The 3dfx Voodoo 4 & 5 represent the latest, &
last, graphics cards from 3dfx. You can read our in-depth Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
review here
(Albeit it with most pictures lost after a server change). Although they are
already very fast (Even faster with the latest drivers), particularly when FSAA
is enabled (in comparison to other cards capable of it that is) you can
still do quite a few things to improve performance &/or image quality.
This guide has been prepared in
Windows 9x/Me & Windows 2000 using the latest drivers (Although it will
apply just fine to previous or newer driver releases).
Where appropriate alternative driver download locations are listed.
Drivers
You should start by downloading the
latest drivers for the Voodoo 4/5 you can find the latest Windows 9x\Me driver here,
the latest Windows 2000 driver here
& the latest NT4 driver here. Should you need drivers for other Operating Systems
(Or different versions) then try Voodoo
Files. Once these are installed you might
also want to try the new beta drivers from x3dfx,
although you must have a current driver installed before installing
these. NOTE - Before you install the x3dfx drivers ensure you backup your
current 3dfxvs.dll/3dfxvs.vxd
(Depending on which Operating System is installed). Once the x3dfx driver is installed then replace
their
3dfxvs.dll (Or 3dfxvs.vxd) with the version you backed up. This is because the x3dfx
Direct3D driver is basically messed up.
You also should have DirectX
8 or later installed also.
You may also want to try the WickedGL
for OpenGL games, particularly Quake 3 engine games (such as FAKK 2) as it can
give better performance & visual quality than the 3dfx OpenGL driver. Those
of you playing older Quake 1/2 engine games may find that the 3dfx
MiniGL 1.49 delivers significantly better performance than the 3dfx
OpenGL driver in those games too.
Troubleshooting
There
may be some
incompatibilities between the Voodoo 4/5 & some games. To rectify these problems there is usually a patch
available for the game. Try Fileplanet
for game patches.
If you are encountering issues with
installing 3dfx Tools (or rather you just can’t). Take the following steps.
1.Uninstall
the current (If any) 3dfx Tools installation. This is required & you should
have already done this.
2.Ensure you have the latest Windows Installer
installed. The latest version is 1.2 & is already included with Windows
2000. You can download it from Windows 9x/Me here
& Windows NT 4 here.
3.Install the latest version of Internet
Explorer. This is required for the installer to function correctly as well.
Although you don’t need the latest version it is recommended as these
are better optimized than the 4.x versions.
4.Reboot & re-attempt installation. If it
still fails to install try the remaining steps;
5.Open x:\Program
Files\Common Files\, where x represents the appropriate drive letter,
e.g. C. Rename the InstallShield folder to InstallShieldBackup (Or
something like that).
6.Re-attempt installation. The
renamed directory will be re-created during the install procedure.
Check the BIOS
guide for optimized BIOS settings that can improve your graphics
cards performance & may also fix some problems that can occur. 3dfx also
recommends that you Disable
– Hidden refresh, Byte merge,
VGA palette snoop, DAC
snoop & any Caching/Shadowing.
If you are experiencing problems
with an AMD based system running Soldier
of Fortune try adding/editing the following line to your config.cfg file (located in the SoF\user\ directory). set
ghl_no_texture_stack "1".
If
you are having difficulty running your Voodoo 4/5 on an overclocked AGP bus
(i.e. running at greater than 66Mhz). Try the following BIOS settings (as
suggested by Reverend): 1. Increase
the I/O voltage in the BIOS. 2. Increase the CPU voltage in
the BIOS. 3. Toggle SDRAM Precharge Control, i.e. if Enabled, try Disabled
& vice versa.
