Introduction

The APK 3dFx Tuning Engine 2000++ SR-4

   By Alexander Peter Kowalski

Written in honor of my brother Lieutenant John P. Kowalski USMC

(FOR USERS OF Diamond Monster I, II, Banshee, or 3dFx Voodoo III boards only!!!)

LEGAL:

The author assumes no responsibility to any damage you may incur

to your system or video systems using or misusing this program.

You are using it at solely at your own risk and discretion

(Also you should follow the cooling hints below to avoid any damage.)

In the event of any damage you incur, the author (Alexander Peter Kowalski)

will be held free of any responsibility whatsoever and totally blameless.

If you do not agree to these conditions, do not use this program.  The program

comes as is and it is up to you, the user, to risk using it and how you use it.


Technicals

REQUIREMENTS:

You must be using a video card that handles Open GL

applications. I personally recommend the Diamond Monster or Monster II Series

or the most currently released Banshee or Voodoo III units.

You must be using Windows95/98 or Windows NT 4.0 Service

Pack #3 and a minimum of DirectX 3.0 installed!

1. Monster 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics  4MB

2. Monster 3Dfx Voodoo² Graphics 8MB

*these above 2 cards are an add on to your existing video

card.

3. Banshee

4. Voodoo III by 3dFx/STB

THESE ARE THE DRIVERS AND GLQUAKE/QW

SOFTWARE YOU SHOULD BE USING FOR THE BEST

PERFORMANCE AND BUG FREE GAMEPLAY. INSTALL IN

THE ORDER THEY APPEAR.

1. DirectX from the CD-ROM that came with your 3DFX

Voodoo video card or go to your video card manufacturers

driver webpage and get the latest DirectX that they

recommend.

2. Latest  Video Card drivers from your video card

manufacturer.

3. Glide 2.43 or better Runtime End User Drivers.(or latest)

http://www.3dfx.com/download/sdk/index.html

DIRECT X, GLIDE & VIDEO DRIVER INFO:

Go to this website to get the latest drivers for your video

card, Direct X and Glide:

http://www.3dfx.com/download/sdk/index.html

*If you get an error "glide 2x.dll not found". This means you

need to install Glide 2.43 Runtime drivers. Go to the above

site and get the latest Video Drivers from your video

manufacturers webpage and install them. The Monster 1.09,

If your video card's drivers don't comewith Glide 2.43, then

install the correct version of the Glide 2.43 Runtime drivers for

your card from the above URL.

DIFFERENCES IN WINDOWS NT/WINDOWS95-98 USAGES OF

THIS PROGRAM and HOW IT WORKS ON EACH PLATFORM:

On WindowsNT 4.0, this program allows you to directly poll and poke

the Environment in RAM and has a feature you cannot use in 95/98

that is setting the environment immediately without a reboot.

In Windows95/98. it will patch your config.sys and autoexec.bat files

and cold boots are recommended for settings to take effect.

"OUT OF ENVIRONMENT SPACE" ERROR MESSAGE

Anything you put in your GL Quake batch file or

autoexec.bat starting with the "SET " statment is a variable.

There's only a finite amount of space available for these

variables in DOS called Environment Space.  You can make

this space larger by adding this line to your C:\CONFIG.SYS

file:

shell=c:\command.com /e:512 /p

(The Program automatically extends your environment to 1024k

 for Windows95/98 users incidentally)

Open the "config.sys" file (its on your C drive) with your

notepad to add the line,  after adding the line, click "file"

and "save". Then restart the computer.

If you need more space in the future, increase the number

from 512 to 1024

NOTE: The program can do this automatically for you

            if you check the checkbox for it in the VCache

            Dos Ram tab.


Tuning Settings

 ENVIRONMENT AND BATCH FILE VARIABLES EXPLAINED:

NOTE: VOODOO 2 has much the same setting but they begin with SSTV2 instead of SST

            VOODOO 3 and Banshee start with SSTH3 instead of SST or SSTV2

VOODOO III Users on first driver set from 3dfx can only use Grxclock and Swapinterval ONLY

* Commands  are case sensitive. Use caps where indicated.

