Thinkpads Forum

Hi, I was wondering if anybody knew about decent video cards that are compatible with the 770z ? I was hoping to be able to play Unreal Tournament 4, or at least use the Unreal editor. thanks in advance

WhaleHunter wrote:Hi, I was wondering if anybody knew about decent video cards that are compatible with the 770z ? I was hoping to be able to play Unreal Tournament 4, or at least use the Unreal editor. thanks in advance

There is no upgrade. You are stuck with the Trident Cyber9397DVD. In theory it's a 3D accelerator card but I have yet to see any piece of software that requires 3D hardware acceleration work with it. Not sure what it does or if it is compatible with anything...

As far as I know the only thing you can do is to put a 8MB Trident in it (if you don't have it already). Check the old forum, there was a thread about it. But it doesn't make much difference over the 4MB Trident.

Regards,
G-Man

darn, I've tried to search for external video cards but all I can find is something like the "sidecar" from Digital Tigers, but it's at a ridiculous price.

one guy in the old forum wrote this:

"If you want to use the Thinkpad in a dock station with a graphics card there (it has to be a PCI, though), you will have some latitude."

those things seem bulky though.

WhaleHunter wrote:darn, I've tried to search for external video cards but all I can find is something like the "sidecar" from Digital Tigers, but it's at a ridiculous price.

one guy in the old forum wrote this:

"If you want to use the Thinkpad in a dock station with a graphics card there (it has to be a PCI, though), you will have some latitude."

those things seem bulky though.

As far as using your 770 like a laptop... you are stuck with the sorry trident 3d accelerator that accelerates nothing. Even the windows 3d screen savers can't use it. I'll say this, it's better than the mediamagic chips... that's about the only good thing to be said for it...

hmm..ok... but say I was to get one of those docking stations? Do you have any idea of my options? thanks

WhaleHunter wrote:hmm..ok... but say I was to get one of those docking stations? Do you have any idea of my options? thanks

I've never used a docking station but you should be able to use any PCI based card. Go to http://www.pricewatch.com and look up pci based cards. Lots out there at very good prices.

Actually It is a hardware accelerator. It uses the OpenGl standard, not Microsofts Direct 3D or 3DFX. If you ever installed Windows 2000, you'll notice the screen savers run remarkably fast. The original Quake runs pretty well on these laptops, but anything else that uses DirectX will perform in software only. I doubt anyone ever made a Direct X driver for this card since they were either 2, 4, or 8 meg models. Even if one exists, it's only going to be DirectX 6 or 7 certified.

If you're looking to play newer games, you should probably get a newer laptop. I believe the A31P is an excellent gaming Thinkpad.

ndoggfromhell wrote:Actually It is a hardware accelerator. It uses the OpenGl standard, not Microsofts Direct 3D or 3DFX. If you ever installed Windows 2000, you'll notice the screen savers run remarkably fast. The original Quake runs pretty well on these laptops, but anything else that uses DirectX will perform in software only. I doubt anyone ever made a Direct X driver for this card since they were either 2, 4, or 8 meg models. Even if one exists, it's only going to be DirectX 6 or 7 certified.

If you're looking to play newer games, you should probably get a newer laptop. I believe the A31P is an excellent gaming Thinkpad.

What of winxp? Is the opengl driver included? It doesn't use hardware acceleration for the 3d screensavers so I can only assume that it is not accelerating any 3d functions at all. I have looked for drivers but none exist outside of what's included with winxp.

Windows XP uses Direct 3D to render it's hardware acceleration of screensavers. Windows 2000 used OpenGL to render the hardware acceleration of screensavers. The 3D screensavers are used with Hardware Acceleration *as an option* You must select hardware acceleration under Windows Xp to use it. Since the thinkpads don't have native direct 3d hardware acceleration, they don't have the option. It's under settings next to screensavers.

ndoggfromhell wrote:Windows XP uses Direct 3D to render it's hardware acceleration of screensavers. Windows 2000 used OpenGL to render the hardware acceleration of screensavers. The 3D screensavers are used with Hardware Acceleration *as an option* You must select hardware acceleration under Windows Xp to use it. Since the thinkpads don't have native direct 3d hardware acceleration, they don't have the option. It's under settings next to screensavers.

But does winxp include opengl drivers for the 9397? I haven't found any 3d software that is accelerated by the 9397 and that includes those that use opengl.

In reply to whalehunter,

hmm..ok... but say I was to get one of those docking stations? Do you have any idea of my options? thanks

Your best option is to buy a newer ThinkPad or to buy a cheap desktop computer with a reasonable video card and use it instead. However, if you are determined to use your old ThinkPad to play games and want to get the best video performance out of it, then I would recommend the following:

1. SelectaDock III
These big, heavy block bricks are very cheap these days: you'll probably spend more on shipping than you will to pay for it if you buy one on eBay. This is the best docking station for the 770 and it has 3 PCI slots. You need a SelectaBase 770 as well, to attach your 770 to the Dock III. Total cost shouldn't be much more than around $35 USD plus shipping.

2. 16MB Voodoo 3 card or a 32 MB TNT-based card
It is possible that other better cards might be compatible (PCI only), but I've not heard confirmed stories of anything better installed and working with a 770. I will be trying a Voodoo 5 in the next month or so, and I'll let folk know if that works. I've compiled a list of PCI graphic cards which are compatible with the 600/770 series in a SelectaDock III. Some PCI cards definitely do not work, so don't just go out and randomly buy the best PCI card you can find. I personally have used both a 16MB Voodoo 3 and a 32MB TNT2 Riva M64 with my 770E, though the TNT2 card was a bit flakey with my 770E. Total cost shouldn't be more than $25 USD for these old video cards.

3. Add a PCI sound card, like a SoundBlaster Live 5.1
This will eliminate the noise you get from the speaker-out jacks of the 770Z, as well as improve your sound quality generally. A high quality, old sound card like the SoundBlaster Live 5.1 are going very cheaply these days. Total cost shouldn't be more than $25 USD for these old sound cards.

4. Of course you have a good, large external monitor, right?
Otherwise, there is no point to adding all the graphics capablities through the Dock.

Phil.

Just a quick follow-up about which video cards might work in a docking station. Last night I installed a 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 PCI card in my SelectaDock III with a 600X. The installation went smoothly and the card appears to be 100% compatible, though I have not yet tested it properly with a range of intensive 3D games. This does not guarantee that such a card would work with a 770Z, but it suggests it is likely.

WhaleHunter: I'm not sure what specs are required for Unreal Tournament 4, but I am pretty sure that if your 770Z has enough processor power than the Voodoo 5 will have more than enough graphics power.

Phil.