3dfx Archive - What is the "best" setup for Voodoo card

ultima

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What is the "best" setup for Voodoo card
12.04.07 at 10:09:15

Hey guys,

I'm kinda getting tired of my slow @$$ Celeron 1.3Ghz, so I'm looking for something a bit more speedy to do my 3DFX gaming.

I still have a working XP2400, which I know can overclock very nicely, so......
I also have 2 sticks of 256MB PC3200 from micron, so that's not a problem either.

What would you suggest for motherboard?? I heard the A7V333 is a good one?? Any other boards?? cheapest I can find at the moment is 40 euros, but gonna search some more.

Cheers

Pim

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« Last Edit: 12.04.07 at 10:10:17 by ultima »

3DFX Playrig:

Aerocool Strike-X Air
SuperMicro H8DAE
Dual Opteron 280 @ 2.4Ghz (4 cores)
4 x 1GB PC3200
3DFX Voodoo5 5500MAC PCI
WD 160GB ATA100/133
Diamond MonsterSound MX300
Windows2000 SP4

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FalconFly

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #1 - 12.04.07 at 10:33:06

Depends on what Voodoo you're talking about.

Technically, an AthlonXP 2400+ is a very good CPU even for a Voodoo5 (no overclocking needed).

The best Board I had with a Voodoo was indeed the ASUS A7V-333 (3.3V AGP capable) KT333a. One has to be careful not to get the latest Versions, however, as the latest incarnation of the KT333a (labeled "CF" if I member correctly) was 1.5V AGP only.

Otherwise, the Shuttle AK-35GT2 also worked like a champ (KT333a as well).

With the latest BIOS, the Boards ran upto AthlonXP 3000+, which really is as fast as it gets.

The cheapest way would be EBay (expect less than 10$)

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« Last Edit: 12.04.07 at 10:34:03 by FalconFly »

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ultima God Member Offline Always searching Posts: 876 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo Reply #2 - 12.04.07 at 11:52:28 thanks for the info. Found this one: http://cgi.ebay.nl/ASUS-A7V333-X-Mainboard-Motherboard-Sockel-A-462_W0QQitemZ280... with the following chipsets, or so he says: Chipsatz VIA KT600 VIA VT8237 Would that be ok??
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FalconFly

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #3 - 12.04.07 at 11:57:15

No, the VIA KT600 - being the latest VIA SocketA Chipset - is a 4x/8x AGP @ 0.8/1.5V only device.

KT333a is the latest you can go there (excluding the mentioned CF, which was the latest KT333a Version)

Technically, you could also go for the KT266a, which supports the XP 2400+ as well, and (e.g. in form of the ASUS A7V-266E) was known as well as a lightning fast Board for Voodoo's. Its only shortcoming would be the limitation to PC266 RAM speeds (the KT333/a can run it async at PC333, which yields a few % higher performance)

Getting the right (= an older) Model of the A7V-333 off Ebay might be a tad difficult, as the seller has to know and tell whether it is the CF or the original Version.

I'm not sure which Board revisions were affected, the ASUS Website might reveal that. If not, Hardware Reviews from that time should indicate the Board and Chipset Revision. From there, you should be able to pinpoint what Board Revisions hold the original KT333a that you need.

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« Last Edit: 12.04.07 at 12:03:41 by FalconFly »

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ultima

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #4 - 12.04.07 at 12:19:19

Ok, thanks.

I will keep looking for a good model.

So the KT266a would be a 100% safe bet?? I'll try and find a good KT333a, as I will be overclocking if I can, have the ram and cpu for it, so why not.

Found this one:

http://cgi.ebay.nl/Asus-A7V333-rev1-Oem-Raid-Socket-462_W0QQitemZ200098968736QQi...

It's a revision 1.0 board with the KT333 board, but it also lists this:

Expansion Slots Total (Free):

1 ( 1 ) x AGP Pro ( 1.5 V )

I thought the AGPPro slot was 3.3V instead of 1.5

Too bad most games won't use a 2nd cpu when present, else I would've made my Dual P3 1.0Ghz a dual boot with XP and put my voodoo in there.

