Direct 3D Acceleration on 600X

[ajocius]

Direct 3D Acceleration on 600X seems to be disabled on Thinkpad 600X. I believe this is the reason I can not install games on this thinkpad (tried Fifa 2002). Is there any solution to overcome obsticle? This is probably because video card is weak (only 4 Mb), perhaps some external card would be required, but I am not sure if those exists and how much they do cost?

Anybody had similar problems? Found solution?

Best regards,
Arunas

[pkiff]

I don't think that 3D Acceleration is disabled on the 600X, but none of the 600/770 series implement a DirectX-certified or Microsoft-certified version of 3D acceleration on their built-in video adapters.

I don't know about FIFA 2002, but I know that it is pretty hit or miss whether the NeoMagic chipset will run with any particular game requiring 3D acceleration. Some will work, some won't, and that's all there is to it.

One solution for playing 3D games on your 600X is to buy a docking station and then insert a PCI graphics card into your docking station. There is no other way to add a full graphics card to your 600X as far as I know. There are PCMCIA hardware accelerators, but I've not seen one that is a complete replacement for your built-in video card adapter.

There are at least two negatives to using a docking station like this. First, your laptop will start to take up a huge footprint on your desktop -- more like a Bigfoot pawprint than a footprint. Second, even after you get yourself a docking station and card, and play with it for several hours to get it installed correctly and working at optimum capactity, you will still only end up with a pretty low-end gaming machine by today's standards -- you could probably buy an entire desktop system for $300 USD or so that would play games better than your 600X stuck in a docking station.

Having said all that, if you are still determined to turn your 600X into a gaming machine, then I would recommend the following setup:
ThinkPad 600X
ThinkPad SelectaDock III ($20 USD)
ThinkPad Selectabase 600 ($15 USD)
19" or larger external CRT monitor ($250 USD)
64MB Voodoo 5 PCI graphics adapter ($50 USD)
SoundBlaster 5.1 Live! PCI sound card ($20 USD)

This is one of my ThinkPad setups and it plays a range of 3D games reasonably well -- at least if you like the 3D games from the 2001 era or before and if you can live without playing any of the new games that require hardware support for "T & L" (Texture and Lighting). I'm planning on doing some benchmarking some time over the next 6 months or so and will post results to this forum somewhere if I ever get that done.

Everything except the Voodoo 5 card should be readily available and pretty cheap on eBay or through some kind of computer liquidator. The biggest cost will be getting a good, large external monitor, but maybe you already have one of those sitting around? The ThinkPad Selectabase 600 is required to attach your 600X to the SelectaDock. I've put estimated street values in parentheses.

You could substitute a 32MB nVidia TNT2 card for about $15 or $20 USD in place of the more expensive Voodoo 5 and probably not notice much difference in speed or compatibility. Though I found the nVidia cards slightly less stable than the Voodoo cards in a SelectaDock III.

I've created a compatibility list of PCI graphics cards that you can install in the SelectaDock III:
ThinkPad - Dock III - Unofficial Graphics Card Compatibility List

Good luck gaming!

Phil.

[ajocius]

Thank you so much for such detailed reply. I really appreciate that. When you get such right to the point response after hours of searching the net, you really feel good. Thank you for that.

I understand this will never be best machine for gaming. I just wanted to give it to my kids for some simpler tasks and gaming. We will definitelly need stationery PC for later games, I understand.

Thanks again, I live in Norway, so EBAY is probably not an option. Will circulate locally to search for possible options to acquire suggested cards.

Best regards,
Arunas

[ajocius]

Hi again, I have found ThinkPad Selectabase 600 already, I understand I still need docking station for video card, right (ThinkPad SelectaDock III ). This I need to look around still. You have specified some specific video cards, isn't that any PCI card should work with it? I found many so called PCI Express cards on marked. They were more expensive, but are they different? Not applicalble for my search?

Screen, I planned to purchase anyway, so my choice now is either to build new stand alone pc or to buy some video card (still do not know what criterias should I use) and SelectaDock III to insert it. I would still go for second option, sounds like it will cost around hundred bucks, just need to do searching around...

Would appreciate, if someone could advice what specification am I looking in that video card and where could I find that SelectaDock III?

Best regards,
Arunas

[ajocius]

found one video card : 3dfx Voodoo3 3500TV. Sound similar to what you have recommended but not exactly the same. Tried to read more about card on page: http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle. ... 92&catid=2 but still can't make my mind if that is the one I am looking for...

