| Official frequently asked questions (FAQ) on video cards 3dfx Voodoo2 posted by 3dfx to clarify several common doubts expressed by users. |
- What
is Voodoo 2?
- What
are the advantages of V2 over Voodoo Graphics?
- What
are the computer requirements for V2?
- What
games will run on V2?
- My
system has an AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) slot. Will the V2 fit in
there?
- What
is SLI?
- Can
I connect an AGP and a PCI card for SLI? What about a Voodoo
Graphics card with a Voodoo2 card?
- Which
would have better performance, 1 AGP card or 2 PCI cards (with SLI)?
- What
are the memory configurations V2 cards will be available in?
- Can
I use a Voodoo Rush card with V2?
- When
will Voodoo2 be available and how much will it cost?
- Will
the Voodoo 2 be limited to Fullscreen only like the current Voodoo
Graphics cards?
- What
are the requirements for Scan Line Interleaving (SLI)? Can it go
beyond 2 cards?
- Would
2 PCI cards with SLI beat the performance of 1 AGP card?
- How
much faster is the AGP version as opposed to the PCI version? Is the
AGP card 1X or 2X? Is AGP to be released at the same time as PCI?
- Will
there be an upgraded Voodoo2 version of Voodoo Rush, and can this
use SLI?
- Will
3Dfx be dropping their price of the first Voodoo Graphics chipsets
to OEMs?
- Any
Voodoo2-ready software you are allowed to mention at this time?
- An
article states that one can get upwards of 110 fps on Quake 2. What
hardware was used, the resolution, the operating system, as well as
the software settings used (if any), and was this with/out VSYNC?
- Will
100Mhz motherboards be supported?
- Although
the polygon calculation capability has gone by 3 times, the fill
rate has only gone up by twice the original amount. Does this mean
that overall performance can only go up by the same amount?
- Although
the original chipset was supposed to be capable of 1 million
polygons per second and 45 million pixel fill rate, most reviews
with performance stats indicated that real world performance was
half these figures. Will the same be true again?
- How
does the Voodoo 2 compare to the Sega model 3 arcade board, which
itself is rated at a real world performance of 1 million polygons
per second?
- Isn't
the Voodoo2 supposed to more processor dependent than the original?
If so, then what would be the performance difference (for the
Voodoo2) between a Pentium based system and a Pentium 2 based
system?
- How
much memory, and what types of memory will it have (ie. if it has 6
mb of RAM, is that 2 of Frame buffer and 4 of texture, etc.)? Can
the memory be user-expandable?
- Will
Voodoo2 cards support TV-out, like the Canopus Pure3D? Is Canopus
planning a Voodoo2 release?
- Will
V2 have any new features to make the graphics look better?
- Any
support for the following:24 bit rendering; more than 3 frame
buffers; bump mapping; edge anti-aliasing; anisotropic filtering;
multipass environmental effects (e.g. shadows and reflections)?
- Will
non-Intel owners have the same decrease in performance with Voodoo2
as they do with current Voodoo Graphics?
- Since
the rough estimate of polygons needed to fully create a 3d world to
fully life like realism is 80 million polygons a second, how soon
before 3dfx matches this?
- Does
Voodoo2 support 960 x 720 resolutions?
- Can
an SLI pair of Voodoo2 cards span empty PCI slots?
- When
do we hear about Banshee?
- How
can I buy a graphics cards which uses the Voodoo Graphics chipset?
- Do
I still need a 2D accelerator card with my Voodoo Graphics-based
card?
- Which
2D accelerators are compatible with my Voodoo Graphics-based card?
- What
games/applications support Voodoo Graphics?
- Are
there any incompatibilities with Cyrix 686 systems?
- I
have an S3 968/868 based video card in my system. Why am I having
problems?
- How
can I fix it?
- Does
Voodoo Graphics support OpenGL?
- Does
Voodoo Graphics support Windows NT 4.0?
- What
about the MAC?
- What
about Linux? BeOS? DEC Alpha? Solaris?