Would this mobo do??

http://www.epox.nl/products/view.php?product_id=388

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« Last Edit: 12.04.07 at 13:41:26 by ultima »

3DFX Playrig:

Aerocool Strike-X Air
SuperMicro H8DAE
Dual Opteron 280 @ 2.4Ghz (4 cores)
4 x 1GB PC3200
3DFX Voodoo5 5500MAC PCI
WD 160GB ATA100/133
Diamond MonsterSound MX300
Windows2000 SP4

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Chosen_One

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #5 - 12.04.07 at 17:46:19

best setup IMO...

XP-M 2600+ (low voltage...good for higher clocks)
EPoX EP-8K5A2/3+ (2 = RAID-CTL, 3 = 2x RAID-CTL)
1 or 2 GB PC3200 CL2 RAM
and a good PSU!!!

this should be the best setup because it's stable (ask some people here...like tm30) and very fast...

PS: the EP-8K3AE is KT333CF AFAIK...1,5v vagp only...

good mainboards from epox with 3,3v vagp are:

EP-8K3A+
EP-8K5A2
EP-8K5A2+
EP-8K5A3+

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« Last Edit: 12.04.07 at 17:52:15 by Chosen_One »

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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #6 - 12.04.07 at 17:59:43

heh the EPoX EP-8K3A+ series are the best boards for the Voodoo 5 6000 and all other 3dfx AGP cards.

my best 3dfx setup was the following:

AMD AthlonXP 2700+
EPoX EP-8K3A+
1x 512MB PC 2700
3dfx Voodoo 5 6000 AGP 128MB SDR Rev.A 3700
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live 1024 5.1

Dual Boot of:
Windows 98 Second Edition + UnOfficial Service Pack 2.03 NL +
Windows 2000 Professional + Service Pack 4 & Rollup 1 for Service Pack 4
DirectX 9.0c

For the dirvers:
For Win98SE + UOSP 2.03NL:
3dfx Voodoo4/5 V1.04.00 + the 3dfx Tools Control Panel from AmigaMerlin 2.9

For Win2K Pro + SP4 & RU1 for SP4:
AmigaMerlin 3.1 R11

and for a setup for no Voodoo 5 6000 get this setup:

AMD AthlonXP 2700+
ASUS A7V333-R Rev 1.02
1x 512MB PC 2700
3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 AGP 64MB SDR Rev.A 2500
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live 1024 5.1

For the dirvers:
For Win98SE + UOSP 2.03NL:
AmigaMerlin 2.9

For Win2K Pro + SP4 & RU1 for SP4:
AmigaMerlin 3.1 R11

And for a bit of everything I now have this setup:

AMD AthlonXP 2700+
ASUS A7V333-R Rev 1.02
3x 512MB PC 2700
ASUS AX800XT Platinum Edition AGP 256MB GDDR3 Rev.B 0441
3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 PCI 64MB SDR Rev.A1 2900
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live 1024 5.1

Windows 2000 Professional + Service Pack 4 & Rollup 1 for Service Pack 4
DirectX 9.0c

For the Radeon:
Omega Catalyst 6.03 +ATI WDM 6.3 & ATi H.264 Decoder 6.3

For the Voodoo 5
AmigaMerlin 3.1 R11

The 8K3A+ is out of service since 7 of it's main Cappacitors are leaked. the 8K5A2+ is ready to get built into my new LianLi Casing which will eb arriving shortly, that will be my main 3dfx Voodoo 5 6000 test run system, for the CPU I have a Barton 2800+ laying here but I dunno if it works , oh well there are enough Bartons out on ebay could also ask a friend of mine he has plently of old hardware

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« Last Edit: 12.04.07 at 18:19:22 by N/A »

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ultima

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #7 - 13.04.07 at 10:28:51

hey guys,

I found on a dutch site:

Asus A7V266-E with AMD Athlon X1600, getting it for 35 euros, so that's not too bad.

