Aztech VGS3D-AGP User Manual

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VGS3D-AGP GRAPHICS

2D/3D ACCELERATED CARD

Users Manual

Version 1.0

VGS3D-AGP GRAPHICS CARD USER'S MANUAL

PART 15 FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT

This device complies with Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful interference, and

2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause

undesired operation.

Operating Environment

For Home or Office Use

Notice

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of a Class B digital device, pursuant to

Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful

interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency

energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to

radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular

installation, if this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be

determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by

one or more of the following measures:

 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

 Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

 Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is

connected.

 Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Caution

To comply with the limits for the Class B digital device according to Part 15 of FCC Rules, this device must

be installed in computer equipment certified to comply with the Class B limits. All cables used to connect

the computers and peripherals must be shielded and grounded. Operation with non-certified/shielded cables

may result in radio/TV interference.

Modification

Any modification not expressly approved by the manufacturer of this device could void the users authority

to operate the device.

Party Responsible for Product Compliance:

Aztech Labs, Inc.

45645 Northport Loop East

Fremont, CA 94538, U.S.A.

P/N: 040-112309-101

VGS3D-AGP GRAPHICS CARD USER'S MANUAL

©Copyright

The software described in this manual is protected by international copyright laws. Under this copyright law, you

are prohibited from duplicating the software for any purpose other than making archival copies for the sole

purpose of backing-up against loss.

In addition, no part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, for any purpose other

than the purchasers personal use, without the prior written permission of Aztech Systems Ltd.

 PentiumII is a registered trademark of Intel Corp.

 Microsoft, Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 Savage3D is a registered trademark of S3 Inc.

 All other company or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks or service marks of their

respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.

Disclaimer Statement

Aztech Systems Ltd specifically disclaims all warranties, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to

implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to the hardware, software,

and the accompanying written materials. Aztech Systems Ltd reserves the right to revise or make improvements to

its product at any time and without obligation to notify any person of such revisions or improvements.

In no event shall Aztech Systems Ltd be liable for any consequential or incidental damages, including any loss of

business profits or any other commercial damages, arising out of the use of its product.

VGS3D-AGP GRAPHICS CARD USER'S MANUAL

Table Of Contents

Setting up Your Graphics Card ---------------------------------------

1.1 Minimum System Requirements ------------------------------------

1.2 Safety Precaution -------------------------------------------------------------

1.3 Installation Notes --------------------------------------------------------------

1.4 Package Checklist --------------------------------------------------------------

1.5 Installation Procedure------------------------------------------------------

1.6 Upgrading Windows® 95 OSR2.0 to OSR2.1 --------------------

1.7 Upgrading Windows NT® 4.0 with Service Pack 3 ---------

1.8 Installing the Graphics Card---------------------------------------------

1.9 Connecting the Graphics Card ----------------------------------------

Installing the Graphics Card Drivers ------------------------------

2.1 Installing the Drivers in Windows® 95 ----------------------------

2.2 Installing the Drivers in Windows® 98 ----------------------------

2.3 Installing DirectX 6.0 in Windows

95/98 ------------------------

2.4 Installing the Drivers in Windows NT® 4.0 ----------------------

Testing the Graphics Card in Windows

95/98 ---------------

Adjusting the Graphics Card's Display Properties ---------

Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------------------------

Technical Specifications --------------------------------------------------

Sound Card Layout-----------------------------------------------------------

Setting up Your Graphics Card

Congratulations on your purchase of the VGS3D-AGP Graphics 2D/3D Accelerated

Card!

Based on the Savage3D chipset from S3 Inc., the VGS3D-AGP's powerful and

well-balanced 2D/3D graphics accelerator features high end capabilities such as z-

buffering, alpha blending, perspective correction and sophisticated Tri-linear

filtering. All these help to deliver the ultimate PC graphics performance in today's

graphics-intensive applications and games.

