After the breakthroughs with the Voodoo4 AGP 64Mb, Voodoo5 AGP 128Mb and Voodoo4 PCI 64Mb, I'm back with a new 3DFX "more memory" mod. I was thinking what to do next; there were so many projects I could start, yet there always has been a shadow limiting a modder's imagination: the maximum specifications imposed by the orriginal manufacturer of the product.

Remember this:

http://img1.abload.de/img/vsa100spesco7uo.jpg

So the 3DFX fans stoped their dreams every time at the magical 64Mb RAM for a single VSA100 GPU (and until recently even that line has not been available). So, if the former 3DFX designers said that 64Mb is the limit, wel... that must have been right anyway, isn't it?
WRONG!
I found a way to increase the video memory alocated to a VSA100 GPU to the unreal 128Mb and so I created my supreme mod yet, the Voodoo4 AGP with 128Mb RAM.
Sorry about the quality of the picture, I have tried for days to borrow a digital cammera, but this image taken with my phone should be acceptable:

http://img1.abload.de/img/imag006l2d4.jpg

But why mount 128Mb memory on a Voodoo4 card when even for a modded 64Mb config it is difficult to make use of the extra RAM? Well... For fun, for trashing a myth, but especialy handy if you were to test the card with antialiasing active on an insane resolution. That way, textures cry to fit inside the video memory. Have a look:

Voodoo4 AGP with 64Mb on 3DMark 2001SE at 1600x1024 FSAA2x: 303 points

http://img1.abload.de/img/649ak3.jpg

Voodoo4 AGP with 128Mb on 3DMark 2001SE at 1600x1024 FSAA 2x: 884 points

http://img1.abload.de/img/128o40v.jpg

In normal opperating conditions, the performance of the 128Mb Voodoo4 is close to that of a "regular" modded 64Mb card; still it is a spectacular addition to the family of "new" old 3DFX hardware. Let's just hope it will not be the last project...

First of all; HOLY ****!!!!

Second, what kind of weird resolution is 1600x1024?

Third, any more details on how you did this?

Oh yeah, and congratulations!

Wow! Very nice work :).

Going for a 256MB Voodoo5 5500 as well? Or a 32MB Voodoo3? A Banshee with 2MB? :P There are a lot of technical barriers to break!

Thanks for the congrats, friends!
It is vital to say that this new mod would not have been completed without the help given by Rolo01. I want to express my gratitude for his support. Thank you, Roland!
Ofcourse, as always, I will soon post the detailed instructions on how to duplicate my work. I might need good quality pics of the front and back side of a Voodoo4 AGP to point out on them the locations where mods have to be performed...
As for my next projects, it will probably be a Voodoo5 PCI with 128Mb first (if someone were to let me modd one such card of his own, as I cannot afford to buy it). Next, I lack no new ideeas. It is free time I do not have. Realy tough on spare time to work on my 3DFX hobby these days... As a taste of what might be, I am sure I could do a Voodoo2 with 20Mb RAM, an AGP-to-PCI addapter and I might try to make other mods like Voodoo3 with 32Mb, Voodoo5 AGP 4x compatible and so on...
Could be a nice thing if you, the 3DFX fans, were to suggest here what should be the next project and I will see what and when I can do to help.

nice work

we need a v5 PCB with twice the memory solder spots ::)
or can you solder two chips in one spot and only attach different address cables?

Nice Work Komponent !

You did it again...RESPECT Man !

Well, we need another memoryes !
Not with 16 mb/chip, but with 32mb /chip....this will be another challenge to get some memories like that...
Next challenge ?

V5 5500 with 256 Mb !
V5 6000 With 512 Mb !
AALchemy with 1Gb !!!

hehe....
Again: Nice, Nice and Nice Work Komponent !

Btw. Komponent, did u think that a VSA could allocate more than 128Mb ?????  :o :o :o

Since you would need to buy new memory chips for a 256MiB V5 5500 (or a 512MiB V5 6000) those are probably not an option at this point.

I think it would be interesting to see first if a V3 can handle 32MiB (you can use the old chips from V4's/V5's).

Then AGP4x for the Voodoo 5 would be nice.

A V2 with maxed out memory sounds interesting too (though two of those would be even more interesting; SLI)
Remember, a V2 TMU supports up to 16MiB memory per TMU, don't know for sure what the framebuffer supports though.

officaly the VSA101 can handle 256MB
maybe the 100 get a update later w/o any notice

@ Komponent :
Congratulations for that fantastic mod !
This is something I always thought was impossible.
Very, very impressive !
Can´t wait to read further details.

Nice work Komponent. Congratulations on this new world premier 3dfx modd.
Pretty unbelievable that it actually functions correctly without any changes on the sw side.
As for future modds i would be interested in participating in the v5 pci modd like I said before.
Keep in touch.