- Are
the Voodoo Graphics chips on the various boards the SAME chips that
are in the arcade machines?
- What
are the differences between the Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush
chipsets?
- What
is an Obsidian board? How is it different from the Monster 3D and
Righteous 3D cards?
1. What is Voodoo
2?
Voodoo 2 is the next generation of Voodoo Graphics. It is a full-screen
3D-only solution that will use an external pass-through cable to connect
to your computer's existing video card. We believe Voodoo2 will be
faster and more powerfull than any other 3d product available for the
home PC.
2. What are the
advantages of V2 over Voodoo Graphics?
Mainly in speed and multiple textures per pixel. It is estimated that
V2's performance will be around 3 times that of Voodoo Graphics. It will
also be able to higher resolutions then Voodoo Graphics, up to 1024 X
768. These improvements will allow game designers to create more complex
3D environments and characters, resulting in more stunning visuals.
Multiple textures per pixel allows for enhanced special effects, single
pass trilinear filtering, and improved performance.
3. What are the computer
requirements for V2?
The same as for Voodoo Graphics, which is a Pentium 90 or higher with 16
megs of RAM or more and a 2.1 compliant PCI bus. REMEMBER that the
software for the V2 may have DIFFERENT requirements to run properly....
4. What games will run
on V2?
All games using Microsoft's Direct3D API, plus most all games running
the current version of 3Dfx's Glide API (a couple older Glide games will
need to be recompiled to the newer version of Glide, specifically; games
compiled or statically linked to the Glide1.dll). Games that use the
Quake engine will run great using its OpenGl mini-driver. Quake has been
tested at up to 116fps on a Pentium2-266 and V2! For the most part every
game that runs on Voodoo Rush and all the main games on Voodoo Graphics
will be even better on V2! There are over 400 games available or in
development.
5. My system has an AGP
(Advanced Graphics Port) slot. Will the V2 fit in there?
Yes, Voodoo2 technology can utilize the AGP slot in what is called
"PCI 66 mode". This simply means the V2 will work in the AGP
slot at the 66mhz bus rate instead of 33mhz bus rate of the PCI slot.
Beyond that, it would be identical to the PCI version It is up to the
companies that make the V2 card to create the AGP version.
6. What is SLI?
SLI stands for Scan Line Interleaving. This means if you have 2 PCI
cards from the same company, you can connect them together using a
supplied internal cable. One of the cards would display the odd number
fields, and the other card would display the even number fields. This
will almost double the fill rate performance of Voodoo2.
7. Can I connect an AGP
and a PCI card for SLI? What about a Voodoo Graphics card with a Voodoo2
card?
No and no. The only way to get SLI is to have 2 identical cards from the
same manufacturer. SLI is limited to 2 PCI cards.
8. Which would have
better performance, 1 AGP card or 2 PCI cards (with SLI)?
This depends upon the application's bottlenecks. If the application is
bus limited, AGP may be faster than SLI. If the application is fill rate
limited and not CPU bound, SLI may be faster. In general SLI will have
better performance than AGP in fill rate.
9. What are the memory
configurations V2 cards will be available in?
This is up to the manufacturers and has not been announced yet. Voodoo2
supports from 2 to 4 MB of EDO frame buffer memory per card, and from 2
to 4 MB of EDO memory for each texture processor per card. This makes
the possible configurations: 2/2/2, 4/2/2, 2/4/4, and 4/4/4.
10. Can I use a Voodoo
Rush card with V2?
Yes. Any 2D card will work with V2. In the case of Voodoo Rush and
Voodoo2 in the same machine you would choose Voodoo2 when the game
begins.
11. When will Voodoo2
be available and how much will it cost?
Diamond Multimedia is the first company to announce they will be
producing a Voodoo2 card. It is expected to ship at the end of the first
Quarter of 1998. They have not announced a suggested price yet; the
current guess is somewhere around $300. Creative Labs, Jazz Multimedia,
Orchid, Canopus and others will all announce plans for Voodoo2 based
products @ Comdex.
