New Voodoo5 drivers and benchmarks

[RoboTECH]

I'm going to do a full test of these bizsnatches this weekend.

1.01 vs. 1.03 @ 166 and 183, using the P3 @ 7*66, 7*100 and 7*133

benchmarks:

Q3
UT glide and D3d
Evolva
MDK2
3dMark2000 (with some various selections *other* than just the default)

we shall see how this latest thing performs

I find it interesting that the day of the Detonator3's release, there were about 30 websites pimping new benchmarks with basically complete reviews. However, the 5500 releases new drivers which improve performance, and you get 2 very short, thrown-together articles showing rather strange results.

Of course, there are tons of GTS overclocking articles out there, and rarely has a GTS review been done without a rather detailed section on overclocking, but how many sites do ANY 5500 overclocking?

<shakes head>

Not really much reason to bother with website graphical reviews anymore....

 

[lsd]

okay havent read this post in a long time I don`t mean to be a troll but
i remember reading some said something about fillrate..


<< LSD - if you knew anything about today's graphics cards, you'd realize that ALL released video cards are fill-rate/throughput limited @ 1280x1024x32-bit + SHQ. >>



well then..... if this were true the Voodoo5 and the GF2 have the same fillrate? hmm.. i don`t think so.

That geometry assist code seems cool.

 

[RoboTECH]

<< << LSD - if you knew anything about today's graphics cards, you'd realize that ALL released video cards are fill-rate/throughput limited @ 1280x1024x32-bit + SHQ. >>

well then..... if this were true the Voodoo5 and the GF2 have the same fillrate? hmm.. i don`t think so. >>

Ahhh...that would be my statement, but you seem to have missed the &quot;throughput limited&quot; portion. The GTS probably isn't really fillrate limited until you hit 1600x1200, however, it has an *IDENTICAL* amount of memory bandwidth as the 5500 does, and hence is limited by that, ESPECIALLY at hi-res 32-bit color.

say all you want about the fillrate differences between the 2, throughput is what keeps the 5500 from getting blown away.

<< That geometry assist code seems cool. >>

indeed, I can agree with that statement.[/i] >>

 

[Bingo13]

3dfx released new W2K drivers this afternoon. So far my scores are identical to WinME except for Q3. This driver set is stable and seems to be very polished.

 

[BFG10K]

I noticed that when I was CPU limited, the reference 3dfx drivers perform better than the WickedGL drivers.

That is strange though. I would expect that tweaked drivers would perform even better with slower CPUs.

BFG, it's time to get a new CPU.

Yeah I know! The sad thing is my computer is only 6 months old! Anyway first I will get my GF2 MX which should speed the games up quite a bit. The new CPU comes next year.

I find it interesting that the day of the Detonator3's release, there were about 30 websites pimping new benchmarks with basically complete reviews.

In case anyone is interested, the 6.31 detonators are linked to in this thread.

 

[Davegod75]

voodoo5 w2k drivers

 

[Goi]

BFG10K, well, we don't know how the WickedGL is optimized for 3dfx cards, but its probably some intense optimizations of specific subset of the OpenGL API that is used frequently in games like Q3, UT, etc, and ignores the rest of the API that isn't used frequently. Given that, it would seem logical that when you're CPU limited, you won't be able to see much of an improvement since the optimizations are made on the graphical side.

Anyway, I don't mean to make a decision for you, but I think a CPU upgrade would make more sense now for you. A cheap C566 that can hopefully overclock to 850MHz would mean an all around improvement, rather than a new GeForce2 MX, which would only improve speed of 3D applications. Besides, the GF2MX would also be CPU limited anyway.

Anyway, have you tried the optimized Q3 dlls? They do speed things up a bit...about 10-15% for me, especially in the lower resolutions where I'm more CPU limited.

 

[BFG10K]

Anyway, I don't mean to make a decision for you, but I think a CPU upgrade would make more sense now for you. A cheap C566 that can hopefully overclock to 850MHz would mean an all around improvement,

Well first of all I don't overclock any of my components, otherwise I would have overclocked my Celeron 500 (stock) a long time ago.

rather than a new GeForce2 MX, which would only improve speed of 3D applications. Besides, the GF2MX would also be CPU limited anyway.

