I cant take any in-game screenshots with my voodoo card...Is there any programs that will help this situation...Im trying to take screenshots of verbal abuse as well as cheaters in game to send to their CO's...but all I get is a muffled screen...


Also a friend is giving me a voodoo 5, but has a fan out...can it be replaced? and with what ?and where do I get such an animal?...lol

For screenshots - Hypersnap DX 'should' work! ;)

As for the V5 fan, exactly WHAT is wrong with it? ???

Is it broken? ???

Is the fan O.K. but the wire broken? ???

Let us all know and we'll see what we can come up with (the whole forum that is...) ::)

If hypersnap somehow dont work try FRAPS. My personal favourite.

@Hammer,

You can try fraps for taking game screenshots, movies and showing fps.

If you can't find an identical AAVID replacement fan, you could try to purchase a couple Thermaltake A1178 Crystal Orb's or even blue orbs, this is a mod I have done to my 5500 and along with ram heatsinks allows me to overclock up to 196 mhz before seeing artifact's  :)

Do not try to play games with your card until you resolve the fan issue, your card will most likely lock-up from over heating or worst case you'll fry the gpu !

If there's no overclocking and the case isn't an oven inside you can take the other fan off, it's not required. 3dfx themselves said that the VSA-100 chips were on the border of requiring active cooling.

It also reduces noise. Those fans make one hell of a noise.

I myself modded my V5 5500 to have Zalman ZM-NB32J heatsinks.

http://www.tweakers.net/ext/f/13289/full.jpg

Wow guys thanx for the quick reply's!...I dont have the card yet, it is being shipped to me....So I really only know that a fan went out...dont know if the card is in good shape or otherwise...I thought he said it was fine but a fan went out and he didnt want to burn it up...

My card( voodoo 3 2000) freaks out every so often so wanted another one....dont know what causes it...I tried all kinds of drivers and could never even get the glide to work at all till I got amagmerlin 2.5 for XP....


I just kinda wonder if the card got to hot sometime or something along that line....I can never know anything is wrong with the card until I try to use it with a glide game....then what happens is I see some of the graphics garbled and sparkling...its strange...

thanx for the info tho.

@Hammer,

Congratulations on your acquiring a 5500, will make a nice upgrade fom your voodoo 3  ;)

Have to disagreee with NitroX infinity, my experience (have 2 agp's and 1 pci)  and reading about 5500's is that they run hot, they did a terrible job of applying a low quality thermal adhesive at manufacturing. On all 3 (6 gpu's) of my cards there was just a glob of compound in the middle, maybe giving 50 - 60% total surface area contact between the heatsinks and gpu's, also the adhesive was discoloured (dark brown) showing signs of over heating  :(

If you wanted to mod from the factory set-up to a similar set-up such as NitroX infinity's (high quality heatsink and a properly applied thermal adhesive) you'd be fine, but you should check the adhesive when you  get the card and ensure that there's a high percentage of surface area contact, and as I previously stated, check for adhesive discolouration. If you observe these conditions I would not recomend playing games without having both fans functional.

Quote:

On all 3 (6 gpu's) of my cards there was just a glob of compound in the middle, maybe giving 50 - 60% total surface area contact between the heatsinks and gpu's, also the adhesive was discoloured (dark brown) showing signs of over heating

That's epoxy, it's supposed to discolour ;D

@NitroX infinity,

Not trying provoke an arguement about this but the applied epoxy on my card's were with out a doubt  burnt and charred, not just some minor discolouration.

Using the original 3dfx set-up and Tweakmonster ramsinks, this card would lock up (from heat) at around 180 mhz, there was no evidence of any visual image corruption indicating reaching the limits of the Hyundai ram.