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

1.1 Minimum System Requirements

 PC-based computer with PentiumII® processor.

 AGP Bus slot.

 10MB hard disk space (system files and drivers only).

 CD-ROM drive.

 Windows® 95 OSR 2.1, Windows® 98 or Windows NT® 4.0 with Service

Pack 3.

 USB upgrade supplement if you are running Windows® 95 OSR 2.0.

 Windows NT® Service Pack 3 or later if you are running Windows NT

4.0.

1.2 Safety Precaution

 Do not remove your graphics card from its protective bag until you are

ready to install it.

 Always try to hold your graphics card by its edges. Avoid touching any

electronic components on your graphics card.

 Static electricity can cause permanent damage to your graphics card. To

prevent such damage, you must ground yourself while installing the

card. You can do this in either of two ways :

» Use a grounding strap, which is a coiled wire with a clip at one

end and an elastic strap at the other. Wear the strap around your

wrist and attach the clip to any non-painted metal surface of the

computers chassis.

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

» If you do not have a grounding strap, touch any non-painted

surface of the computer's chassis before you begin installation, and

again every minute or so until the installation is completed.

1.3 Installation Notes

 Computers vary in appearance and layout. Therefore, the installation

procedures in this chapter apply generally and you should compare the

illustrations here with your computer before you start the graphics card

installation.

 A Philips-type screwdriver is required for the graphics card installation.

 Your computers documentation should come in handy during the

graphics card installation. Have it ready by your side when you start

the graphics card installation.

 If you have an existing graphics card (that is non-Plug-and-Play-based)

installed in your computer, you must first un-install its drivers before

you remove the graphics card. Refer to your existing graphics card

documentation for more details on this.

1.4 Package Checklist

 VGS3D-AGP Graphics 2D/3D Accelerated Card

 Installation CD with User Manual and software applications

 This Easy Start Guide

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

1.5 Installation Procedure

To take advantage of all the features of the AGP graphics card,

please check that your system has Windows® 95 OSR2.1 or later

versions and DirectX 6.0 installed. If you are running Windows

NT® 4.0, make sure that it has been upgraded with Service Pack 3.

The following Installation Procedure is recommended:

1. If you are running Windows® 95 OSR2.0, upgrade it to Windows® 95

OSR2.1. If you are running Windows NT® 4.0, upgrade it with Service

Pack 3.

2. Install the graphics card.

3. Install the graphics card drivers from the Installation CD.

4. Install DirectX6 (for Windows® 95/98 only).

5. Set the colour palette from the Display Properties, Settings tab to 16-

bit or higher in order to reveal the S3 Gamma tab.

1a.

1b.

Window s

95 OSR2.1 or above?

Windows NT 4.0 upgrade d

with Service

Pack 3?

Install Graphics Card

Insta ll Graphics Card Drivers

Install DirectX6 (for Windows 95/98)

Set colour palette to 16-bit colour or higher

Upgrade OSR2.0

to OSR2.1

Upgrade with

Service Pack

Ye s

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

1.6 Upgrading Windows® 95 OSR2.0 to OSR2.1

To upgrade from OSR2.0 to OSR2.1, first make sure you have OSR2.0

installed. By installing the USB upgrade, Windows® 95 OSR2.0 will be

upgraded to OSR2.1.

1.7 Upgrading Windows NT® 4.0 with Service Pack 3

If you are using Windows® NT Service Pack 1 or 2, upgrade to Service Pack

3 before installing the card.

1.8 Installing the Graphics Card

You need to remove any existing graphics card installed in your

computer. Note that if the graphics card is non-plug-and-play-

based, you need to un-install it's drivers before you remove it.

Check your existing graphics card documentation for details on

this.

Remember to switch off your computer and any connected

devices before starting with the installation of your graphics card.

1. Remove your computer s chassis cover and set it aside, somewhere out

of your way.