12. Will the Voodoo 2
be limited to Fullscreen only like the current Voodoo Graphics cards?
Yes, Voodoo2 is a full-screen, 3d-only accelerator. It can make use of a
pass-through cable to connect your 2D card to the Voodoo2's 3D, all to
the same display. You can make use of a two input monitor and use the
monitor's controls to select the Voodoo2's output, or that of the 2d
controller.
13. What are the
requirements for Scan Line Interleaving (SLI)? Can it go beyond 2 cards?
Voodoo2 requires two open PCI cards; two identical Voodoo2 based cards
from the same manufacturer, and Voodoo2 drivers. Scan Line Interleaving
is limited to two cards.
14. Would 2 PCI cards
with SLI beat the performance of 1 AGP card?
Depends on the application. If the application is bus bandwidth limited
and not fill rate limited, an AGP solution could be faster. If the
application is fill rate limited, and not processor bound, SLI could
outperform AGP.
15. How much faster is
the AGP version as opposed to the PCI version? Is the AGP card 1X or 2X?
Is AGP to be released at the same time as PCI?
Voodoo2 is AGP 1x compatible. The card works in an AGP 1x mode without
sidebands, pipelining, texturing from AGP, etc. It treats AGP as a 66
MHz PCI bus. The actual release dates for implementations are up to our
OEMs. It is likely that PCI will ship first, as there are many more open
PCI slots than AGP slots.
16. Will there be an
upgraded Voodoo2 version of Voodoo Rush, and can this use SLI?
No. Voodoo Rush uses different technology, and is not capable of SLI.
17. Will 3Dfx be
dropping their price of the first Voodoo Graphics chipsets to OEMs?
3Dfx cannot announce any pricing activity, sorry.
18. Any Voodoo2-ready
software you are allowed to mention at this time?
Other than glQuake, Quake2 and games based on the Quake engine, no.
Sorry. Look for more @ Comdex. At Comdex we will be demonstrating:
glQuake, Quake2, Half Life, Earth Siege 3, Riot, SiN, Hexen 2, Die by
the Sword, Messiah, Sacrafice, Jetfighter 3, Inreal, Tanarus, Blood 2,
Ultimate Race Pro, Incoming, MS Baseball, MS Flight Simulator, Longbow
2, Wing Commander Prophecy, NHL Hockey '98, Myth, Need for Speed 2 SE,
Heavy Gear, Andretti Racing, Turok, Cart Racing, Newfire's Torch and
Catalyst, Motion Factory's Motivate.
19. An article states
that one can get upwards of 110 fps on Quake 2. What hardware was used,
the resolution, the operating system, as well as the software settings
used (if any), and was this with/out VSYNC?
Pentium 2 @ 266. 440FX chipset. 64MB EDO DRAM. WindowsNT4. Voodoo2
bringup board (4/4/4 config) @ 90 Mhz. No VSYNC. glQuake with
multitexture extensions. 640 x 480 window size. Viewsize 120. No sound.
No VSYNC simply means that swapbuffer commands are not held pending for
VSYNC to avoid idling the graphics engine waiting on monitor refresh.
20. Will 100Mhz
motherboards be supported?
100Mhz what? 100 Mhz Front-side bus? Yes. 100 MHz SDRAM? Yes.
21. Although the
polygon calculation capability has gone by 3 times, the fill rate has
only gone up by twice the original amount. Does this mean that overall
performance can only go up by the same amount?
No. It depends on the bottleneck. Full triangle setup in hardware offers
many things. Higher triangle rates, lower CPU utilization, etc... If the
content is fill rate limited, and not triangle or CPU limited, Voodoo2
could offer 2x or more the performance. The reason I say more is that if
the game is using multipass rendering (as glQuake does), the second pass
can be eliminated by making use of the two textures per pixel
functionality of Voodoo2, which could offer up to 4x the performance...
22. Although the
original chipset was supposed to be capable of 1 million polygons per
second and 45 million pixel fill rate, most reviews with performance
stats indicated that real world performance was half these figures. Will
the same be true again?