SCREENREFRESH RATE:

SET SST_SCREENREFRESH=60/72/75/85/120

Default: 60 Voodoo 1

SET SSTV2_SCREENREFRESH

Default: 92 Voodoo 2

(Not on Voodoo III)

On a Voodoo2 based board, I do not recommend going higher than 98 here

On a Banshee based board, I do not recommend going higher than 120 here

On a Voodoo III based board, I do not recommend exceeding 200 here

There is a way you can run the refresh up to 120 Hz without

much of a performance hit: by disabling the vertical refresh

sync on the 3DFX card by adding this line to your

glquake.bat file:SET FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL=0

SET FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL=0/1  (very important

setting)

Default: 0 Voodoo 1

Default: 0 Voodoo 2

(Not on Voodoo III)

With the "0" setting, the 3DFX Card will ignore the refresh

rate and always redraw the screen as soon as it can. As a

bonus, this setting will usually gain you 5 -12 fps, however it

can cause some image tearing which some people may find

unacceptable. It will be very subtle and look as though the

image is folding slightly.

OVERCLOCK THE VOODOO CHIP:

SET SST_GRXCLK=50-57

  SET SSTV2_GRXCLK=92-120

On a Voodoo2 based board, I do not recommend going higher than 98 here

On a Voodoo1 based board, I do not recommend going higher than 68 here

(Not on Voodoo III)

Keep an eye out for:

corruption artefacts - flat shaded polygons

texture map corruption etc. (You will see little triangle shaped tears in the

screen if you set the clock speed to high. This setting will

almost certainly make the Voodoo Chip run hotter!)

Turn down the clock speed if this happens.

*Get a cooling fan to increase performance and card life.

SET FX_GLIDE_NO_SPLASH=0/1

Default: 0 on both V1, V2 boards not on V3

1-Removes the 3DFX logo on startup.

SET SST_FASTMEM=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 1 boards

SET SSTV2_FASTMEM=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 2 boards

(Not on Voodoo III)

Setting of "1" Tells the Voodoo you have EDO RAM and to

access the RAM on your board faster.  This may or may not

have any perceptable difference.

SET SST_FASTPCIRD=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 1 boards

SET SSTV2_FASTPCIRD=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 2 boards

(Not on Voodoo III)

Setting of "1" is Fast PCI read. 1 or 2 more FPS.

This may not have any perceptable effect.

SET SST_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 1 boards

SET SSTV2_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 2 boards

(Not on Voodoo III)

Turns off syncing to the monitors vertical refresh rate so the

screen gets refreshed before its fully written on the monitor.

Dont Use Vsync "1", leave set to "0". Normally your Voodoo

will wait for the electron gun to finish  sweeping the screen

before switching between the visible data and the in work

data.  Setting to "0"  this means that the voodoo will not

waste any time waiting, it will switch immediately.

SST_VIDEO_24BPP=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo1 boards

SSTV2_VIDEO_24BPP=0/1

Default: 0 on Voodoo 2 boards

(Not on Voodoo III)

"1" sets the bits per pixel to 24. Which does nothing. READ

 ON!!!!  But, You must insert this line using "1" if you use

 another video resolution (not windowed) beside the default.

 Or if you want to adjust gamma, you must have it. Place it

 there anyway, in case you forget. *not the same as "-bpp 16"

* CAUTION: This being set to 1 is only good for non-dual Voodoo

   board / SLI setups and at resolutions of 512x384, if you use it on

   1024x768, it will cause a yellowing-lavendar coloration at 1024x768.

   Resetting it to 0 will fix it if you run at 1024x768 resolutions.

!


Performance Checking

PERFORMANCE CHECKING ON GLQUAKE:

HOW TO CHECK YOUR "FRAMES PER SECOND":

Quake Version 1.06 includes a test (timedemo) to check the

FPS. If you have the older version Quake 1.01. You will

need to upgrade to version 1.06 with the 1.01 to 1.06

upgrade patch.

To perform the Timedemo2 test. Start GL Quake and bring

down the console with tilde key ~ and type:

timedemo demo2

When the demo starts, imediately raise the console where

you can see the full screen.  (a lowered console affects the

"FPS") As soon as the demo2 completes, bring down the

console and look for the number with "FPS" beside it. This

is your "frames per second". The higher the better.