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

2. Remove the cover plate of

the AGP Bus slot. Keep

the mounting screw to

secure your graphics card

later.

3. Align your graphics card

with the AGP Bus slot

and firmly push it into

the slot. If the card cannot

be slide in, do not force it.

Make sure the graphics

card is lined up properly

and try again.

Mounting Screw

AGP Bus Slot

Cover Plate

Graphics Card

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

4. Secure your graphics card to the computer chassis with a mounting

screw.

5. Replace your computer s chassis cover.

CHAPTER 1  SETTING UP YOUR GRAPHICS CARD

1.9 Connecting the Graphics Card

6. Plug your standard 15-pin male monitor cable into the VGA port.

Graphics Card

VGA Port

Installing the Graphics Card

Drivers

To take advantage of all the features of the AGP graphics card, please check that

your system has Windows® 95 OSR2.1 or later versions and DirectX 6.0 installed.

If you are running Windows NT® 4.0, make sure that it has been upgarded with

Service Pack 3 or later.

2.1 Installing the Drivers in Windows® 95

1. Turn on your computer to start Windows® 95. Windows® 95 will detect

the newly-installed graphics card and an Update Device Driver Wizard

window will appear. Place the Installation Disk on the CD-ROM drive

and click Next.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

2. Allow the system to search for an updated driver and click Finish to

use the driver found.

3. When prompted to restart the system, click Yes to restart. This is to

ensure that the new graphics settings take effect.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

4. After restarting, a program folder called "VGS3D-AGP Information" will

be created. It provides a link to the User's Manual, a list of FAQs and

the Readme.txt file. In order to read the User's Manual, Acrobat Reader

is required. Install Acrobat Reader first if you do not have the program.

8. From the Start button on the taskbar, click Settings and choose Control

Panel. Double-click the Display icon. Three tabs (S3 Gamma,

S3dometer and S3 Refresh) are added to the Display Properties window.

If you do not see the S3 Gamma tab, click the Settings tab and change

the Colour Palette to 16-bit or higher. Refer to the chapter on Adjusting

the Graphics Card's Display Properties for more details.

Please proceed to install DirectX 6.0.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

2.2 Installing the Drivers in Windows® 98

1. Turn on your computer to start Windows® 98. Windows® 98 detects the

newly-installed graphics card. Click Next to continue.

2. Place the Installation Disk into the CD-ROM drive.

3. Select the Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)

option and click Next to continue.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

4. Enable the CD-ROM drive selection to direct Windows to search for the

drivers on the installation disk. Click Next to continue.

5. Windows will prompt that it is ready to install the drivers. Click Next

and then Finish to complete the installation of the drivers.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

6. When prompted to restart the system, click Yes. This is to ensure that

the new graphics settings take effect.

7. After restarting, a program folder called "VGS3D-AGP Information" will

be created. It provides a link to the User's Manual, a list of FAQs and

the Readme.txt file. In order to read the User's Manual, Acrobat Reader

is required. Install Acrobat Reader first if you do not have the program.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

8. From the Start button on the taskbar, click Settings and choose Control

Panel. Double-click the Display icon. Select the Settings tab and make

sure that the Colour Palette is set to 16-bit or higher. Click the

Advanced... button. Three tabs (S3 Gamma, S3dometer and S3 Refresh)

are added to the Display Properties window.

Refer to the chapter on Adjusting the Graphics Card's Display Properties

for more details.

Please proceed to install DirectX 6.0.

CHAPTER 2  INSTALLING THE GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS

2.3 Installing DirectX 6.0 in Windows® 95/98

1. Place the Installation Disk onto the CD-ROM drive.

2. In Windows® 95/98, click the Start button and then Run.

3. In the text box, type "D:\Directx6\directx\dxsetup.exe" (where D is the

letter of your CD-ROM drive) and click OK.

4. A DirectX(R) Setup window appears. Make sure that under Options,

Direct-3D Hardware Acceleration Enabled is checked. Click Reinstall

DirectX.