Voodoo1's triangle rate is 1Mtris/sec, most games ran at less than half
of that speed since games need a significant percentage of the CPU for
game logic and the like. We have measured, in the real world, 3M
triangles/sec and 90 Mpixels. We expect real games to reach and even
exceed 1Mtris/sec, in fact they may approach 1.5Mtris/sec on fast CPUs.
This should be easy to accomplish since Voodoo2 supports full triangle
setup in hardware. We actually have measured 2.7Mtris/sec on a simple
loop on a P5-166.
23. How does the Voodoo
2 compare to the Sega model 3 arcade board, which itself is rated at a
real world performance of 1 million polygons per second?
Higher triangle rate. The Sega model three supports hardware lighting
and hardware full scene antialiasing, along with more texture memory and
a significant difference in price.
24. Isn't the Voodoo2
supposed to more processor dependent than the original? If so, then what
would be the performance difference (for the Voodoo2) between a Pentium
based system and a Pentium 2 based system?
Voodoo2 should be LESS processor dependent that the original, since
Voodoo2 incorporates full triangle setup, relieving the processor of
those duties. It is true that it is unlikely than a lower performance
processor will be capable of providing the data rates required to reach
peak performance of Voodoo2, but in terms of aggregate performance,
Voodoo2 is less processor dependent than Voodoo1.
25. How much memory,
and what types of memory will it have (ie. if it has 6 mb of RAM, is
that 2 of Frame buffer and 4 of texture, etc.)? Can the memory be
user-expandable?
Voodoo2 can be configured with 2 to 4 MB of EDO frame buffer memory, and
2 to 4 MB of EDO texture memory per texture processor. Each texture
processor needs to have the same amount of memory. So configurations
could be: 2/2/2, 2/4/4, 4/2/2, or 4/4/4. Designing user-expandable cards
is difficult with designs running at this frequency, but not impossible.
It is up to individual OEM's to build specific implementations of
products based on Voodoo2 technology.
26. Will Voodoo2 cards
support TV-out, like the Canopus Pure3D? Is Canopus planning a Voodoo2
release?
They could, that functionality is supported. It is up to individual
OEM's to provide those implementations. I can't comment about Canopus,
sorry.
27. Will V2 have any
new features to make the graphics look better?
? Multiple textures (2) per pixel in a single pass. This allows for all
sorts of interesting special effects such as; lighting maps (ala
glQuake), detail textures, shadow maps, simulated bump mapping,
reflection maps, environment maps, etc... With the increases in fill
rates we feel that edge antialiasing becomes more feasable as well. In
addition, if utilizing the multiple textures per pixel functionality
makes a game that previously required multipass into a single pass game
(as it does with glQuake), image quality will be improved as it will
prevent the write and read to the 16-bit frame buffer. We have also
improved the quality of our filtering.
28. Any support for the
following: 24 bit rendering; more than 3 frame buffers; bump mapping;
edge anti-aliasing; anisotropic filtering; multipass environmental
effects (e.g. shadows and reflections)?
24 bit rendering? Yes. All rendering is calculated internally at 32-bit
RGBA or higher precision, but all writes to the frame buffer at 16-bits,
and the frame buffer only displays 16-bits worth of data. More than 3
frame buffers? No. Bump mapping? Yes, through texture mapping. Not
"true" phong bump mapping, but virtually indistinguishable.
Edge anti-aliasing? Yes. Anisotropic filtering? No, but single pass
trilinear filtering is supported. Multipass environmental effects (e.g.
shadows and reflections)? Yes, actually many of those multipass effects
can now be done in a single pass with the 2 texture per pixel
functionality.
29. Will non-Intel
owners have the same decrease in performance with Voodoo2 as they do
with current Voodoo Graphics?
That depends on the floating-point performance of those processors, but
in general Voodoo2 should be less processor dependent than Voodoo1 due
to its full triangle setup in hardware.
30. Since the rough
estimate of polygons needed to fully create a 3d world to fully life
like realism is 80 million polygons a second, how soon before 3dfx
matches this?
