3D Blaster Savage4 on Windows 2000

For this board the Win2000 would load a generic S3 Savage4 driver, which I think is written to accomodate both the 16 and the 32MB versions of the S3 Savage4 based cards - otherwise I can not comprehend, why it lacks in modes like 1280 by 1024, True Color (32 bit), 85 Hertz?
The best I can get at that resolution is 75 Hertz - much worse than the crisp 85 Hz.
Is there a way to tweek with a driver, so I can get the settings like in the original 3D Blaster driver for W'98 (There is I think a maximum 120 Hertz setting for that resolution but all I wish for is 85 Hz - thats the max for my monitor)

1. RE: 3D Blaster Savage4 on Windows 2000
lbyard Jan-15-01 06:39 PM
In response to message 0

Have you downloaded and installed the Creative Win2K driver for the board? http://www.creativehelp.com/files/download.asp?prod=db_savage4. Larry

2. RE: 3D Blaster Savage4 on Windows 2000
Pavol Jan-15-01 09:48 PM
In response to message 1

All I found there was the agpwizard utility (it is not a driver).If you found a W2000 driver, please e-mail it to me to pavol@bigfoot.com!
When installed with my card under Win 2000 this utility gives only one tab with very few settings, the only important one as far as I now is the sideband protocol checkbox - do you know what is it by the way? (Creative CS says by disabling this the start-up freeze problem may disapear on certain systems) What about the fast write option?
When installed on W'95/98/00 it is more comprehensive than that.
Description below:
agpwizard.exe Download Driver

Date: 3/20/00 805,817 bytes
Description:
This is a stand-alone utility software for Creative AGP graphics cards running under windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, & Windows 2000.
This utility :
Allows you to set the AGP 1X/2X/4X bus, and also allows you to enable/disable the side-band address mode and fast write option.
Supports the following AGP graphics card:
- 3D Blaster GeForce Pro
- 3D Blaster GeForce
- 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Ultra
- 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2
- Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT2 Value
- Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT
- 3D Blaster Savage4 AGP
- Graphics Blaster Exxtreme AGP

Note - Users who have installed the previous version of AGPwizard.exe (dated 16 February, 2000) are encouraged to download and replace their current installation with this update for additional support.
Please refer to the README.TXT file for more details

3. RE: 3D Blaster Savage4 on Windows 2000
lbyard Jan-15-01 10:00 PM
In response to message 2

Sorry, I didn't look beyond the driver page. Try this one: http://3dchipset.com/drivers/s3/savage4/3dblaster/win2k.html. Larry

4. RE: 3D Blaster Savage4 on Windows 2000
Pavol Jan-16-01 06:19 PM
In response to message 3

Thanks Lary,
In the readme.txt for that driver they say this:
Super 7 Systems
For Super 7 systems, it is essential to get the latest AGP GART driver that supports this motherboard. Please contact the respective motherboard vendors for this driver.
I have the EPOX EP-51MVP3E-M Motherboard, which uses the VIA chipset.
What does the GART part mean in AGP GART ?
Do the mean the AGP driver like from:
http://www.viatech.com/drivers/index.htm
or something else?

5. RE: 3D Blaster Savage4 on Windows 2000
lbyard Jan-16-01 09:59 PM
In response to message 4

Yes. The following is from the Windows Resource Kit (D:\tools\reskit\help\rk98book.chm, where D: is your Cd ROM with the Windows 98 CD in it. Just double click rk98book.chm for lots of good info). Saves me from typing it.
Chapter 30 - Hardware Management
...
AGP allows the graphics processor to see system memory by using the Graphics Address Relocation Table (GART). The GART takes all the virtual pages and makes them look like a contiguous region of memory to the graphics accelerator. The CRTC on the display card does not see the GART.
There are two type of GART memory: Uncached and Write Combined. The data is written straight through to memory for Uncached memory. Multiple writes are combined in a buffer for Write Combined memory. This buffer is controlled by the memory management unit. The advantage of Write Combined is that it is a lot faster to transfer (for example, eight DWORDS at a time as opposed to one DWORD at a time).
In Windows 98, the GART is split evenly between Uncached and Write Combined. The maximum size of the GART is controlled by the BIOS. Some BIOSs allow the AGP aperture (maximum size) to be set. The Graphics Processor can use the GART for texture memory.