5. Follow all on-screen instructions to complete the installation of DirectX.

Please proceed to the next chapter on testing the card.

2.4 Installing the Drivers in Windows NT® 4.0

1. Start Windows NT® 4.0.

2. Place the Installation Disk in the CD-ROM drive.

3. From the Windows NT® taskbar, click the Start button and then select

Settings, Control Panel.

4. Double-click the Display icon.

5. Click the Settings tab and then click the Display Type button.

6. Click the Change button and a Change Properties window appears.

7. Place the Installation Disk into the CD-ROM drive and click Have

Disk. The system will locate the driver.

8. Click OK twice to finish the installation of the drivers.

Testing the Graphics Card in

Windows® 95/98

1. From the Windows® 95/98 taskbar, click the Start button and then select

Settings and Control Panel.

2. Double-click the System icon.

3. A System Properties window appears. Click the Device Manager tab.

4. Double-click on the Display adapters to reveal the VGS3D-AGP

graphics card. Double-click on it.

5. A VGS3D-AGP Properties window appears. Under the General tab,

check that the Device Status has the message: "This device is working

properly". This means that your graphics card had been installed

properly.

2. Click the S3dometer tab.

The S3dometer allows the user

to choose whether to automate

tasks such as DirectX 6 texture

compression, trilinear filtering

and flip buffers.

You can also specify how much

memory the system should use

for AGP.

Adjusting the Graphics Card's

Display Properties

When the drivers have been successfully installed, you can change the display

resolution, color and other settings. Other than the information in this Easy Start,

more details can be obtained by clicking on the button at the top-right of the

Display Properties window and then clicking on the section you wish to know

more about.

1. Double-click the Display icon from the Control Panel. The Display

Properties window appears.

CHAPTER 4  ADJUSTING THE GRAPHICS CARD'S DISPLAY PROPERTIES

3. Click the S3 Gamma tab.

The red, green and blue Color

Channels can be adjusted to

optimise the color display

when running different games/

applications. By checking the

Link RGB check-box, all three

colors can be adjusted

simultaneously. After setting a

color scheme, it can be saved

for future use.

4. Click the S3 Refresh tab.

To change the refresh rate for

each resolution, click the

ChangeConfiguration button.

A refresh rate of more than

60Hz is recommended to

prevent flickering.

5. During the playback of various video format such as MPEG, you can

fine-tune the colours of your video. Double-click the S3 Video Color

Control icon from the Control Panel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Monitor display flicker badly?

Change your Refresh Rate at your Display properties in the

Control Panel to 60Hz or higher. Refresh rate below 60Hz

generally flickers badly. It is also Monitor-dependent.

There are no refresh rate settings for some of the screen

resolutions.

The refresh rates for these screen resolutions are fixed at a certain

value.

My System hangs when playing games such as Forsaken or

MageSlayer.

There are patches available for downloading from the Web Sites

of the respective Games Vendors that will enable the fixing of

these issues.

There is no display after I plugged in the Card and switched

on the System.

APPENDIX A  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Check that your monitor cables and power cables are plugged in

properly and power supply switched on. The card may not be

inserted fully into the AGP slot. Try taking out and putting back

the card again.

I am unable to obtain 1600X1200 resolution on my monitor.

The highest resolution that the Graphic Card is able to run is

dependent on the Monitor itself. If your monitor does not support

this resolution, then you will not be able to go up to this

resolution.

I cannot get 16 color using screen resolutions above 1280X1024.

Screen resolutions above 1280X1024 can only be run at a

minimum of 256 color. This is a common implementation among

Graphic Cards Manufacturers.

Under Windows NT® 4.0, I am unable to install the Graphics

Card correctly.

Under Windows NT® 4.0, you must first install Windows NT® 4.0

Service Pack 3 or later in order to get AGP support.

I am having difficulties installing the Graphic Card Under

Windows® 95.

