-=> Attention VOODOO 5 Users <=-

Shinsa · 02-06-2002, 04:12 AM

I have recently come across a way to FLASH the BIOS on my Voodoo 5 5500.

My original BIOS was ver 1.06

I succesfully flashed it to the latest(?) ver 1.18

I seemed to pick up about 6 FPS or so ont the Aquarium. Not much, from 128 FPS to 134 FPS.

No other effects that I know of yet.

I downloaded ALL of the files this guy had for the Voodoo series

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g.stanton/Html/main.htm

I don't know if this will fix the windows XP problem, but he says his driver works fine in XP! Both D3D and GLide!

Good luck with them!

Darkfalz · 02-06-2002, 09:08 AM

I flashed mine to 1.15 which was the last official BIOS version (that actually came with Voodoo5 cards) - haven't seen any improvement really, but it hasn't hurt.

I even went to the trouble of using my own serial number (in the BIOS) and crc fixing it so I could flash it.

Tiny Turtle · 02-08-2002, 05:59 AM

Tell me, Hellbound: Do you ever write something positive on other forums? All I ever see from you here is complaints. - Even in the "Post your cat pictures here" topic, you managed to squeeze in something about Creative discontinuing support for your webcam.

I don't know if you're familiar with the Smurfs where you live, but to me, you are the Forum's equivalence (sp?) of Grouchy Smurf, the one who is always against what everyone else says.

Why don't you read the topics before making your complaints. You've been yapping about people having slower vid cards than you before, - nobody laughed then and nobody laughs now. The story with Voodoo5 cards was/is the superior anti-aliasing and the ability to run certain games who require the Glide API.

/Calle

OK Morgan, this was a quite clear case of a personal attack, but I'm just so tired with his immature comments.

feldon34 · 02-08-2002, 11:33 AM

I've e-mailed HellBound about this.

Jim Sachs · 02-08-2002, 12:20 PM

I consider the VooDoo 3,4, and 5 series still among the top cards out there, and we'll continue the search for proper drivers for them. Only a year ago, the VooDoo 5500 was a very expensive card, and it would be a shame if users were forced to scrap it already. It's all those millions of Rage Pro cards out there which could use an upgrade.

Shinsa · 02-08-2002, 12:50 PM

It's all those millions of Rage Pro cards out there which could use an upgrade.

Not to mention the Diamond Viper. A buddy of mine bought one a couple of years ago because it was a 32 MB card. The best he can get the SS doing is 30 FPS @ 640x480! ANYTHING taxes this card!!!

Poor guy feels so bad too. My 16 MB Voodoo 3 3500 was out performing his in every test! At about half the price!

And as for the Voodoo 5. You can still find them in clearing houses on the WWW for about $100. A good price still. Considering the card was $500 when it came out.

[By The Way: does anyone know what the add-on is for the Voodoo 5? there is a connector on the card with (about) 20 pins on it. Looks like a ribbon cable could connect to it. The manual said it was for an add-on, but I can find nothing on the internet about this]

feldon34 · 02-08-2002, 01:19 PM

What kind of viper?

I've got a Diamond Viper TnT Riva 16MB. I get 38fps at 1024x768.

Tiny Turtle · 02-08-2002, 02:18 PM

Hey, all you Voodooers out there!
How about owning a true rarity? I stumbled on this baby on eBay. Currently at $980 and the auction closes on Sunday: The 3dfx Voodoo 5 6000 - 128MB. Measuring in at about 11 3/4 inches makes it a BIG card and four video processors, 128 MB RAM and an external power supply (!) means high scores in geek territory...

Makes me wish I had a $1000 to spare...

/Calle

Shinsa · 02-08-2002, 05:02 PM

Morgan, not sure about the EXACT model. Just that it was a 32MB Diamond Viper II. He paid $199 (at FRY's I think.)

I tried to help him with it, and it was one headache after another.

We tried drivers, many different drivers. We had so many problems with it I just figured it was just a cheap low quality company. I knew of Diamond, heard goos and bad abouth them, This was my first and only experience with them.

After that fiasco, he always talked to me first before buying anything new. It was his first time with a computer, a REAL novice. But he catches on quick, a natural. He's in Korea right now. So wehn he gets back he should have a screaming system!
(stuffs dirt cheap over there!)

