3dfx Archive - WGF 1.0 and 2.0

janskjaer

Ex Member

WGF 1.0 and 2.0
26.07.05 at 18:13:55

Well, Longhorn is currently in development (as everyone must know) of its new Windows Graphics Foundation technology, which will replace DirectX as we know it.

For more infor on WGF 1.0 and 2.0, see here: -

http://www.falconfly-central.de/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;n...

As Longhorn will be purely designed for 64-bit systems, this pushes us 3dfx gamers further and further away from using our 3dfx technology in newer systems to play the latest games. If this is not the case already, it will be in about 18 months. Sad

So what do we think? What needs to be done? Do we need to start looking at 64-bit drivers, or are we destined to fall behind and having to settle with playing old games on legacy systems if we continue to use 3dfx cards?

Your thoughts please.

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« Last Edit: 26.07.05 at 18:15:11 by N/A »

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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

Ex Member

Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0
Reply #1 - 26.07.05 at 19:56:10

Well Janskjaer I did have a topic running about WinXP 64 drivers for our Voodoo's , which is located over here:

http://www.falconfly-central.de/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=drivers;action=displa...

I think it's not worth it, our cards lack alot onwhich the newer cards have,like FalconFly Mentioned before:

" I'm afraid none of above would improve performance, since the VSA-100 core would still suffer from its internal Triangle Setup bottleneck.

That's the reason it wouldn't scale a bit, the available AthlonXP Platforms already completely maxxed out the Voodoo5's internal potential.

At present, one could increase CPU performance by a factor of 10, and observe (at best) a 5-10% increase in resulting end performance."

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« Last Edit: 26.07.05 at 19:58:53 by N/A »

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paulpsomiadis God Member Offline -=3Dfx still rox!=- Posts: 2011 Newcastle U.K. Gender:	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #2 - 26.07.05 at 23:45:03 Come on - I mean it's bad enough that we have to use the V5500 (or for lucky people with the 6000) in Windows XP (i.e. - RAM Pacman). Imagine the resources that Vista will EAT!
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janskjaer

Ex Member

Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0
Reply #3 - 26.07.05 at 23:58:34

I suppose it's not all about the performance. But about the compatability.

This can be a great convenience to those who only have one system, or can only use one native OS.

In the end, I think those that really want to continue running 3dfx cards will have to do so in a seperate legacy rig running a more well-suited OS like Windows 98 SE or Windows 2000.

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Obi-Wan_Kenobi Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #4 - 27.07.05 at 00:05:13 ye4ps that's right, I have Win2K pro on my AXP 2700+ with Voodoo5 5500 AGP and Win98SE on my 8 year old K6-2 500 with a Voodoo3 3000 AGP runs perfectly, I think WinXP 64 and Win Vista isn't possible because glide isn't supported in those OS'es, XP Pro was the last to support glide I think dunno about Win2K3
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janskjaer Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #5 - 27.07.05 at 00:10:20 It can be difficult to determine whether Glide would operate, especially without drivers. But you never know ... I mean I can still get Argonaut BRender to render some of it's tech demos in Windows XP, when no BRender tech demos have not been produced since we when everyone was running Windows 95. Now that was also a good API.
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Obi-Wan_Kenobi Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #6 - 27.07.05 at 14:09:01 oh man just imagine if 3dfx was still alive we could of had Glide64 ! man that's would of been cool
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janskjaer

Ex Member

Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0
Reply #7 - 27.07.05 at 17:20:32

I don't think there would have been no advantage or performance gain in solely allowing the Glide API to run on 64-bit systems. Only the 64-bit CPU's would show any evidence of that, not the 3dfx cards itself.

It's what the API can do that counts. Wink

Glide's own rival to Pixel Shader 2.0 and 3.0 would have been something to look forward to! Grin

Imagine how far 3dfx' SLI technology may have progressed if things would have been different.

If this was so, there would have been no nVIDIA SLI cards like there is today, that's for sure! Unless nVIDIA wanted another lawsuit on their hands! Grin

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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

Ex Member

Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0
Reply #8 - 28.07.05 at 01:42:16

nVidia's so called SLI shouldn't deserve that name, it's no where near the compairance of the real and better performing 3dfx SLI aka Scan Line Interleave
NV's Scalable Link Interface should of been better with the name:

SFR aka Split Frame Rendering, that is actually what it is, and it's not that scalable at all really, if your CPU is a A643200+ of FX 57, the difference isn't there at all, NV is not that smart hehe, the obvious ofcourse.

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« Last Edit: 28.07.05 at 01:47:14 by N/A »

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janskjaer Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #9 - 28.07.05 at 13:59:31 Of course, but the thing is, nVIDIA SLI performance gains would have been under serious criticism if they were in comparison with 3dfx's SLI technology (if it was still around, assuming that the technology would have progressed with the times). However, I believe this is yet to come once ATI's Crossfire becomes more mainstream.
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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

Ex Member

Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0
Reply #10 - 28.07.05 at 16:11:59

yeah ATi's CrossFire is abit like MAXX but better, I think ATi has a better future than NV, they are haveing it tough now but ATi will pull through, they always did.

Even the way how you install the ATi cards, actually nearly the same way you install 2 Voodoo2 12MB's with the external Pass Through cable , this feels good to see back after 7 rough years.

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janskjaer Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #11 - 28.07.05 at 23:24:20 You've also got to convince buyers to invest in the compatible motherboard. Let's not forget that ... and how much the shift is going to cost us overall.
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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

Ex Member

Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0
Reply #12 - 29.07.05 at 01:26:34

well there is something positive at least for us 3dfx fans and 3dfx users, thanx to the honorable Psycho 47 aka Ps47, his friends are makeing the good ole long scouted and waited for AGP2PCI Converters. PCI 32Bit is gonna get older that AGP it's self, and with these sweet converters there is still hope for us.

here that lovely topic about those great divices:
http://www.falconfly-central.de/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=general;action=displa...

these babies are gonna change our history in 3dfx gaming in newer Operating Systems

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janskjaer Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #13 - 29.07.05 at 12:08:24 It is nice to know that there are still hardware components that can support our cause, such as this convertors. Legacy motherboards such as KT333 giving us the ability to use 3.3v AGP cards with a decent enough CPU such as the AthlonXP.
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Obi-Wan_Kenobi Ex Member	Re: WGF 1.0 and 2.0 Reply #14 - 30.07.05 at 10:02:27 yeps like the AthlonXP-M 2500+ very cheap and great Overclocking abillities, got that from 3Dfx-Tweaker & Thandor.
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