3dfx Driver Build 1.04.01: Increased Performance and Hidden Surface Removal (HSR) for the Voodoo4 and Voodoo5

Voodoo4 4500 - MDK2 Performance

Although the Voodoo4 4500 did not benefit from the driver update like the Voodoo5 5500 did in Quake III Arena, it remains crippled in MDK2. The initial release drivers, driver version 1.03.00, provide a 5% performance gain compared to the newer 1.04.01 drivers.

Once again, the Voodoo4 4500 seems to loose out in many ways with the newer drivers. There is still a loss of framerate in MDK2 at 1024x768x32, this time accounting for a 9% speed loss. It seems that there is not much to be gained in the case of the Voodoo4 4500 by upgrading the drivers, as there seems to be a bit lost.

Finally, at 1600x1200x32 we see a very slight performance gain from the updated drivers. Raising the framerate by 2% up to 5.1 FPS, the latest drivers seem to provide at least one point of benefit, although a very small one.