One word : Awesome !

Dude... you are the man!   8-)

Komponent wrote on 25.01.09 at 12:32:52:

I am sure I could do an AGP-to-PCI addapter

I would suggest going directly for an agp-to-pcie(1x?) adapter,if possible..

awesome work,btw ;D

Unbelievable. Respect for this great work. Pimp my Voodoo ;D

The answer to:

"3Dfx, the Universe and Everything..." ;)

KOMPONENT 8-)

Props as big as "le teur eiffel"...RESPECT! :o

Well done, very impressive. :)

Very nice work!!!!

ps. About agp2pci: before do it we would need a driver that support correctly the agp2pci adapter. SFFT driver cant handle it, only the beta from KoolsMoky.

Oscar.

very nice work indeed, congratulations.

But, would this mean that this is possible for other VSA-100 based cards as well, with other types of memory, like the V5 5000 with 32MB SGRAM??

It has 2 gpu's, so that would mean it should be able to handle 256MB, right?? Or does this only go for SDRAM based cards??

ultima wrote on 27.01.09 at 11:38:38:

very nice work indeed, congratulations. But, would this mean that this is possible for other VSA-100 based cards as well, with other types of memory, like the V5 5000 with 32MB SGRAM?? It has 2 gpu's, so that would mean it should be able to handle 256MB, right?? Or does this only go for SDRAM based cards??

SGRAM cards are not too different than SDRAM boards. Functionality is determined by hardware and BIOS setups embeded on the card. So, 64Mb for each VSA100 (total of 128Mb on A Voodoo5 5000 PCB) is possible for sure; don't know about 2x128Mb; should be possible aswell.
The huge problem is that to be able to do modding on each distinct type of a card, one must remove the GPU(s) to study the PCB and find the needed signaling connection points on an identical card. For extremely rare prototypes like Voodoo5 5000 and 6000, access to even already dead cards is a slim option...


Komponent wrote on 25.01.09 at 12:32:52:

I might need good quality pics of the front and back side of a Voodoo4 AGP to point out on them the locations where mods have to be performed...

Could a friend from here provide high-resolution pics of the front and the back of a Voodoo4 AGP card, please? I cannot seem to find a good digital cammera to borrow... Thanks alot!

I'll take some pics :).

And there they are:
http://tweakers.net/ext/f/35LDvApWOt3b8liQwTMxpcgS/thumb.jpg http://tweakers.net/ext/f/mNOyLatoAzM9wO6uPa0JTEpv/thumb.jpg

These are 1600 pixels wide. I made them a bit smaller then the original but I think it will still suffice :). I just hope the cable of the fan is not in the way  ::). If you need higher resolution, more focussed on RAM (or something), or no fan- just say so. Then I'll take new ones.

Thanks alot, Thandor! The pics were more than enough.
Have a look at the instructions to be followed to get yourself a Voodoo4 AGP with 128Mb:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/3745/v4128frontdt9.th.jpg

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8496/v4128backoh5.th.jpg

First, do the hardware mods marked in the pics above, after soldering the 8 16Mb RA M chips.
Next, flash the BIOS with the modded one also used before for the Voodoo4 AGP with 64Mb.
http://rapidshare.com/files/191226449/v4_64M.rom.html

That is all...


exxe wrote on 26.01.09 at 21:46:50:

why one must die? just try the same shots on the back of the GPU like on the AGP and look its working

Look for yourself on the back side of the PCB, under the GPU. Different layout of the spots... Not to mention the points required for the resistor hardware strapping for the the new memory config...

now the question remains can this be done for a 5000, 5500 as 6000 as well? There by giving them 128MB per chip, heh maybe 256MB per chip is possible and that would tell us that a VSA-100 is almost the same as a VSA-101 , only no DDR support, that is if 256MB can be made possible for a 4500 AGP for example.

@Falcon - could you please host this modded BIOS, Rapidshare is throwing a fit... :-/

If not, then can someone else please host it... ;)

CHEERS! 8-)

Any of you guys know of a game that might run on VSA100 class GPU and will not start unless you had a minimum of 128Mb video memory?
It was a great test before with Codename Panzers (IIRC) that was able to start only on cards with 64Mb or more...

Komponent wrote on 04.04.13 at 19:19:41:

Any of you guys know of a game that might run on VSA100 class GPU and will not start unless you had a minimum of 128Mb video memory? It was a great test before with Codename Panzers (IIRC) that was able to start only on cards with 64Mb or more...

I seriously doubt that such a game exists, since the only official 128MB voodoo card was the 6000 and it never was released.
And it would mean it would only run on the 6000, nothing else, since the 6000 was to be the 1st consumer card ever to have 128MB of video memory, even if it was 32MB/chip.

You could try:
America's Army - Special Forces.