Please ensure that you have installed USB Supplement from

Microsoft and there are no conflicting devices in your device

Manager that may be causing Resources allocation problem. Also

check that you have installed DirectX 6.0 or later for best

performances.

APPENDIX A  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do I need to install DirectX 6.0 in the Installation CD under

Windows NT® 4.0?

The DirectX 6.0 is meant for Windows® 95 SR2.1 or later. Do not

install it under Windows NT® 4.0.

Can I install the VGS3D-AGP Graphics Card under Windows

95 OSR1 or earlier?

Due to the fact that Windows® 95 OSR1 or earlier does not have

support for AGP devices, the features of the VGS3D-AGP will not

be fully utilised.

After the drivers are installed and Windows restarted, there is

Plug and Play detection of my Monitor. Why is this so?

The Plug and Play detection of your monitor is to enable the

VGS3D-AGP Graphics Card to detect the capabilities and limits

of your Monitors Supported Resolutions and Refresh Rates. If

you are uncertain of what to choose, just click the Next button

and let Windows select the most appropriate drivers for your

Monitor.

I do not see the Gamma Utility in my Display Properties.

The Gamma Utility only works for 16-Bit color and above. If you

select 256 color or lower, then Gamma Utility Tab in Display

properties will not be visible.

How do I reinstall S3 Dometer utility?

Go to the Utility\Dometer Directory and right click on the file

S3dometr.inf. Choose Install and the Dometer utility will be

installed into your Display Properties. Note that all the bundled

utilities are for Windows® 95 SR2.1 and Windows® 98 only.

Technical Specifications

Chipset

• S3 Savage3D

Memory

• 8MB SDRAM on board

Bus Type

• 2X AGP support/AGP 1.0 compliant

• Full AGP implementation including full side band AGP support and direct

memory execution

Integrated RAMDAC

• 250MHz RAMDAC with Gamma Correction

Resolution

• Supports 1,600 x 1,200 maximum resolution with 32-bit color

Rendering

• 128-bit Dual Rendering Pipeline

APPENDIX B  TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Refresh Rate

• Maximum 85Hz refresh rate

3-D Capabilities

• Single Cycle Trilinear Filtering

• H/W S3 Texture Compression (adopted as standard for DirectX 6)

• True Color Rendering which enables the use of 16M colors versus tradi-

tional 64K thus producing more realistic images

• 16-bit or 24-bit Z-Buffering

• Single Cycle Trilinear Filtering

• Specular Lighting & Diffuse Shading

• Alpha Blending Modes

• Fog (Vertex & Table)

• Special effects like Sprite anti aliasing, reflection, procedural textures and

atmospheric effects

2D Capability

• 1600 x 1200 in 32-bit colors

• 8MB Frame Buffer

• Highly optimized 128-bit graphics engine

• Full featured 2D Engine for acceleration of Bitblt, Rectangle Fill, Line

Draw, Polygon Fill, Panning/Scrolling and H/W Cursor

API Support

• OpenGL

• Direct 3D

Operating Systems & Drivers Support

• Windows

• Windows NT

4.0 & 5.0

• DirectDraw and DirectVideo

• OpenGL

ICD for Windows 9X and NT

APPENDIX B  TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Video/Display/BIOS

• Multi-monitor Capability

• Optimized for Software DVD MPEGII Decoder

• Feature Motion Compensation and sub picture blending to enhance

software DVD playback

• Multiple Video Windows and image mirroring to provide ideal solution

for video conferencing

• 60MHz VIP VMI video port allows for HDTV Resolution as well as pro-

vides low cost connection to MPEG-2 decoders and video digitizers

• Brightness, Hue, Saturation Control

Connectors

• VGA connector

• VIP/LPB connector

Power Management

• PCI Power Management

The product specifications herein are subject to change without

prior notifications.

Card Layout

Aztech VGS3D-AGP User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual