Voodoo 5 5500 PCI

[x56h34]

Is it worth it, compared to Voodoo 3 3000 PCI, as far as Amiga/Mediator usage goes?

I have a chance of getting this card, but I remember that a few years ago or so the support and functionality within the Amiga/Mediator/Warp3D world was far better for Voodoo 3 than 5.

Also, would the Mac version of it work with Mediator, or must I get a PC specific version?

Thanks.

[kolla]

All I can say is that I never really got mine working, so I'm getting a voodoo3 now to test with. All the PCI cards works fine, but the display signal from the voodoo is just weird no matter what I do.

[redrumloa]

IMO don't waste your money on a Voodoo 5 5000. I use one in my Pegasos simply because I got it for free. There are no 3D drivers for it and even if Elbox claims their Voodoo 3 drivers work(which Im not sure if they do), it would probablhy work slower anyhow. The Voodoo 5 5000 has 2 3D chips and the Amiga(ish) can only touch one of them.

[x56h34]

Just as I expected...
Thanks for your replies, guys. :-)

I guess I'll be sticking to Voodoo 3 3000.

[reflect]

even if it can only use one of them (which I'm not sure about, the voodoo might have some logic that makes it transparant to the driver, that's the whole philosophy that 3Dfx was about) it DOES have quite alot more memory.. v3 has 16, v5 has 64..

[adolescent]

From what I've read on the Mediator list it's not really worth it.  The extra memory and processer aren't used.  The card also runs in Voodoo3 compatibility mode (unless a native driver is released now).  Also, it's also huge and requires extra power.  I think you can use the Mac card, but you'll have to flash it with a PC BIOS first.

[haymiggan]

I have a V5500 and a V3000, and I must say that i prefer my V3 atm, i can't get the picture on V5 to be as sharp as on V3.

It may just be a matter of fine tunning some screenmode settings, as the guy i got the card from, lempkee, said picture quality was great.

But yes, it requires power from the tower, guess to run those TWO fans on the chips...which in my opinion makes too much noise.

Also, it's so huge that if you have an E-Box + Mediator PCI 1200, it can't be in slot 1 because of its length.

[SWAUG]

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread.

We use Voodoo 5 5500 PCI's.  They work fine in the Mediator and Mediator 1200 SX systems.

The picture problem is solved by using the latest drivers from Elbox.  That was solved about 8 months ago.

The memory isn't fully used by Picasso96.  You can only use upto 32Mb from the 64Mb available.

The speed is faster on occasion than the Voodoo 3000,  we performed tests last year on Payback and the Voodoo 5500 system was more fluid than on the Voodoo 3000 system.

We havent found an occasion where the speed has been deteremented by the Voodoo 5500.

[darksun9210]

yeah 2D is fine. but the 3D support doth sucketh

so sayeth i.

if you want a fully supported card in terms of both 2D and 3D, then the Voodoo3 3000 is the one to go for.

can someone bug nvidia or ati for driver info please?!?  :-D

[quenthal]

There might be little difference performance wise between V3 and V5. However, there is one difference that I think makes Voodoo 5 more desirable.

You may well know, that Voodoo 3 supports only 16bit colors with 3D, while Voodoo 4 and 5 can use 32bit color screenmodes with 3D. With Voodoo3 you can't run for example Quake2 in window in 32bit Workbench. So you have to use "only" 16bit desktop if you wan't to watch demos/play games (3D). This limitation makes also impossible to use your tv-card in a window with a game/demo on window too, 16bit is just now enough.

[darksun9210]

uh huh, yeah thats great an all IF you have the drivers for it. but AFAIK, the miggy Voodoo5 drivers are botched Voodoo3 drivers. and yes yes it supports 32bit colour mode. woopy doo.

but in 3D! the AMIGA Voodoo5 driver is pretty much the same as the Voodoo3 driver relying on the Voodoo5 chip on the board to emulate the Voodoo3 instructions, so you are NOT running the SINGLE chip at even its best performance. let alone the second V5 chip.

sorry, just taken a crappy customer support call and missed my ciggy break so now i have to wait till 1pm for lunch! ARGH!