Ummmm, sooner than anyone else we hope!
31. Does Voodoo2
support 960 x 720 resolutions?
Unfortunately not, that resolution is only supported with 2 boards
running in SLI with 4MB frame buffers on each. Voodoo2 requires that the
amount of memory for a particular resolution must be such that the
vertical and horizontal resolutions must be evenly divisible by 32. (The
video refresh controller, though can output any particular resolution,
but the "virtual" size required for the memory footprint must
be in dimensions evenly divisible by 32). So, 960x720 actually requires
960x736 amount of memory. 960x736x2x3 = 4.04MBytes
32. Can an SLI pair of
Voodoo2 cards span empty PCI slots?
Yes, Voodoo2 will function in SLI mode in non-contiguous PCI slots as
long as the SLI cable is long enough to reach between the two cards. The
current cable length is 3.1".
33. When do we hear
about Banshee?
In the immortal words of John Carmack: "When it's done." :)
34. How can I buy a
graphics cards which uses the Voodoo Graphics chipset?
Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush-based cards are currently available from
several different board manufacturers. Check Voodoo
for Sale for specific information.
35. Do I still need a
2D accelerator card with my Voodoo Graphics-based card?
Yes, Voodoo Graphics is a 3D-only accelerator. Voodoo Rush on the other
hand is a 3D accelerator that is incorporated on a 2D video card - an
additional 2D board is therefore not required for Voodoo Rush
36. Which 2D
accelerators are compatible with my Voodoo Graphics-based card?
Most popular 2D accelerator cards will work with your Voodoo
Graphics-based card.
37. What
games/applications support Voodoo Graphics?
See our Software
Titles page for titles that are currently available and under
development.
38. Are there any
incompatibilities with Cyrix 686 systems?
No. Our original demos were compiled with Pentium-specific instructions
which would not run on Cyrix 686 chips. This has been since corrected.
Updated demos are available from the 3Dfx website under software
updates.
39. I have an S3
968/868 based video card in my system. Why am I having problems?
Some S3 968/ 868 based boards report that they are using 32 MB of frame
buffer memory when they are actually using 64. When your Voodoo
Graphics-based card attempts to find a free range of memory to claim for
memory-mapped IO, this range overlaps the range actually in use by the
S3 card.
40. How can I fix it?
Click here for S3FIX- a self-extracting zip file. Follow the README instructions.
41. Does Voodoo
Graphics support OpenGL?
We have released a DLL that is a subset of OpenGL that is specifically
designed to run GLQuake under Win32. A more complete OpenGL
implementation under development is slated for release later this year.
42. Does Voodoo
Graphics support Windows NT 4.0?
Yes, our proprietary API, Glide, supports NT 4.0. Direct3D and OpenGL
drivers for Windows NT 4.0 are in development.
43. What about the MAC?
The TechWorks Power3D card, for any PCI-based PowerMac, is based on
Voodoo Graphics. For specific requirements and compatibility
information, please see the TechWorks website at www.techworks.com
44. What about Linux?
BeOS? DEC Alpha? Solaris?
It's amazing how many folks have a favorite platform. Many of us here do
also. We're thinking about all of these seriously-- in some cases we may
even have prototype drivers up in the lab. But nothing to announce...
yet.
45. Are the Voodoo
Graphics chips on the Monster3D and Righteous3D boards the SAME chips
that are in the arcade machines?
Absolutely. That is, after all, the point.
46. What are the
differences between the Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush chipsets?
The basic difference is that Voodoo Rush works with a compatible windows
accelerator to perform 3D in a window, while Voodoo Graphics performs
full screen 3D only. 3D performance of Voodoo Rush is similar to Voodoo
Graphics.
47. What is an Obsidian
board? How is it different from the Monster 3D and Righteous 3D cards?
Obsidian is actually the name of a FAMILY of 3D graphics boards
developed for professional applications. The Obsidian boards are used by
OEMs, system integrators, and VARs who deploy Obsidian-based bundles or
systems in coin-op/arcade, LBE, visual simulation and 3D design markets.