Gonna put in the XP2400 and then I'm set to go. Also have enough ram for it, and a nice 200Gb harddisk.

Gonna make a triple boot, win98se, win2k and winxp.

the P180b has been ordered, I also made a request to the site for the 3dfx stickers, so kinda hoping they'll do that.

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« Last Edit: 13.04.07 at 10:30:51 by ultima »

3DFX Playrig:

Aerocool Strike-X Air
SuperMicro H8DAE
Dual Opteron 280 @ 2.4Ghz (4 cores)
4 x 1GB PC3200
3DFX Voodoo5 5500MAC PCI
WD 160GB ATA100/133
Diamond MonsterSound MX300
Windows2000 SP4

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ultima

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #8 - 13.04.07 at 12:39:10

Unfortunately the motherboard only supports 266Mhz fsb, but I won't worry about that, since I can always run it a bit outta specs, via chipsets are pretty decent if I remember correctly.

And I'll also be unlocking the cpu, so I have the ability to raise the multiplier, so......

As it looks now, the rig will be:

Asus KT266a
AMD XP2400+ @???
2 x 256MB PC3200
Voodoo 5 5500 AGP primarily
WD 200Gb ata100 7200rpm 8MB cache
Diamond Monstersound MX300 (aureal vortex2 chip)

Will ofcourse provide pictures when it's complete.

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3DFX Playrig:

Aerocool Strike-X Air
SuperMicro H8DAE
Dual Opteron 280 @ 2.4Ghz (4 cores)
4 x 1GB PC3200
3DFX Voodoo5 5500MAC PCI
WD 160GB ATA100/133
Diamond MonsterSound MX300
Windows2000 SP4

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gamma742 God Member Offline 3Dfx Gamer Posts: 1668 San Diego, CA USA Gender:	Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo Reply #9 - 13.04.07 at 16:19:39 Nice machine.. Who knows, maybe some day you'll upgrade the V5 to a V6K. Then it will be the perfect machine. Just wait for the opportunity, it will come your way in time
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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #10 - 13.04.07 at 16:42:23

Quote:

Nice machine..

Who knows, maybe some day you'll upgrade the V5 to a V6K. Then it will be the perfect machine. Just wait for the opportunity, it will come your way in time Wink

well A V6K would prefer another Mobo Wink

the ASUS A7V266 is on the DO NOT BUY for V6K list.

An EPoX EP-8K5A2+ or EP-8K3A+ based motherboard would be alot better and much safer for a V6K setup 8)

@ ultima:

The AthlonXP 2400+ Thoroughbred-A runs @ 2000Mhz and has 256KB L2 Cache and a FSB of 266Mhz, this is the CPU your mobo probably would have because of it's 266Mhz FSB 8)

The AthlonXP 2400+ Thoroughbred-B runs @ 1883Mhz and has 256KB L2 Cache and a FSB of 333Mhz

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« Last Edit: 13.04.07 at 16:45:03 by N/A »

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MrFossey

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #11 - 13.04.07 at 16:49:10

Quote:

@ ultima:

The AthlonXP 2400+ Thoroughbred-A runs @ 2000Mhz and has 256KB L2 Cache and a FSB of 266Mhz, this is the CPU your mobo probably would have because of it's 266Mhz FSB 8)

The AthlonXP 2400+ Thoroughbred-B runs @ 1883Mhz and has 256KB L2 Cache and a FSB of 333Mhz

The AMD Athlon XP 2400+ Thoroughbred runs at 2000MHz with an 133MHz FSB (DDR266). The AMD Athlon XP running at 1833MHz is an AMD Athlon XP 2500+. That one uses a Barton core which has 256KB L2 cache more then a Thoroughbred model.

Besides the cache difference the AMD Athlon XP 2500+ uses an 166MHz (DDR333) FSB.