Spyder · 02-08-2002, 06:09 PM

Ahh the good ol' Viper II ... thats after Diamond branched away from the Nvidia TNT chipset and incorporated the Savage3D chipset. I haven't had any experience with them but I did own a Viper 550 (TNT) and Viper 770 (TNT2) and they blew away the fish

Darkfalz · 02-10-2002, 02:28 AM

I still love my Voodoo5, even though it cost me $670 AUD when I bought it (shortly after it came out). I was very saddened by the fact the companied died and I won't ever see the card's full potential since there is no longer driver development for it.

But for what I use it for it still serves me very well. Basically I still play UT, Quake 3 and use the Aquarium with it - and I get a fairly solid 85 fps in all three at 1024x768x16.

The other thing I use it for is emulation, where not only is it very fast in 2D DirectDraw, but the FSAA mode is EXCELLENT for Direct3D enhanced emulators of N64 and PlayStation.

Shinsa · 02-10-2002, 08:46 PM

Darkfalz,

Only 85 FPS @ 1024x768? You should get higher than that.
I'm getting about 65 at the res, with 4x FSAA on! Even with only one chip running I get 105 fps, and 165 with both chips running.

feldon34 · 02-11-2002, 01:47 AM

Vsync.

Shinsa · 02-11-2002, 02:23 AM

.... uh... um.... i knew that...

Darkfalz · 02-11-2002, 10:03 PM

Originally posted by Shinsa
Darkfalz,

Only 85 FPS @ 1024x768? You should get higher than that.
I'm getting about 65 at the res, with 4x FSAA on! Even with only one chip running I get 105 fps, and 165 with both chips running.

I have my screen refresh at 85 and Vsync on.

I remember getting around 160-170 with Vsync off, and 120 with calc normals (which I no longer use due to the fact it's glitchy). For some reason I set the SSTH3_SWAPINTERVAL value to 0 in the registry and it didn't turn off the Vsync, perhaps I need to reboot.

Btw, the fish look AMAZINGLY realistic with 4xFSAA, but I have to lower refresh rate to 60 Hz to get it smooth. Only problem besides that is it does blur the background.

02-06-2002, 04:12 AM	#1
Shinsa Registered Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 407	-=> Attention VOODOO 5 Users <=- I have recently come across a way to FLASH the BIOS on my Voodoo 5 5500. My original BIOS was ver 1.06 I succesfully flashed it to the latest(?) ver 1.18 I seemed to pick up about 6 FPS or so ont the Aquarium. Not much, from 128 FPS to 134 FPS. No other effects that I know of yet. I downloaded ALL of the files this guy had for the Voodoo series http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g.stanton/Html/main.htm I don't know if this will fix the windows XP problem, but he says his driver works fine in XP! Both D3D and GLide! Good luck with them! Bob "When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." _______________________________________________

02-08-2002, 05:59 AM	#3
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	A bit tired with this... Tell me, Hellbound: Do you ever write something positive on other forums? All I ever see from you here is complaints. - Even in the "Post your cat pictures here" topic, you managed to squeeze in something about Creative discontinuing support for your webcam. I don't know if you're familiar with the Smurfs where you live, but to me, you are the Forum's equivalence (sp?) of Grouchy Smurf, the one who is always against what everyone else says. Why don't you read the topics before making your complaints. You've been yapping about people having slower vid cards than you before, - nobody laughed then and nobody laughs now. The story with Voodoo5 cards was/is the superior anti-aliasing and the ability to run certain games who require the Glide API. /Calle OK Morgan, this was a quite clear case of a personal attack, but I'm just so tired with his immature comments.

02-08-2002, 11:33 AM	#4
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	I've e-mailed HellBound about this. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

02-08-2002, 12:20 PM	#5
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,782	I consider the VooDoo 3,4, and 5 series still among the top cards out there, and we'll continue the search for proper drivers for them. Only a year ago, the VooDoo 5500 was a very expensive card, and it would be a shame if users were forced to scrap it already. It's all those millions of Rage Pro cards out there which could use an upgrade. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-08-2002, 12:50 PM	#6
Shinsa Registered Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 407	It's all those millions of Rage Pro cards out there which could use an upgrade. Not to mention the Diamond Viper. A buddy of mine bought one a couple of years ago because it was a 32 MB card. The best he can get the SS doing is 30 FPS @ 640x480! ANYTHING taxes this card!!! Poor guy feels so bad too. My 16 MB Voodoo 3 3500 was out performing his in every test! At about half the price! And as for the Voodoo 5. You can still find them in clearing houses on the WWW for about $100. A good price still. Considering the card was $500 when it came out. [By The Way: does anyone know what the add-on is for the Voodoo 5? there is a connector on the card with (about) 20 pins on it. Looks like a ribbon cable could connect to it. The manual said it was for an add-on, but I can find nothing on the internet about this] Bob "When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." _______________________________________________