The main differences are in the NUMBER of Voodoo Graphics chips that the
board features, the AMOUNT OF MEMORY associated with each chip, and the
PRICE. Please contact Quantum3D
for more information.
- What are the system requirements for the V2-1000 adapter?
- Will the V2-1000 adapter run with my existing display adapter?
- Will the V2-1000 adapter work as a stand alone display adapter?
- In the "System Info" utility of the 3dfx Voodoo2 tab, my adapter
only reads 8 MB of Texture memory. Where is the 12 MB EDO Memory?
- What is SLI?
- What are the requirements for the Scan Line Interleaving (SLI)?
Can it go beyond 2 cards?
- What is the maximum resolution that the V2-1000 can do for
gaming?
- What color mode should I be running in order to get the V2-1000
adapter to function properly?
- The 3dfx Voodoo2 tab disappeared. How do I correct this?
- Does the Voodoo2 run
under the Linux environment and does 3dfx support the adapter under
that environment?
- Does 3dfx provide a Voodoo2 driver for the Mac environment,
and does 3dfx support it?
- I am having trouble using SLI mode with my Voodoo2 cards.
What are some trouble-shooting steps?
- If I run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool (DxDiag) on the "Display"
tab for the V2 1000, it reports that I have around 12 MB of memory.
I am running two V2 1000's in SLI mode, shouldn't it report that I have
24 MB?
- How do I know that SLI mode is working ?
- Does the V2 1000 require an IRQ?
- When I try to change the resolution on the Voodoo2 tab in
my Display Properties, it always defaults back to 640x480. Is my card
not working correctly?
- The V2 1000 seemed to install OK, but it's not listed in the
Device Manager under "Display Adapters."
- The first time that I booted up, the system detected the V2
1000, but I can't find it in the Device Manager.
1. What are the system requirements for the V2 1000 adapter?
A Pentium 90 or higher with 16 megs of RAM or more and a 2.1 compliant
PCI bus. Remember that the software for the V2 may have different requirements
to run properly.
2. Will
the V2 1000 adapter run with my existing display adapter?
Yes, the V2 1000 adapter is designed to run with the current display
adapter that is in the system.
3. Will the V2 1000 adapter work as a stand alone display adapter?
No, the V2 1000 adapter is not a stand alone display adapter. The V2
1000 adapter requires a primary adapter installed into the computer
in order to function.
4. In the "System Info" utility of the 3dfx Voodoo2 tab, my adapter only
reads 8 MB of Texture memory. Where is the 12 MB EDO Memory??
The system information will read 4 MB of Frame Buffer and 8 MB of Texture
memory. So 4+8 = a total of 12 MB.
5. What is SLI?
SLI stands for Scan Line Interleaving. This means if you have 2 PCI
cards from the same company, you can connect them together using a supplied
internal cable. One of the cards would display the odd number fields,
and the other card would display the even number fields. This will almost
double the fill rate performance of Voodoo2.
6. What are the requirements for the Scan Line Interleaving (SLI)? Can
it go beyond 2 cards?
Voodoo2 requires two open PCI slots, two identical Voodoo2 based cards
from the same manufacturer, and Voodoo2 drivers. Scan Line Interleaving
is limited to two cards.
7. What
is the maximum resolution that the V2-1000 can do for gaming?
The V2 1000 adapter in single adapter mode can do up to 800x600 resolution
in the games, and in SLI mode the adapters can go up to 1024x768 mode.
When using SLI mode, please check in the utilities section of the 3dfx
Voodoo2 tab that the SLI mode is enabled.
8. What
color mode should I be running in order to get the V2 1000 adapter to
function properly?
This depends upon the application's bottlenecks. If the application
is bus limited, AGP may be faster than SLI. If the application is fill
rate limited and not CPU bound, SLI may be faster. In general SLI will
have better performance than AGP in fill rate.
9. The
3dfx Voodoo2 tab disappeared. How do I correct this?
