängige damals. Also ja, das sollte authentisch genug sein.

    Und wenn "authentisch" zu 100% das ist was du willst, dann schaut das schon recht okay aus. Unsere Maschinen waren damals auch... uh... wie drücke ich das aus... ähnlich ästhetisch und qualitativ "challenged". :topmodel:


    As far as I remember me and my local friends all had somewhat similar setups. One guy didn't get the v1, but it was v² + Mystique. Another had a Mystique with Rainbow Runner upgrade and a v1. I myself had the Matrox Millennium 1, also with a v1, later with v².

    I think the Mystique + v1 combination was a rather common one back then. So yes, that should be authentic enough.

    Also, if "authentic" is 100% what you want, then that looks pretty fine. Our machines back then often looked... uh... how to express this... aesthetically and qualitatively challenged in a very similar way. :topmodel:

    1-6000-banner-88x31-jpg

    Stolzer Besitzer eines 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP Prototypen:

    • 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP HiNT Rev.A-3700

    [//wp.xin.at] - No RISC, no fun!

    QotY: Girls Love, BEST Love; 2018 - Lo and behold, for it is the third Coming; The third great Year of Yuri, citric as it may be! Edit: 2019 wasn't too bad either... Edit: 2020... holy crap, we're on a roll here~♡!

    Quote Bier.jpg@IRC 2020: "Je schlimmer der Fetisch, desto besser!"

  • is the Matrox Mystique very appropriate to pair as a 2D card with a Voodoo1 for the Authentic original Tomb Raider 1 experience? The Shock and Wow factor going from CPU to Voodoo acceleration?

    Tomb Raider is a pure DOS game, so the 2D card has no impact on the Voodoo1 behavior. It is quiet a decent card for Win9x with brialliant image quality. So it is far more important what you wish to do else with it :). For example focusing on DOS games or Win9x gaming.

  • is my build fundamentally flawed for the experience?

    No?! I strongly doubt any Athlon XP could ever hope to render a 3D scene from back then in Voodoo Graphics quality at Voodoo Graphics speed. Such an emulation needs far beefier CPU hardware I'm certain. It may render fast in pure, unfiltered software, but that won't look nearly as good as it does on a v1. Just think about the bilinear texture filter or hardware alpha-blending.

    So I would not call that setup "fundamentally flawed".

    The Voodoo Graphics wasn't just about rendering fast, it was about rendering fast and beautiful (within reason), both at the same time. I think an Athlon XP would be far too slow to pull that off.

    What is true though is that the CPU is quite a bit more modern than the v1. I hadn't paid attention to that too much to be honest. A more fitting choice would be an Intel Pentium II on Slot-1 or maybe an AMD K6 or original Athlon in Slot-A. That's closer to home than an Athlon XP.

    1-6000-banner-88x31-jpg

    Stolzer Besitzer eines 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP Prototypen:

    • 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP HiNT Rev.A-3700

    [//wp.xin.at] - No RISC, no fun!

    QotY: Girls Love, BEST Love; 2018 - Lo and behold, for it is the third Coming; The third great Year of Yuri, citric as it may be! Edit: 2019 wasn't too bad either... Edit: 2020... holy crap, we're on a roll here~♡!

    Quote Bier.jpg@IRC 2020: "Je schlimmer der Fetisch, desto besser!"

  • Totally agree. The Athlon XP could never render in the same speed and quality in software like the Voodoo.

    You might run into trouble in regards of the soundcard and cd audio tracks. Again, Tomb Raider 1 is a DOS game, which will need a sound blaster compatible card in DOS or at least DOS prompt running under Win9x. Also the audio cable must be connected between your CD Rom and the sound card to be capable of playing the cd audio tracks Tomb Raider 1 is using during gameplay.

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von DerBiber (29. Dezember 2021 um 22:51)

  • "Bartłomiej Dzięgiel


    You may also run into trouble running V1 at all with such a fast CPU. Can't remember if it was Glide or D3D that was misbehaving on V1 with CPU faster than a few hundred MHz"


    I am glad it is not a flawed setup... stepped away to clean and was thinking of the Pentium Pro 180 MHz chip I have if the design for my Retro 3dfx build was flawed. I also have a Pentium III 1.4GHz, but already have experience with such a build, so the Pentium Pro would be more interesting if appropriate?

    Very much appreciate the information on the Audio too. Will be working through this. I am soliciting Alliance2000 for the Mystique 220 now.

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von erek (29. Dezember 2021 um 23:23)