After modding the card as I have previously stated, I can now overclock to 196mhz, thus proving that better/superior gpu cooling allowed for this 16 mhz improvement  ;)

I have read dozens of article's on overclocking VSA-100's, all stating that these chips run hot. If as you stated earlier, these chips were running cool, you would have to assume that 3dfx would have taken advantage of this gpu headroom and released the VSA-100 based cards at higher clock and mem. speeds thus improving fillrate. Remember, 3dfx desperately needed to retake the performance crown from Nvidia at this time, with the hopes of regaining lost sales and prestige. History (3dfx's demise) has proven that they were somehow incapable of this.

Although even to this day I am still an avid 3dfx fan, I realized long ago that 3dfx is solely to blame for their fate, missing key product release deadlines and milking the Voodoo architecture for all it was worth was the beginning of the end  :-[

Although even to this day I am still an avid 3dfx fan, I realized long ago that 3dfx is solely to blame for their fate, missing key product release deadlines and milking the Voodoo architecture for all it was worth was the beginning of the end  

im with you on this, im gonna be a fan forever but they did this to themselfs, (what nvidia did in the end was make sure we would never have suport for our cards , trying to put the stake in the heart of 3dfx)

i had a v5500 agp w/o the heatsinks on and was
testing a new system and fried that card pretty quick, i have geforce4 copper coolers on my card im using and i can feel it slightly warm to touch, for my own piece of mind the only time i dont change the heatsink set up on the v5500 is if its just for display on the wall, but thats just me ;)

NitroX infinity, by the way i like that mod you did, very nice ;)

@VDX,

With out at least having the heatsinks still on (some basic form of protection from generated heat), let alone not having functional fans, I'd be willing to bet the farm that a VSA-100 based card would'nt last more than a minute or two before one of the gpu's exploded after starting up a game.

I personally was never really that upset about Nvidia acquiring 3dfx, it's the nature of the beast in the business world. What really pissed me off was that Nvidia decided not to offer any driver support what so ever to myself (I had a 4 month old $380 card) and other 3dfx card owners (back in late 2000 this would have been a substantial number of owners), it was literally like a slap in the face to the 3dfx fans/card owners around the world.

Because Nvidia's Management decided to take this position on 3dfx driver support, I personally have decided to take the stance that I will never spend a penny on an Nvidia based product "ever". Back in Febuary of this year I decided it was time to replace my beloved 5500 with a newer system and video card to be prepared for the impending release's of Doom 3, Halflife 2 and the new wave of games that I'm sure will be unplayable on my 5500. I decided to put my money were my mouth was and purchased a Radeon 9800 pro, so far I have been extremely pleased with it's performance and fantastic image quality  ;D

F@ck Nvidia !


@NitroX infinity,

Sorry, I forgot to mention in my previous post that I think your mod is an excellent idea for reducing fan noise and still offering very acceptable cooling for the card, I just believe these stock cards run on the hot side, so please do not take any offence to my opinions or statements. Us remaining 3dfx folk need to stick together "were a dieing breed", Kind of like the last of the Mohicans Eh.

wrote on 01.08.04 at 23:13:54:

I personally was never really that upset about Nvidia acquiring 3dfx, it's the nature of the beast in the business world.

Too true, it does rank that they helped things along.

The BS counter-lawsuit they threw down right before the end was a joke designed to break the camels back.

Nvidia was going TO LOSE the multi-texturing lawsuit bought about by 3dfx, and rightfully so since Nvidia was infringing on it with the TNT cards.

3dfx simply didn't have the cash to fight it out in court.


Quote:

What really pissed me off was that Nvidia decided not to offer any driver support what so ever to myself (I had a 4 month old $380 card) and other 3dfx card owners (back in late 2000 this would have been a substantial number of owners), it was literally like a slap in the face to the 3dfx fans/card owners around the world.

Can't blame Nvidia for that, they bought the core assets of 3dfx, support was clearly left to 3dfx and Nvidia made that very clear at the time.

Core assets and customer support are two different things.

I own an 9800Pro and I'm pretty pleased with it, I don't care for Nvidia sleazy marketing and bad drivers. Just let the product speak for itself.

Quote:

What really pissed me off was that Nvidia decided not to offer any driver support what so ever to myself (I had a 4 month old $380 card) and other 3dfx card owners (back in late 2000 this would have been a substantial number of owners), it was literally like a slap in the face to the 3dfx fans/card owners around the world.

Don't forget the action nVidia had afterwards;
give us your 3dfx card and you'll get a $10 discount on any new nVidia card >:(

Ok so back to the question at had...heatsinks or fans?...which is better for my replacememnt?

BTW HYpersnap nor Fraps worked for taking the screenshots...there were lines across the screen and even stuff was seen that wasnt there...lol...weird numbers and stuff...if I knew how to post a pic here (PC illiterate) I would show yas

Hm, make sure you enable the "Capture -> Enable Special Capture (DirectX/Glide)" Option hidden in the advanced capturing Options Menu of HypersnapDX.

Otherwise it likely won't work, and the Results will be unusable.

(don't know why, but this Option isn't enabled by default)

Not overclocking: (big-ass) heatsinks.
Overclocking: (big-ass) heatsinks with fans ;D

Quote:

Can't blame Nvidia for that, they bought the core assets of 3dfx, support was clearly left to 3dfx and Nvidia made that very clear at the time.

Hmm, not sure if I agree  :-/, it would have at least been a great gesture of good will if Nvidia had decided to pick up the tab for supporting 3dfx cards. At the very least they could have released the then latest driver source code and allowed the 3dfx community to fend for themselves. It's almost 3-1/2 years later now and if not for leaked code about what ? a year or so ago nothing.

I also believe that 3dfx was in such bad shape financialy that they would'nt risk the sale/acquisition over making driver support a legal condition of sale. Nvidia had them by the balls !

Something else I have alway's wondered about ?, 3dfx's Management could not have been very confident that Rampage was going to be the next "killer" card, or you would think that they somehow could have secured loans or credit (some how survived), until it could have been released. If it had or was close to taping out and there's a few prototypes, it could'nt have been to far away from a public release ?

Sorry for getting so far off topic,

I'll agree with NitroX infinity on this one:

Not overclocking: (big-ass) heatsinks.
Overclocking: (big-ass) heatsinks with fans  :)

wrote on 02.08.04 at 00:55:39:

Hmm, not sure if I agree  :-/, it would have at least been a great gesture of good will if Nvidia had decided to pick up the tab for supporting 3dfx cards.

Why? They didn't pay for that, no sense throwing money after something you didn't agree on.

The support for the cards was squarely left in 3dfx's hands and they choose to abandon us. They say the higher ups in the company were well taken care of in the buy out, I doubt the rank and file 3dfx people were treated or felt the same way.

Based on how Nvidia has acted in the past and the fact members of the 3dfx board were well compensated it would not surprise me a bit if Nvidia had a few "inside" people on the 3dfx board.

People were paid off, pure and simple for 3dfx to fold, bonuses for everyone!

Examine my theory for flaws please.


Quote:

At the very least they could have released the then latest driver source code and allowed the 3dfx community to fend for themselves.

Have to protect their (purchased) software rights- Releasing the source opens up all sorts of fair use problems. Far far more simple and less headaches to not release and and let the former 3dfx end users to twist in the wind for good measure.

I'm surprised threatening letters from lawyers have not been issued in regards to the source code, but then again if they had after 4 years it would have just stired up a lot of anti-nvidia feelings.


Quote:

I also believe that 3dfx was in such bad shape financialy that they would'nt risk the sale/acquisition over making driver support a legal condition of sale. Nvidia had them by the balls !

Or simply paid off the right people, again it was a smart move on their part. Why have the support issues for something you didn't sell and make a profit on?


Quote:

If it had or was close to taping out and there's a few prototypes, it could'nt have been to far away from a public release ?

Rampage was only on the first revision silicon, for a point of reference I think the VSA-100 had three and still needed one more but was rushed out the door to make some sales.

@gdonovan,

I agree with what you are saying, I dont believe a Company with such a high profile name such as 3dfx's could have sold out so easily, You would have thought that someone who wanted to keep the 3dfx brand name alive/operational (other than Nvidia) would or could have bailed them out. I totally agree that at least some 3dfx board members sold out for large amounts of money, I've never read any thing yet about Scott Sellers were abouts, he's probably living life large  ;)

I still believe Nvidia could have secured a huge potential customer base if they had done things differently.

wrote on 02.08.04 at 01:59:28:

@gdonovan, I agree with what you are saying, I dont believe a Company with such a high profile name such as 3dfx's could have sold out so easily,

Was easy- They were flat broke and loosing money like mad, VSA-100 was late to market and getting spanked because of it, no solid product after VSA-100 (Rampage wasn't even up and running till 2 weeks before 3dfx threw in the towel)


Quote:

You would have thought that someone who wanted to keep the 3dfx brand name alive/operational (other than Nvidia) would or could have bailed them out.

3dfx already tried all the banks, they were in trouble for some time and Nvidia is keeping the brand name alive... SLI anyone?


Quote:

I still believe Nvidia could have secured a huge potential customer base if they had done things differently.

Nah- Most people (not us!) just want a card that plays the game, what brand is on the card isn't an issue.

Most of ATI and Nvidia's sales are through OEM's, sold to people who could not care the least what is running the display for the web browsing.

They may have generated some goodwill by releasing the source code or offering support but they took the safe road for Nvidia and it cost them nothing

Dunno if its fixable now....was talking to him and he said he could smell burning....it still ran in glide but after while in the games he would smell burning and then eventually the game would lock-up...Thas whe he found out it was a fan gone...

@gdonovan,

You'r 100% right, no arguments from me, this was just meant to be 3dfx's/our fate.

Just good to know there's a place left like this, were the company and the card's they made are appreciated and respected for their role in the pc 3d gaming revolution  8)

This is one of the last great 3dfx support/archive/discussion sites !

FalconFly, I salute you  ;)

Hail 3dfx

@Hammer,

Not sounding good buddy, if you smell burning coming from the video card, dont think of trying to start it without trying to correct the over heating problem, even then it might be futile if damage is already done  :-[

Not sure of the situation here, but the previous owner did'nt think to check the video card's fan(s) after experiencing multiple lock-ups, this would be basic trouble shooting  :o

I would be surprised if a chip was ruined if a fan failed (especially if caught early enough), lot's of frequent lock-up's yes but a ruined chip not likely, Engineering would have taken this into consideration for warranty/refund claim's.

Is it possible that a gpu(s) are damaged ? Yes, Likely ? No. Could also be problem with a transistor or memory, was\is the card being severely overclocked ?

Hopefully it's repairable  :)

lol...thanx for the answer 5500...but both of us are n00bs to 3dfx....weve been flying f16 Multirole Fighter by novalogic for 3-5 years...we heard about how Voodoo was, and how the game was made for glide etc...but never got a card..then one day he got one and thats the card he got...overclocking?...LMAO  man...Im a n00b with this stuff....and hes worse than me...now our whole squad has them. We buy em from ebay and just install them, get the right drivers and fly man...we dont know squat besides that......lol...any way to test the card first before buying those heatsinks?...I mean there only like 5 bucks each....but think its worth it?

wrote on 02.08.04 at 05:40:06:

lol...thanx for the answer 5500...but both of us are n00bs to 3dfx....weve been flying f16 Multirole Fighter by novalogic for 3-5 years...we heard about how Voodoo was, and how the game was made for glide etc...but never got a card..then one day he got one and thats the card he got...overclocking?...LMAO  man...Im a n00b with this stuff....and hes worse than me...now our whole squad has them. We buy em from ebay and just install them, get the right drivers and fly man...we dont know squat besides that......lol...any way to test the card first before buying those heatsinks?...I mean there only like 5 bucks each....but think its worth it?

