Which is better, BVision PPC or Voodoo3 ?

[tribz]

Assuming I have the hardware to run both on a 1200 tower, which is best (speed and resolution) ... a bvision or a voodoo3? Or even a Voodoo Banshee?

Thanks
tribz

[cv643d]

Depends on what kind of bussboard you intend to run.

I found BVisionPPC to be faster than Voodoo3 on Mediator for example.

Bvision can run upto 1600x1200 but the screen is very fuzzy, so a graphics board with DVI is much better (I guess).

[tribz]

Thanks for the input, dont think I'll be going higher that 1280x1024.

[Piru]

Bvision can run upto 1600x1200 but the screen is very fuzzy

I fixed that problem by improving the insulation of the cable between the BVision and the VGA-connector.

[cv643d]

Im actually thinking of making a completely new cable by using shielded TP-cable, dont know how much improvement that would be though.

[orange]

um, and how do you improve insulation Piru? by cutting down some wires?


@cv643d
is 9 wires enough?
maybe its better to butcher some old monitor cable..

[Vulture]

Actually, while BvisionPPC *maybe* a little bit faster on desktop and video playback than a Voodoo on Mediator with 8mb window set, on anything warp3d Voodoo is much faster. And thanks to Voodoo's 16mb compared to Bvsion's 8mb, you have more space for opened screens.

[cv643d]

Orange: I was thinking of running double cables or even a single TP-cable for every signal comming from BVision.

Vulture wrote:
Actually, while BvisionPPC *maybe* a little bit faster on desktop and video playback than a Voodoo on Mediator with 8mb window set, on anything warp3d Voodoo is much faster. And thanks to Voodoo's 16mb compared to Bvsion's 8mb, you have more space for opened screens.

While that might be true (which I have no reason not to believe)on most things on the desktop that moves, it is much faster on the BVision and sometimes slower than AGA on the Voodoo. For example EaglePlayer/Deliplayer graphic visualisers, scrolling in browsers etc, running a big shell screen you can notice that when scrolling large chunks of text. I dont remember the issues in detail anymore because I sold my Mediator so soon. But there were some topics about these issues on the Mediator mailing list without no known solution.

[Piru]

@orange

um, and how do you improve insulation Piru? by cutting down some wires?

Much of the blur problem originates from the crosstalk of the cable.

I carefully removed the connector on one end of the cable and removed the plastic tube covering the actual cable. I insulated each wire separately by using the insulator from 10BASE2 cable I ripped open. Put back the connector and it's done.

It made 1600x1200x16 mode usable.

[orange]

oh, I see now, Piru. thanks for the tip.

@cv643d
but twisted pair is used for different frequencies. It would probably be better to use some specialized video cable like factory made SCART2SCART.

[Vulture]

@cv643d

yup, that's true about the visualizers, but Browsers scroll very fast, my vinced and kcon shell are rapid as well. I guess some programs are coded in a weird way. Also, some ppl may have speed issues if they've set the memory window on mediator at 4mb. I've found out that, contrary to what the manual says, the window can be at 8mb at all times with a compatible accelerator even if a pcmcia is present. Sure, in this case there are glitches (ie in Shapeshifter), but even then there's always that nice "remcards" blizkick module to disable anything at the pcmcia with a reboot and keep the speed of 8mb without problems.

[arkanoid]

I owned them both and the BVision is a bit faster. If you can't get hold of a BVision then you wont notice a difference in speed during usage, it's only really when you start software benchmarking and can view concrete figures.

If you have a Mediator then I would say the best card to get is a Voodoo 3 (in particular, the 3000 model) as the 3000's drivers are more mature.

[delshay]

cv643d wrote:
Orange: I was thinking of running double cables or even a single TP-cable for every signal comming from BVision.

Vulture wrote:
Actually, while BvisionPPC *maybe* a little bit faster on desktop and video playback than a Voodoo on Mediator with 8mb window set, on anything warp3d Voodoo is much faster. And thanks to Voodoo's 16mb compared to Bvsion's 8mb, you have more space for opened screens.

While that might be true (which I have no reason not to believe)on most things on the desktop that moves, it is much faster on the BVision and sometimes slower than AGA on the Voodoo. For example EaglePlayer/Deliplayer graphic visualisers, scrolling in browsers etc, running a big shell screen you can notice that when scrolling large chunks of text. I dont remember the issues in detail anymore because I sold my Mediator so soon. But there were some topics about these issues on the Mediator mailing list without no known solution.

the Bvision can be improved with a faster bus speed. during testing i found dual 67.666Mhz fitted to the Blizzard PPC seems to work better than say 68Mhz ( overclocked 240Mhz PPC )

there a clear improvment in 3d perfomance. to get this you also need to go to the Blizzard PPC Ram menu & switch all to *no precharge*

WARNING: with faster OSC & the memory switch in that mode you can damage you simms or your Blizzard PPC card if you dont have the right cooling.

four microchips on the Blizzard PPC needs cooling.

test done with OS3.9

[Vulture]

@delshay

"four microchips on the Blizzard PPC needs cooling."



Which ones? I mean, obviously the PPC and 68k (no?), what others need cooling?

[orange]

maybe one of them is SCSI chip. and I believe there is one tiny chip/component below the PPC heatsink, in the corner. some say that you should put thermal paste on it so that heatsink cools it better, too.