I'm happy with my CPU performance, I just want my 3D games to run faster. In general you are correct about being CPU limited, but GPU boards like the Radeon and the GF based boards offload the CPU and give you a perfomance boost. This means my framerates will go up with an MX.

You can see some low end CPU benchmarks here.

Anyway, have you tried the optimized Q3 dlls? They do speed things up a bit...about 10-15% for me, especially in the lower resolutions where I'm more CPU limited.

No I haven't. What do I need to do to make these run?

 

[Goi]

Oh, ok...if you don't overclock well then, too bad
Yeah I know that an MX will improve performance, but so will a new CPU, which will also improve performance of other applications, for about the same price. But since you don't overclock I guess it doesn't apply to you.
As for the DLLs, they're just a couple of .dll files that you copy to your Q3 directory and it will automatically be used. I can't remember the exact URL, but I think Shugashack has the latest ones for Q3 v1.17

 

[EMAN]

WTF are you talking about? Do you think all the websites are there just to trick you? If I read an Anandtech review, am I being gullible? Either you are stupid or paranoid, or both.

Why are you even here? Don't be so &quot;gullible&quot; and read these forums. After all you can't trust anything you read right? Its a conspicracy to trick you.

No dumb ass, if I told you something you would believe it because I said so. That's how dumb you are. Web sites information isn't 100% accurate, I mean it's written by people like myself and not you of course. No matter how hard you try it's still 1 sided opinion, that's all. If you actually had a brain you would look at the whole picture instead of believing what all these commercial web sites are saying. Yeah I do agree on some of the stuff they are saying but not all. If everybody believed the same information than everybody in here should have exactly the same card as the next person here. But they don't do they? Your opinions are of a mindless child just talking trash. Why don't you have something smart to say instead of &quot;voodoo 4-5 driver don't speed up my voodoo 3.&quot; It's lame excuse so you can bash 3dfx and basically cause a flame war. If I accuse of being something than you react to it because your sensitive little boy.

I'm here to sell hardware and talk about hardware and educate and bash on retarded kids like yourself who doesn't have the slightest clue.

Why are you here? If all your going to do is just whine. Whine to your mommy so you can get GTS don't whine to us it's not gonna get you anything except bashing on you.

Keep on Crying BFG..

 

[BFG10K]

No dumb ass, if I told you something you would believe it because I said so. That's how dumb you are. Web sites information isn't 100% accurate, I mean it's written by people like myself and not you of course.

Your logic is astounding. You think that believing dozens of commercial websites with the same results is the same as believing you?

No matter how hard you try it's still 1 sided opinion, that's all. If you actually had a brain you would look at the whole picture instead of believing what all these commercial web sites are saying.

So if I can find a dozen website who have identical benchmarking scores and indentical test conclusions, you consider this one sided?

Yeah I do agree on some of the stuff they are saying but not all.

Let me guess: the stuff you believe is the &quot;truth&quot; and the rest of it is a lie, right?

If everybody believed the same information than everybody in here should have exactly the same card as the next person here.

False. Websites always point out the advantages of each video card and each person picks what they want. If you want features/DVD, go for the Radeon. If you want FSAA and Glide get a Voodoo. If you want a gaming card, get a GF based board. I am not interested in DVD, Glide or FSAA therefore the GF is simply the best card for me.

If somebody wants a gaming card I will always recommend a GF based board simply because it is the best card around for gaming. If they want other things I will recommend a Radeon. I don't recommend a Voodoo because it is overpriced for the lack of features and performance it has. You seem to have a hard time denying simple logic, yet judging by your first argument it doesn't surprise me at all.

Why don't you have something smart to say instead of &quot;voodoo 4-5 driver don't speed up my voodoo 3.&quot; It's lame excuse so you can bash 3dfx and basically cause a flame war.

When did we move from websites to drivers? What excuse? WTF are you on about? I was merely discussing the benchmarking results for the unified Voodoo drivers on my V3. If somebody else wants to try them with their V3 they can think about what my results were.