02-06-2002, 09:08 AM	#2
Darkfalz Banned Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 24	I flashed mine to 1.15 which was the last official BIOS version (that actually came with Voodoo5 cards) - haven't seen any improvement really, but it hasn't hurt. I even went to the trouble of using my own serial number (in the BIOS) and crc fixing it so I could flash it.

02-08-2002, 01:19 PM	#7
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	What kind of viper? I've got a Diamond Viper TnT Riva 16MB. I get 38fps at 1024x768. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

02-08-2002, 02:18 PM	#8
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Bigger, better, faster, MORE! Hey, all you Voodooers out there! How about owning a true rarity? I stumbled on this baby on eBay. Currently at $980 and the auction closes on Sunday: The 3dfx Voodoo 5 6000 - 128MB. Measuring in at about 11 3/4 inches makes it a BIG card and four video processors, 128 MB RAM and an external power supply (!) means high scores in geek territory... Makes me wish I had a $1000 to spare... /Calle

02-08-2002, 05:02 PM	#9
Shinsa Registered Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 407	Morgan, not sure about the EXACT model. Just that it was a 32MB Diamond Viper II. He paid $199 (at FRY's I think.) I tried to help him with it, and it was one headache after another. We tried drivers, many different drivers. We had so many problems with it I just figured it was just a cheap low quality company. I knew of Diamond, heard goos and bad abouth them, This was my first and only experience with them. After that fiasco, he always talked to me first before buying anything new. It was his first time with a computer, a REAL novice. But he catches on quick, a natural. He's in Korea right now. So wehn he gets back he should have a screaming system! (stuffs dirt cheap over there!) Bob "When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." _______________________________________________

02-08-2002, 06:09 PM	#10
Spyder Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 36	Ahh the good ol' Viper II ... thats after Diamond branched away from the Nvidia TNT chipset and incorporated the Savage3D chipset. I haven't had any experience with them but I did own a Viper 550 (TNT) and Viper 770 (TNT2) and they blew away the fish

02-10-2002, 02:28 AM	#11
Darkfalz Banned Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 24	I still love my Voodoo5, even though it cost me $670 AUD when I bought it (shortly after it came out). I was very saddened by the fact the companied died and I won't ever see the card's full potential since there is no longer driver development for it. But for what I use it for it still serves me very well. Basically I still play UT, Quake 3 and use the Aquarium with it - and I get a fairly solid 85 fps in all three at 1024x768x16. The other thing I use it for is emulation, where not only is it very fast in 2D DirectDraw, but the FSAA mode is EXCELLENT for Direct3D enhanced emulators of N64 and PlayStation.

02-10-2002, 08:46 PM	#12
Shinsa Registered Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 407	Darkfalz, Only 85 FPS @ 1024x768? You should get higher than that. I'm getting about 65 at the res, with 4x FSAA on! Even with only one chip running I get 105 fps, and 165 with both chips running. Bob "When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." _______________________________________________

02-11-2002, 01:47 AM	#13
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Vsync. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

02-11-2002, 02:23 AM	#14
Shinsa Registered Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 407	.... uh... um.... i knew that... Bob "When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." _______________________________________________

02-11-2002, 10:03 PM	#15
Darkfalz Banned Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 24	Originally posted by Shinsa Darkfalz, Only 85 FPS @ 1024x768? You should get higher than that. I'm getting about 65 at the res, with 4x FSAA on! Even with only one chip running I get 105 fps, and 165 with both chips running. I have my screen refresh at 85 and Vsync on. I remember getting around 160-170 with Vsync off, and 120 with calc normals (which I no longer use due to the fact it's glitchy). For some reason I set the SSTH3_SWAPINTERVAL value to 0 in the registry and it didn't turn off the Vsync, perhaps I need to reboot. Btw, the fish look AMAZINGLY realistic with 4xFSAA, but I have to lower refresh rate to 60 Hz to get it smooth. Only problem besides that is it does blur the background.