Author Topic: GeForce2 v/s Voodoo 5500 (Read 574 times)

gatt · « **on:** July 19, 2000, 01:48:00 AM »

System: PIII-600E, Motherboard MS BX-Master, 128MByte PC133 RAM, HD 20GByte.

Well, IMO the GeForce2 is way faster. At 1280x1024 (and 32bit colors) the GeForce2 gives you about 15-20fps more.

No noticeable quality difference between the two in AH's D3D. Very nice FSAA management with the Voodoo5, but I like to run at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 and FSAA needs too much horsepower at those res.

From what I've heard the Voodoo5 requires a very powerful machine and better drivers.

[Sg]ShotGun · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2000, 09:42:00 PM »

i too m comtemplating the GF2. i was thinking of the asus 7700 with my nu asus MB. CUmine OCd to 850 with 128 PC133 mem. the asus MB im thinking of has the VIA chipset, but the card specs recommend an intel set...will the VIA surfice???

so AH is D3D then...?

bloom25 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 21, 2000, 12:20:00 AM »

Gatt, you should get better fps than that???

(My TNT2 Ultra will do around 30 at 1280 (32 bit). )

Back on topic... According to the specs I've seen the GeForce 2 chip is slightly more powerful overall. On the other hand the V5 FSAA routines seem faster from what I've seen. I don't really think you could go wrong with either chip.

As for the VIA chipset, you should be fine. If you do end up with problems I'd try downloading the newest AGP drivers from www.viatech.com .

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bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS

gatt · « **Reply #3 on:** July 21, 2000, 01:33:00 AM »

Bloom25

,
I got about 15fps more. However, I installed the new beta Voodoo5 drivers:

http://www.3dfxfiles.com/voodoo5.asp

and now the Voodoo5 runs much faster. Definitely 3Dfx should work on drivers.
Well, they are both excellent cards, with the GeForce2 slightly ahead in terms of fps.

Shotgun,
I recommend you to try before you buy. With my old VIA chipset MoBo I had a lot of troubles with all nVIDIA graphic chips.

[This message has been edited by gatt (edited 07-21-2000).]

Skuzzy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 21, 2000, 09:40:00 AM »

Must be a monitor issue with gatt's performance.

My Rage MAXX, which is slower than the GeForce 2 and Voodoo 5 boards gets between 37 and 45 fps at 1280x1024x32 bit, with the hires patches loaded.

Might want to check your monitor scan rate gatt. Mine is set to 100hz, but every monitor is different. NEC recommends 85hz for 1280x1024, but it is spec'ed to go to 102hz at this resolution and so far, no problems.
Even if I enable "wait for sync", I still get 32-35 fps.

Oh ya, I forgot to mention, the ATI Rage MAXX card will not work in all motherboards. I have a Supermicro P6SBA, which has always been a solid board for me, and the MAXX card will not work in it.

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Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp. http://www.applink.net
skuzzy@applink.net

[This message has been edited by Skuzzy (edited 07-21-2000).]

[Sg]ShotGun · « **Reply #5 on:** July 21, 2000, 07:22:00 PM »

i sent a letter to Asus asking about if the 7700 card can b used with the VIA chip set. m waiting for a reply.

the cpu is the step thermodynamics CUmine 550 OCd to 850 and is slot1.

Robert · « **Reply #6 on:** July 23, 2000, 10:57:00 AM »

i need some help here guys/gals
i have a
Gateway
PIII 500 not overclocked
Nvidia 16 meg Video
13 gig scsii

how can i tell if im running my video card at 2x agp or 4x agp?
also will a Gforce 2 card work with this
computer or is it to much for the 500mhz
cpu i have?

blur · « **Reply #7 on:** July 24, 2000, 08:54:00 AM »

I concur with Gatt on possible troubles with VIA chipset. I've been doing a lot of testing on my new VIA motherboard and, while I can get it to be useable, there seems to be issues with the VIA/GeForce2/AGP4X combination, such as screen stuttering and freezing.

Robert, AGP speed settings are done through your BIOS setup.