Anyway what does it have to do with you? Do you have a V3 and are contemplating using the V4/V5 drivers? Don't get all bent out of shape about something that doesn't concern you.

If I accuse of being something than you react to it because your sensitive little boy.

This coming from the guy who explicitly initiated a personal attack at me. Who is the sensitive little boy? You are the one who threw the temper tantrum.

I'm here to sell hardware and talk about hardware and educate and bash on retarded kids like yourself who doesn't have the slightest clue.

Right. I just hope you don't &quot;educate&quot; too many people.

 

[Wingznut]

Why do you keep calling them &quot;unified&quot; drivers? 3dfx calls them V4/V5 drivers. Nowhere do they say that you should use them with your V3. And actually, when you look up V3 drivers, it points you to a different set of drivers.

So stop with the inaccurate information, please. This is all that I or anyone else asks.

 

[BFG10K]

Why do you keep calling them &quot;unified&quot; drivers? 3dfx calls them V4/V5 drivers. Nowhere do they say that you should use them with your V3. And actually, when you look up V3 drivers, it points you to a different set of drivers.

If you read the readme files and watch the installer it says &quot;Voodoo series drivers&quot;. No-where does it say &quot;V4/V5 series drivers&quot;.

So stop with the inaccurate information, please. This is all that I or anyone else asks.

How can it be inaccurate if the drivers work perfectly (albeit a little slower in Quake 3)? 3dfx won't officially say they are unified because they haven't officially tested them on a Voodoo 3.

But it makes sense that they would unify them, otherwise their driver developement costs are will be higher if they develop drivers for two different boards at once.

 

[merlocka]

Well, when it detects hardware does it list your card as a V4 or a V3. If V3 is included in the .ini then they are unified. If you forced the V4 driver then perhaps not? I'm just guessing here, but that's how it be for nVidia drivers.

 

[BFG10K]

This is the current display information with the beta Voodoo 3 drivers:

3dfx Tools Info
===============

Voodoo3 PCI
Current Display Adapter Information
Manufacturer : 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
Hardware Version : 001
Bus Type : PCI
Total Video Memory : 16 MB
Graphic Chips : 1
Graphics Clock Speed : 143 MHz
BIOS Version : 1.00.01
Current Display Driver Information
Product Supported : Voodoo3 PCI
Version : 4.12.01.0598
Provider Name : 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
Release Date : 7-19-2000
3dfx Tools Version : 2.5.1.91

The only difference between them and the Voodoo 4/5 1.03.00 WHQL drivers is that the date and versions are different. I am not forcing anything. I just uninstall the old drivers and double click the installer for the new ones.

Wingnut, if the drivers aren't unified, explain to me why the above Voodoo 3 drivers tell me how many CPUs I have? How many Voodoo 3s do you know that have more than one CPU? None? Exactly. So stop talking crap.

They are definitely unofficially unified drivers.

 

[Wingznut]

*sighs*

Whatever, man.

 

[vanderStoep]

My understanding of the Wicked GL drivers is that they lower the workload of the video card and increase the workload on the cpu. So people should only use them when the video card is the bottle neck and not the cpu.

 

[RoboTECH]

a few brief points:

1) Websites, and peeps on various newsgroups, are showing a variety of different scores with the 1.03 drivers. They increase performance in most cases where it counts, i.e. games.

2) &quot;The GF cards are the best for gaming&quot; - in many cases true, in many others, not true

3) The new voodoo drivers *are* unified, tho unofficially so. You won't be seeing anymore &quot;V3-specific&quot; drivers.

BTW, still working the benchmarks, been a busy weekend. Preliminary results are pretty frickin' impressive.

P.S. Firingsquad's benchmarking results have been a hoax/pile of $hit/worthless for quite some time. I go there ONLY for gaming reviews. That place is almost as bad as PlanetHardware for hardware reviews, heh....

 

[BFG10K]

The new voodoo drivers *are* unified

Of course they are. Unfortunately Wingnut just doesn't get it.

 

[Rawdog]

Can somebody please tell me how to overclock the Voodoo5 5500 in Windows 2000. And while you're at it, why does the new W2K 1.03 drivers include a Windows 95/98 readme.txt listing 95/98 as a requirement?