Well I figured out why the Intel 82810 integrated graphics was able to run GTAIII with only 3MB of onboard video memory.  That is because it is equipped with Dynamic Video Memory which uses up to 32MB of system memory:  http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-010488.htm

And of course now that my G200 only has 8MB and does not borrow from system memory, the game does not like it.  Good thing I also ordered the 8MB upgrade module for the G200  Should be interesting.

QuoteOriginally posted by ps47

gta3 does not work with a voodoo2, so it is running on the integrated vga.

GTA3 did run when I had the Voodoo2s enabled, but when I would disable them in the Device Manager and restart, it would then fail to run.  Re-Enabling them would then allow the game to run again.  Seems strange indeed, but that was the case...

However now i've installed a Matrox G200 (in addition to my Voodoo2s) and the game will no longer run at all.  I'm using the "3D Control Center" tool to make sure the Secondary Video Device is in use, but no luck.

I just don't understand how the game could of possibly run on the integrated graphics (3.0MB) but will not run on either G200 or Voodoo2s.

Ok so i've kind of answered my own question about the splash screen appearing - I know how that it does NOT appear when running D3D.  

I also learned that the System Info anomaly is actually just a UI glitch in all FastVoodoo drivers.  Good to know.

HOWEVER I have on additional concern.  Is the VGA pass-through cable required for 3D acceleration?  I assumed it was, but I am experiencing something that seems to be telling me otherwise.  

I have got GTAIII running pretty nicely right now on Win98 with my 12mb Voodoo2 SLI.  It gets about 15 - 20 FPS which is pretty playable.  

However I just did a test to see if my voodoos are ACTUALLY accelerating the game or not, just to be certain.  I plugged my VGA directly into my on-board graphics controller (Intel 82810-dc100) and disabled the Voodoos in Device Manager.  Of course, as expected, GTAIII fails to launch.  However if I re-enabled the Voodoos but leave the VGA plugged directly into my on-board graphics (no voodoo pass-through used) the game runs equally as well as it does when I have my VGA routed through the Voodoo pass-through.   What? Are my cards not being used for D3D then? That is really confusing to me.

Is the 3DFX splash screen logo supposed to appear when launching a DirectX game? My OpenGL & Glide capabilities are working fine (I get the 3DFX splash screen), but I never get it when launching any DirectX game.

I'm running SLI Orchid Righteous 12mb Voodoo2s under Windows 98 SE. I've tried every voodoo2 driver known to man and also several versions of DirectX, but am currently using DirectX 8.1b and FastVoodoo2 4.0 GE drivers.  How can I be certain I am getting D3D voodoo acceleration?

I have of course tried FastVoodoo 4.6 but have the same results, and have read that 4.0 GE is worth a try in some cases.  I tried DirectX 9.0c (latest working in Win98 to my knowledge), but it had no effect and in fact seemed to cause additional problems, so I stepped back down to 8.1b.

The dxdiag v7 and v8 tests both pass, however the cube spins extremely fast (probably about 10 revolutions as second).  I've seen it before where it would spin much more slow.  

On final note on a slightly different topic:
My 3DFX System Info screen is glitchy (overlapping text) and shows incorrect RAM ammounts on all drivers I tried (even FastVoodoo 4.6) except for 3DFX reference drivers version 3.02.  When I have SLI enabled (and "Detected") and FastVoodoo drivers installed, 3DFX System Info claims I have 4MB frame buffer and 8 MB Texture.  However when I have the 3DFX reference driver 3.02 installed, I get the full 8MB frame buffer and 16MB texture.

Thanks a ton guys!

Hey guys, thanks for this community and the ongoing 3DFX support! Never forget!  I remember the day I got my Voodoo3 as a kid...best Christmas gift ever.

Today however I am building a vintage gaming rig with two Voodoo2s.  I'm running Windows 98SE on a Celeraon 433mhz with 512MB RAM on a Gateway motherboard with Intel 82810-DC100 integrated graphics controller (3 MB).  I know I am lacking in the 2D department, but I do plan to get a Matrox very shortly. And maybe bump it up to a 600MHZ CPU but we'll see.

Anyway, even with the integrated graphics I have already had some good performance in various late 90s and early '00/'01 games.   However one of my primary goals is to get a good N64 emulator setup.  I've been browsing http://www.zophar.net/n64.html and trying various emus.  I'm running FastVoodoo2 4.6 drivers, MesaFX 6.2.0.2, and Glide64 "Final"http://code.google.com/p/glidehqplusglitch64/downloads/list

So far, UltaHLE is the fastest with about 20 - 30 FPS. However the game compatibility list is VERY slim and I am really hoping to find something more universal.  

Mupen64 has always been my favorite, but the frame-rate I am getting here is unusable: between 2 - 10 with Glide64 Final at 640x480. I checked the readme of course and made sure to optimize the emu's settings for performance.

Does anybody here have any experience with N64 emulators?  What have you found to be best performing? I know my setup can handle it considering the playable speeds I am getting on UltraHLE, so why not on Mupen?  I haven't tried other emus just yet. There are also some Direct3D plugins floating around so I am going to give those a shot too.

In addition, I do want to continue to upgrade my rig.  Am I correct that getting a Matrox G200 (PCI) is probably a much better bet than swapping the CPU out for a slightly quicker Socket 370?

Thanks guys! I'm having a blast with this stuff already!