Video card for an older computer - advice wanted!

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

Nothing new is made for your old system. You'll have to scour E-bay.

--
DaveW



"Edward" <bab53c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1f0226b5.0408010926.b3324a8@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
>
> I have an older computer that I would like to upgrade the video card
> so it can play some early 3-d card required titles and have better
> performance graphics wise overall.
>
> Specifications:
>
> Processor: Intel Pentium 150 Mhz (might upgrade to 233 MHz MMX)
> RAM: 32MB (x2 16MB SIMMS may upgrade to 64MB later)
> Sound: Sound Blaster 16bit PNP ISA
> OS: Windows 98 SE
> Current Video Card: 1MB Trident PCI (16bit max)
>
> Most of the older video cards I've seen on e-bay all require Pentium 2
> processors - is this really needed? Any suggestions for a 4MB or
> higher 3D video card for this computer?
>
> -Edward

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

You'd be safe with a 3dfx Voodoo or Voodoo2 card. (these are add-on 3D
accelerators. They are used in conjunction with a 2D graphic card, they
can't be used as stand-alones.) If you can find one, be sure that it
includes the passthrough cable. (You could use a standard VGA extension
cable, but the short passthrough will work better.) I used a Voodoo1 card in
my old 133 MHz machine for months; it gave quite good performance (compared
to its competition).

I don't recall whether a system as old as yours could support a 2D/3D
graphics card, like the PCI versions of the nVidia TNT or TNT2 cards., or
the 3dfx Voodoo3 cards. The Voodoo3 cards have the benefit of supporting
Glide, the proprietary 3dfx 3D format. (The game "Unreal" ran better under
Glide than under DirectX or OpenGL, for quite some time after it was
released.) Some flight sims were Glide-only for an unreasonably long time.

3dfx is long dead. If you need drivers for one of their products, you may
find something worthwhile at http://www.voodoofiles.com/.

Incidentally, before you acquire a 233 MHz Pentium chip for your system,
make sure that your mainboard can use one. The 150 MHz P5 was not an MMX
chip. The MMX chips use separate core and I/O voltages, unlike the older
chips.

I suppose it wouldn't do to ask why you're mucking about with such a relic.
It's odd that an 8 year old PC is regarded as a museum piece, while an 8
year old car is just well broken in (to the frugal).

Good luck.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be altered. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"Edward" <bab53c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1f0226b5.0408010926.b3324a8@posting.google.com...
> Hello,
>
> I have an older computer that I would like to upgrade the video card
> so it can play some early 3-d card required titles and have better
> performance graphics wise overall.
>
> Specifications:
>
> Processor: Intel Pentium 150 Mhz (might upgrade to 233 MHz MMX)
> RAM: 32MB (x2 16MB SIMMS may upgrade to 64MB later)
> Sound: Sound Blaster 16bit PNP ISA
> OS: Windows 98 SE
> Current Video Card: 1MB Trident PCI (16bit max)
>
> Most of the older video cards I've seen on e-bay all require Pentium 2
> processors - is this really needed? Any suggestions for a 4MB or
> higher 3D video card for this computer?
>
> -Edward

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

Edward,

A Voodoo1 (or 2) will work with essentially any 2D video card.

When the Voodoo card isn't active, it passes the 2D card's signal through to
the monitor. When the Voodoo card is active, it switches out the 2D card,
and provides the display. The passthrough cable is essentially a VGA
extension cable, although it's less than a foot long.

The only problem I know of is a memory address conflict with some 2D cards,
like those based on the S3 968 chip. (I had one of those in my 1995 system -
it was an expensive upgrade over the base card.) That can be patched without
too much trouble. A quick Google search spotted the following:

http://www.guru3d.com/voodoo1.htm

(The link was live a moment ago. Some of the links in it are probably too
old to function.)

"Shadows of the Empire", eh? That probably *requires* old hardware.

Have fun.

Bob Kn.

"Edward" <bab53c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1f0226b5.0408021422.3d5e8b00@posting.google.com...

(snip)

>
> Thanks for the suggestions. Is there any way I can be sure if a add-on
> card would work with my Trident card? I have seen a few on e-bay that
> do include the cable but I was not sure what that meant.
>
> The computer is going on 9 years - my younger brother is the one who
> uses it. His games have no need for most modern hardware (alas a few
> DO require a 3-d card such as Shadows of the Empire and Tie Fighter)
> but would do better with more video memory.