PERFORMANCE BOOSTERS CHECKING ON Quake II:

In the console, reached by tapping the tilde key " ~ ", type these

commands:

timedemo 1 <enter>

map demo1.dm2 <enter>

WITHOUT SOUND (for faster FPS counts!)

s_initsound 0

snd_restart

timedemo 1

map demo1.dm2

Cooling

HOW TO MAKE A FAN MOUNT FOR YOUR 3DFX CARD

You can easily make your own fan mount to keep your

3DFX video card running cool. Go buy a CPU fan at Radio

Shack ($14). Then take a blank plate from the back of your

computer like the one you removed when you installed your

3D video card. Go outside to a concrete surface and smash

the plate's 90 degree bend out flat with a hammer. Then lay

the fan on the plate and mark 2 mounting holes to be drilled

to secure the fan to the plate. Drill the holes and mount the

fan onto the plate using 2 sheet metals screws, or even

better use threaded screws with nuts. Put a drop of Lock-Tite

on these for more security. File or cut off any protruding

screw tips that could touch any electrical components. Then

attach the mount to an empty slot mounting hole over or

near the 3D video card. Make sure the (2) fan mounting

screws cannot possibly touch any electrical component in

your computer. Bend the mount to whatever angle you need

to point the air flow on the Voodoo Chips. I can't give you

specific instructions as each system is different. I also added

a 3 1/4" fan in an empty fan slot in the front of my computer

case behind the 1" speaker.

HOW TO MOUNT A HEAT SINK/FAN ON A VOODOO CHIP

Brad Mettee has put up a web page giving step by step

instructions with images to illustrate on how to mount a

heat sink/fan to your Voodoo Chip. This is the preferred

method of cooling for ultimate performance. Here is the URL:

http://www.clark.net/pub/bmettee/voodoo.shtml

ON A VOODOO III CHIP: Go to Radio Shack, pick up their 486 CPU

Heatsink & Fan combo.  Unscrew the Fan from it and directly screw it

into the VOODOO III PCI heatsink as it is a perfect fit!

VOODOO III AGP 3000/3500 owner will have to use bigger fans like

from Pentium Pro Heatsink/Fan Combos.

(A simple fix is to run your system without a cover and place

  an ordinary K-Mart Room fan next to your machine blowing into

  a side of it displacing more air than you ever could with tiny

  4" fans that hook into your...apk)


Ram Performance

RAM PERFORMANCE TIPS:

"OUT OF MEMORY"  ERROR MESSAGE OR JUST TO

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE:

Define your own virtual memory settings. This is a bit

tedious but it really does help.

This will create one continuous PERMANENTLY

DEFRAGMENTED SWAPFILE on the hard drive. Normally

Win95 actively resizes your swap file, but this causes a lot

of disk accesses and keeps the swap files fragmented.

Right click on "My Computer", click on "Properties", click

on the "Performance" tab, then click on the "Virtual

Memory" button. Click on "Let Me Specify MY Own Virtual

Memory" then click "Disable virtual memory" then click

"OK". The computer will reboot.


Uninstallation

UNINSTALLATION TECHNIQUES:

First, use the InstallShield uninstaller… Then…

To remove it fully if this happens, use the menu entries under Defaults in the menu,

or use the .reg files that ship with the program.  By clicking on them in Explorer, it

remerges ALL defaults for both Voodoo or Voodoo² boards back into the registry.

Or, you can manually purge out all the entries by following the entries inside your .reg file for

The board you use.  Alternately, uninstalling your driver will do this as well.  For manual

Removal, simply use the registry editor’s ability to  EDIT, FIND any entries that match

The ones inside the .reg file for the board you use.

Lastly, use the Tools menu, and summon System Editor and remove any settings under

the [COMMON] section in autoexec.bat which this program creates.

Then reinstall your 3dfx Glide Drivers.


TroubleShooting

 TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION:

BACKUP/RESTORE BUTTONS

Use the Backup Button option: This ensures your original autoexec.bat

file contents are preserved if ever needed!  This option is also available

on the menu under Tools and Popup Trayicon menu as well.

This is ONLY RECOMMENDED for Windows95/98 users, NT Users

do not need to execute this... BE SURE YOUR AUTOEXEC.BAK file

has no 3dfx entries in it before hand or you will see multiple entries for it.

This has no detrimental effect on gaming, since the last set takes effect only!

Use the Tools menu System Editor to help you!