If you don't know much about this stuff, be carefull.
Remember to put a thermal paste between the heatsinks and chips first (very thin layer). Otherwise they're cooked :D

If you wish to make a notable improvement to the Voodoo 5500 cooling, without spending lots of money- here is my suggestion.

Remove the stock heatsinks, clean the chips and heatsinks, replace them with a thin layer of thermal grease and four small dots of 24 hour epoxy (Araldite- 24 hour is much stronger than the 5 minute variety) in each corner to keep the heatsinks fixed.

Take both of the small fans, and file them in the nearest bin (or keep them for nostalgia) find an old 80mm case fan and fix this to a small strip of metal so that it can be attched to the case, angle the strip so that the fan blows air over both of the heatsinks.

Wire the fan to a molex connector +12 volt and ground (Yellow and black) and connect to your PSU.

Hey presto- much better cooling than standard, and much quieter too.

If you want to get real fancy, you can duct the fan using a cardboard shroud. Another mod would be to add a potentiometer to the fans power lead to control fan speed.

Passive heatsinks will work well enough- however caveat, you will need to ensure you have good airflow in your case.

It is the flow of air that carries the heat away, if you have stagnant air, eventually the whole case will heat up, and you may experience problems.

Cheapest and simplest way to improve airflow in a typical midi tower is to open up some slots in the top and bottom of the case, this allows the natural convection of heat- hot air rises!

Andy

@Hammer,

1) Approx. how long from starting a game till the card locked up, within minutes or like 1/2 - 1 hr.?

2) Can the burning smell be pin-pointed to the gpu area's of the card ?

You have a bit of a dilema, if your not experienced or feel comfortable with removing the existing heatsink's and replacing, you may want to consider acquiring a "perfectly functional card".

The most difficult part of the procedure will be removing the existing heatsinks and cleaning the gpu's, you'll have to put the card in a freezer bag in the freezer for 3-4 hours, remove and try to twist them off, but be carefull you can ruin the gpu if you twist or pry to hard !
My favourite method has been to play a game for 15-20 minutes, immediately shut down and remove the card and they twisted right off. I would'nt really recommend this method as the burning smell and the lock-ups have me concerned already.

If the freezer method works for removing the heatsinks, you'll now have to remove and clean the gpu's of existing epoxy/adhesive, you'll need some 100% acetone a rag and a lot of elbow grease.

This somewhat explains the hardest parts, are you willing to try or it seems a bit to much ?

Patience....I dont have any 3dfx tools that have anything that works in them...I have amigamerlin 2.5...the only 3dfx tool in the hub that works is screen resolution.

5500; I am not scared of anything bro...its a free card...nothing from nothing leave's snothing...lol..

I see also that the heatsinks have instructions...between theirs and your instruction I think I can manage....it will be up to the card to do the rest!..thanx fellas...

still cant take screen shots at all BTW even with the glide 3dfx box checked in advanced options of Hypersnap...and have tried every option in there too ;(

@Hammer,


Quote:

5500; I am not scared of anything bro...its a free card...nothing from nothing leave's snothing...lol..

I like your attitude, nothing ventured, nothing gained  ;)

whodovoodoo2man....Andy?....Do I smell sheep here bro?....LMAO...is that you X?

What are you on about?! ???

Andy

I used to fly with a Brit from london named Andy who origannly was from Whales....  he also loved Voodoo cards...He used to joke with the rest of the squad all the time about how he was a sheepshagger....thus, I was asking if you were him in our usual joking manner...If not then sorry bro...thought WOW what a coincidnece...lol

No, I'm not from Wales, and don't have any fondness for sheep either(unless they're served with roast potatoes and mint sauce).

I do fly model aircraft, though, and like to dabble with Red Baron 3D with the Full Canvas Jacket Patch.

Hence the need for Voodoo cards.

Andy