I couldn't find a specific description of the AGP specification on a 3DFX
Banshee, but I would guess that this is a 3.3v card, probably AGP 1X.  It is
circa 1998-1999 card, contemporary with the original TNT card.  It came in
both 8 mb and 16 mb versions.  Performance-wise, in its day, it was in the
ballpark of the TNT or a single voodoo2 card (ie, not SLI with two
voodoo2s).  Of course, with 3DFX being ancient history, drivers will be a
problem with newer 3D games.

The motherboard may not support a 3.3 volt card, so this may be a moot
point, but the only reason I could see to use this card would be if the
customer has no interest in 3D graphics.  Any dedicated video card will be
"snappier", even in a 2D environment, than having to wait on shared system
memory for graphics performance.

You might be able to compare the keying for the AGP slot to the keying on
the card itself to determine whether these two are compatible.  This website
has some illustrations of AGP keying:
http://www.ertyu.org/~steven_nikkel/agpcompatibility.html

HTH

John

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2003 2:05 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] How to evaluate a 3DFX Voodoo Banshee card?


A customer has been given a graphics card for his W98SE system and wants me
to install it for him.  My problem is that I don't know that he'll be any
better off if I do this.

His system has a late model Gigabyte mobo with a VIA KM400 chipset and 32Mb
of onboard graphics.  It also has an AGP slot for an added card which
supports 8x\4x\2x (1.5v).

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