To correct this you will need to shut the computer down, open up the
case, remove the Voodoo2 adapter, and then restart the computer. Once
the computer is restarted, go into the device manager and check under
"sound, video, game controllers" section. Make sure that the 3dfx Voodoo2
adapter is not there. If it is still there, remove the adapter by highlighting
it and clicking the "remove" button.
Once that is done, you will need to start the regedit program by going
to "Start" and choosing "Run". Type in "regedit". Then perform a find
for the following: "3dfx", "glide", and "Fxmemmap". Remove all entries
that start with any of those. Close out of regedit and do a "file find"
for the same three names and remove those as well. Reboot the computer
to make sure that the system boots normally. Then shut it down and reinstall
the adapter and install the latest drivers from http://www.3dfxgamers.com/view.asp?PAGE=V2drivers.
This should solve the issue that you are having. If the problem persists,
there could be a possible hardware defect.
10. Does the Voodoo2 run under the Linux environment and does 3dfx support
the adapter under that environment?
3dfx has provided a reference driver which is available at
Voodoo2
Linux page,
but at this time the drivers are not supported direct by 3dfx Technical
Support. Should you have any problems arising from the use of these
drivers, it is recommended that you direct your questions to the 3dfx
Linux newsgroups.
11. Does 3dfx provide a Voodoo2 driver for the Mac environment, and does
3dfx support it?
3dfx provides a reference driver for the Mac 8.X operating system. These
drivers are not supported by 3dfx Technical Support.
12. I am having trouble using SLI mode with my Voodoo2 cards. What are some
trouble-shooting steps?
First of all, make sure that both cards are listed in the Device Manager
under the "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers" section. Also, ensure
that both cards are using the same driver.
If you are experiencing crashes or lock-ups, a good way to test and
see if it's a hardware problem is to use one Voodoo2 card by itself,
and see if you still have the problem. Then swap the cards, using the
other Voodoo2 by itself. If the problem you are having still happens
with each card individually, you most likely have a software problem.
If the problem only happens with one of the cards, you most likely have
a hardware problem with that card.
13. If I run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool (DxDiag) on the "Display" tab for
the V2 1000, it reports that I have around 12 MB of memory. I am running
two V2 1000's in SLI mode, shouldn't it report that I have 24 MB?
With one V2 1000 by itself, or two in SLI mode, the DirectX diagnostic
tool will only report that there is 12 MB of memory for the V2. This
does not mean that SLI mode is not working. See the next question to
test if the SLI mode is working properly.
14. How
do I know that SLI mode is working?
The easiest way to find out is to play a 3d game that lets you choose
the resolution you wish to use. If you can use resolutions higher than
800x600, then your SLI mode is working.
15. Does
the V2 1000 require an IRQ?
No, the V2 1000 PCI does not need an IRQ to function.
16. When
I try to change the resolution on the Voodoo2 tab in my Display Properties,
it always defaults back to 640x480. Is my card not working correctly?
This is a common misunderstanding. When you change the resolution on
the Voodoo2 tab, you are only selecting the resolution's settings that
you want to modify, not which resolution you want to use. For example,
move the slider up to 800 by 600, and set the refresh rate at 75Hz.
After pressing "Ok" and opening the Voodoo2 tab up again, the slider
will be back to 640 by 480. This is normal. If you move the slider back
up to 800 by 600, you'll notice that the refresh rate will still be
at the setting that you had given it previously, 75Hz.
If you want to play a certain game at 800 by 600 resolution, that choice
must be made inside the game's video options.
17. The
V2 1000 seemed to install OK, but it's not listed in the Device Manager
under "Display Adapters."
The V2 1000 is not a full video card; it is only a 3d accelerator. For
this reason it will not be listed under the "Display Adapters" section.
It will be listed in the "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers" section.
18. The
first time that I booted up, the system detected the V2 1000, but I
can't find it in the Device Manager.
If the drivers aren't installed, the V2 1000 will appear as a "PCI Multimedia
Device." It will either be in the "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers"
section, or the "Other Devices" section.
Copyright 2000, 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
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Voodoo2 