Arunas

[pkiff]

You have specified some specific video cards, isn't that any PCI card should work with it?

Not all PCI graphics cards will work in the SelectaDock III. The SelectaDock III combined with a ThinkPad is supposed to be compliant with the PCI specs, but it is far from perfect. It is not like a desktop machine that you can just put any PCI graphic card into that you want. Some cards create more troubles than others. The reason I created a ThinkPad - Dock III - Unofficial Graphics Card Compatibility List is that I had difficulty getting a graphics card installed in my SelectaDock and my Internet searches indicated that others had also had trouble. You may be able to get other cards installed besides what is listed there -- please let me know if you do, so I can update that list for others.

I found many so called PCI Express cards on marked. They were more expensive, but are they different? Not applicalble for my search? Would appreciate, if someone could advice what specification am I looking in that video card

No, the PCI Express cards will not work. That is a new, different specification than PCI 2.0 or 2.1 or whatever the old one was. You need an old video adapter card with an old PCI interface. There are a few new video cards being made with the old PCI interface, and some of them might work. The Voodoo 5 is the most recent card that I have tried.

and where could I find that SelectaDock III?

Sorry, can't suggest anything there. I bought 2 of mine on eBay and the other through a local computer store. They may be hard to get from a computer store now, though.

found one video card : 3dfx Voodoo3 3500TV. Sound similar to what you have recommended but not exactly the same.

The link you gave indicates that the card is an AGP card. You need a PCI card. If you can get this card with a PCI interface then it will probably work ok. Any Voodoo card will probably be great -- though this card looks to be a bit weird, since it has the TV stuff onboard, and I don't know if anyone has installed such a card in a SelectaDock before. But if I had to guess, I would say that it would probably work -- provided it has a PCI interface.

Phil.

[ajocius]

ok, I got it, thanks.

Abound selectadock III. Is this the only option to add external PCI card? I am asking this not because of the price of it, but because I can't find it in Norway and it might be impossible to get. What about selectadock I and II ? Any other options? In extreem case is it possible to do some wireing?

In the main time Happy New Year. It is only 9 hours left until 2005 here in Norway...

Arunas

[pkiff]

What about selectadock I and II?

I think the SelectaDock II should also work well for installing a PCI card along with a 600X since the SelectaDock II has two full-size PCI slots. But I don't have any experience with this docking station, so I can't say for sure. The SelectaDock II was not designed with the 600 series in mind, whereas the SelectaDock III was. The SelectaDock I also seems to have an option for installing a PCI card, so that dock might work too, but I would get the SelectaDock III over the SelectaDock II and the II over the SelectaDock I.

If you look for a SelectaDock II, then be sure that you are getting the right docking station. The SelectaDock II was sometimes referred to as a "Dock II" and I used to think that it was even officially called a "Dock II" at one point, but it appears that there may have been an earlier docking station series for the 360/750/760 ThinkPads that used those names, I'm not sure. In any case, now, IBM has other docking stations for newer ThinkPad models that are also called "Dock II", so if you are ordering online or something that make sure you get the right IBM part numbers for the SelectaDock series.

SelectaDock II P/N: 3547-002
SelectaDock III P/N: 3547-003

ThinkPad document LWIK-3SFLPB:
Overview - SelectaDock II

ThinkPad document TJEK-3RSVLL:
Technical specifications and overview - ThinkPad SelectaDock III [link broken on 2006-12-09 - document lost?]

ThinkPad document DSHY-3PNTX4:
Product Overview - Selectadock III [added 2006-12-09]

ThinkPad document: LWIK-3TUQWG:
Docking Stations and Port Replicator Options - ThinkPad 600

Any other options? In extreem case is it possible to do some wireing?

I'm not aware of any other options and I have never heard of anyone doing their own wiring/re-wiring of the video card/VGA port combo.

The other solution is just to select different games. The 600X should play lots of old games just fine without any additional cards provided it meets the minimum specs: it is only the 3D games that may cause some problems. (playing them "fine" just means they will play without crashing all the time, not necessarily that they will play super-quick).

Phil.

[PCSAR 4x4 652]

You are correct ... there were a set of docks for the 760 type machines called ""Dock 1, 2 & 3" I had a couple. They will not interface with a 600 series machine.
However the 760/755 will with the selectadock III via a selectabase one, and the 770 w/ selectabase 770...