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« Last Edit: 13.04.07 at 16:49:38 by MrFossey »

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ultima

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #12 - 13.04.07 at 16:53:27

Thanks for the info.

But the ??? was actually more for the part that I didn't know how far I would be overclocking it.

and as far as I know, the only XP cpu's that come in different speeds are the 2600 and 2800, they come in both 333 and 266 flavour.

But the mobo I'm getting has the XP1600 Tbred-A in it, 1st gonna see how far I can clock that baby.

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3DFX Playrig:

Aerocool Strike-X Air
SuperMicro H8DAE
Dual Opteron 280 @ 2.4Ghz (4 cores)
4 x 1GB PC3200
3DFX Voodoo5 5500MAC PCI
WD 160GB ATA100/133
Diamond MonsterSound MX300
Windows2000 SP4

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MrFossey

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #13 - 13.04.07 at 16:56:53

Quote:

Thanks for the info.

But the ??? was actually more for the part that I didn't know how far I would be overclocking it.

and as far as I know, the only XP cpu's that come in different speeds are the 2600 and 2800, they come in both 333 and 266 flavour.

But the mobo I'm getting has the XP1600 Tbred-A in it, 1st gonna see how far I can clock that baby.

The AMD Athlon XP 2600+ exists in five versions. Two 166MHz (DDR333) versions and one 133MHz (DDR266) FSB version. One of the 166MHz FSB versions has 512KB L2 cache and uses a Barton core. The 2800+ exists in three versions as well. Two 166MHz FSB versions. One with 512KB L2 cache (barton) and one with 256KB L2 cache (Thoroughbred). The 133MHz FSB part uses a Barton core too; thus having 512KB L2. There are also Thorthon versions, those are available in the same configurations as the Thoroughbred models which is 133MHz and 166MHz FSB with 256KB L2 cache. (Thorhon = Barton with 50% L2 Cache enabled)
_{Shown above are only desktop CPU's, there are mobile version too. Those are AMD Athlon XP-M CPU's.}

Besides the 2600+ and 2800+ there are other models which have the same rating number but different clock frequencies and FSB's. For example the 3000+ which is available with 166MHz and 200MHz FSB. The same goes for the 3200+ model.

About overclocking the Thoroughbred A. My experience is that a normal Thoroughbred A will reach about 2GHz. Above it is possible but will require more voltage so the ideal clock will still be somewhere near 2GHz. But, since every CPU is different (and every motherboard and even the overclocker itselves Tongue

) it's hard to tell how fast your chip is going to be Wink

.

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« Last Edit: 13.04.07 at 17:04:11 by MrFossey »

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Obi-Wan_Kenobi

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Re: What is the "best" setup for Voodoo
Reply #14 - 13.04.07 at 17:24:55

Quote:

The AMD Athlon XP 2400+ Thoroughbred runs at 2000MHz with an 133MHz FSB (DDR266). The AMD Athlon XP running at 1833MHz is an AMD Athlon XP 2500+. That one uses a Barton core which has 256KB L2 cache more then a Thoroughbred model.

Besides the cache difference the AMD Athlon XP 2500+ uses an 166MHz (DDR333) FSB.

well like I mentioned the Thoroubred A runs @ 2000Mhz , has 256KB L2 & 266Mhz FSB the other QthlonXP 2400+ core is based on a castrated Barton core aka the Thorton Core which also runs @ 2000Mhz and has 256KB L2 and a 266Mhz FSB.

the AthlonXP 2500+ is indeed a Barton @ 1867Mhz , 266Mhz FSB & 512KB L2

and also a Barton @ 1833Mhz + 333Mhz FSB & 512KB L2.

This sitepage shows all the info of all the K7 based CPU's

http://balusc.xs4all.nl/srv/har-cpu-amd-k7.php

here the site's main CPU list of all the CPU's made:
http://balusc.xs4all.nl/srv/har-cpu.html

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« Last Edit: 13.04.07 at 17:35:37 by N/A »

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