[Sg]ShotGun · « **Reply #8 on:** July 24, 2000, 05:57:00 PM »

well, i got a reply from Asus about using GF2s and the via chipset:

>Generally P3V4X works properly with Gforce >card. In some particular cases, the 4x >feature does not work under some softwares. >For Intel chipset, it won't have such issue.

>Thanks
>SALES DEPT

now when i went searching the newsgroups about this MB the prob all stemmed from trying to use the AGP in 4x, and the prob didnot exist when using the AGP in 2x. most of the replies in the news groups red that the performance gain from 2x to 4x is negliable.

gatt · « **Reply #9 on:** July 26, 2000, 04:58:00 PM »

Skuzzy,
now all is running very well and smooth. With the new official 3Dfx drivers the Voodoo5500 gives about 40-70fps at 1280x1024 (32bit). The monitor runs at 85Hz.

I recommend a good BX motherboard like the BX-Master from Microstar. Excellent compatibility and very fast. My PIII-600E runs very well at 124FSB=744MHz (and when I need even at 133FSB=800MHz). The CuMine doesnt have any heat problem.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #10 on:** July 27, 2000, 09:36:00 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by gatt:
Skuzzy,
now all is running very well and smooth. With the new official 3Dfx drivers the Voodoo5500 gives about 40-70fps at 1280x1024 (32bit). The monitor runs at 85Hz.

I recommend a good BX motherboard like the BX-Master from Microstar. Excellent compatibility and very fast. My PIII-600E runs very well at 124FSB=744MHz (and when I need even at 133FSB=800MHz). The CuMine doesnt have any heat problem.

Good to hear it gatt. I have to post my new results with 1.03 path4 of AH.
Hitech was over for a bit and I he had wanted to see the ATI Rage MAXX in action with AH, and origiannly we could not get it to work with the SuperMicro P6SBA motherboard. It still will not work in that motherboard, but I have since gotten an Abit BF6 motherboard with a 600E III and,...."oh my god".
First thing Hitech did was to kick the resolution to 1600x1200x32 bit, and the frame rates were at about 20 to 30 (monitor was at 75hz).
I kicked it back to 1280x1024x32 bit color, set the monitor to 100hz and WHAMMO! Now getting 50 to 70 frames (wait for v-sync off). Yesterday I flying a B17 and had Trimmer fly around me in his P38 and I followed him with my views. The rate never dropped below 49. Just mind boggling. At $129.00 U.S., this has to be the best price performer on the market.
Too bad it will not work in all motherboards.

One anomaly we noted though. There is some perceptible flickering on the monitor. We could not figure out why, as the monitor showed the correct frequency. It is pretty subtle, and I can live with it at this resolution and frame rate.

It still has the patented ATI "radio tear" problem.

I have not tried overclocking my CPU. With only a 250Watt power supply, I probably am pushing it a bit with everything loaded in this system. (Adaptec AHA-2940AU, Seagate Cheetah 18.2GB drive, SCSI 40X CD-Rom,...)

Oh and yes, I would definately recommend a good BX based motherboard.

------------------
Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp. http://www.applink.net
skuzzy@applink.net

[This message has been edited by Skuzzy (edited 07-27-2000).]

gatt · « **Reply #11 on:** July 27, 2000, 10:03:00 AM »

Good results indeed, Skuzzy.

The only thing I cant do is turning off V-Sync on my sistem. I get very strange effects when I do it. Probably my monitor cannot catch up with my CPU-Voodoo5 combo.

However, FSAA doesnt work well in AH, at least in my system. The smoothing effect of Voodoo5's FSAA is really outstanding (I tried it on F4 and MigAlley).

[This message has been edited by gatt (edited 07-27-2000).]

Lephturn · « **Reply #12 on:** July 27, 2000, 01:16:00 PM »

FSAA works great on my Athlon 700/V5 5500.

I can only use 2x FSAA, but it still looks absofreakinlootly fantastic. <G>

------------------
Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs http://www.flyingpigs.com

"My P-47 is a pretty good ship, she took a round coming 'cross the Channel last trip.
Just thinking 'bout my baby and lettin' her rip, always got me through so far."
- Steve Earl