Originally, the Voodoo2 from the now defunct 3dfx was a so-called 3D-only accelerator: the Voodoo2 would be connected to a standard 2D video card, and would take over when you started a fullscreen 3D application such as a game. A Voodoo2 by itself didn't do anything.

But thanks to problems with implementing Windows 2000 drivers for a 3D-only card, 3dfx released beta drivers that let you use the card like any standard 2D card, which makes it possible to use it for a secondary monitor in a multi-monitor Windows 2000 system. The only driver release supporting this use is the Win2000 1.00.00 beta driver, all Win98/Me drivers and later Win2000 drivers only support 3D-only use of the card (as originally intended).

Installation

Insert the card into any free PCI slot, and make sure that the pass-through cable is not connected. Connect the monitor to the blue VGA connector on the Voodoo2. After rebooting, install the 1.00.00 Win2000 beta drivers, which can be downloaded here (436 KB).

How does it work?

Just like any secondary video card, actually. Below is a screen shot of Display Properties. The primary card is an AGP Diamond Fire GL 1000 Pro (3Dlabs Permedia2 chipset). System specs: Abit BP6 with dual Celeron 433, Windows 2000 Professional. The driver also has gamma controls, which were very useful, by default the colors are a bit washed out. A setting of 1.10 looked okay on my system.

Limitations and Problems

The maximum resolution is 1024x768, and only 16-bit color is supported. There is no DirectX or OpenGL acceleration, no video overlays, and also no support for Glide (the 3dfx 3D API).

The only problem I had were some very minor drawing errors. Take a look at the enlarged screen shot below, the errors are highlighted with red circles. You'll notice yellow vertical lines that shouldn't be there.

Apart from that, everything worked great, even hibernation and standby. 2D quality and speed is fine, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Conclusion

Certainly not the ultimate multi-monitor solution, but a fine 2D card if you have one lying around. And if you are looking for the cheapest secondary card for Windows 2000, search eBay for Voodoo2, lots of cards are available, starting at around US$ 20!

But keep in mind that the drivers may no longer work with Windows XP (the next version of Windows), and 3dfx are no longer around to create new ones.

Questions or comments? Post them to the forum.