Hi friends,
Sorry for being away for a long time. Some of you might remember me from a past success of mine, the Voodoo4 AGP with 64Mb of RAM...
http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1145604124
Is there in this community the spirit for modding the 3DFX cards to their max still alive?
Because finaly we have the opportunity to accomplish the dream of going to double the orriginal amount of memory on our VSA100 voodoos. That is 64Mb for the Voodoo4, 128Mb for the Voodoo5 5500 and, for the brave, 256Mb with the Voodoo5 6000!
I have the opportunity of buying now the right memory chips (16Mb each) that we need for this project. I am in contact with the reseller company that can provide the memory modules, but it will take a joint effort to get it done, because they will not sell in small quantities.
To keep it short, the minimum batch they agreed to sell is a tray of 108 chips, at a price of 2.40 Euro (3.50 USD) without VAT for a piece. If we can get enough of us to cover this number of RAM modules, then we are good to go. I will take at least 8 chips to mod my own Voodoo5 5500, but there is no way for me alone to pay for all of them.
By the way, the SDRAM is of top quality, it is rated for industrial temp use; I will link bellow the datasheet:
http://www.esmt.com.tw/DB/manager/upload/M12L128324A%2040%2085C.pdf
If anyone here is interested in modding their Voodoo4/5 cards to the double of the default RAM memory, please reply with the number of chips you want to buy.
I have fate that 3DFX is not dead yet and we can togetter pull this off.

if you can mod the cards or have one how do this

i will buy a 128MB V5 5500 AGP and maybe a PCI too

exxe wrote on 02.09.08 at 22:09:38:

if you can mod the cards or have one how do this i will buy a 128MB V5 5500 AGP and maybe a PCI too

Here is what I am able to do:
I can mod my own cards, ofcourse. I have the tools and the skills to do it; I have un-soldered and soldered with hot air with my heat gun many times RAM chips on video cards.
I have no intention in transforming this opportunity into a business. If somebody wants to have his own Voodoo5 5500 with 128Mb of RAM, then and join this group buy, then he can purchase the memory chips here and the card(s) from any source he likes and perform the mod himself or at a persson of his choice. I will not be selling modded cards. However, I can help with the procedure if asked for if a persson wants to send me his card(s) and the memory chips to have them modded. Please keep in mind that as far as I am concerned, there are a number of issues to be reminded of:
-The soldering with hot air using a heat gun is not 100 percent safe; some chips can and sometimes do get damaged so spares could be needed. So for modding a Voodoo5 5500 that has 8 memory modules, one extra or better 2 should be available just to be on the safe side.
-When using 16Mb chips, an extra adress line needs to be tied from the memory modules to the VSA100 GPUs on the card PCB. Hank provided the solder points for the Voodoo5 5500 AGP (I was able to confirm them too):
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/3527/2xramv5rw6.jpg
Also, by the same reverse engeneering method too, I was able to provide the solder points for the Voodoo4 PCI PCB:
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2703/v4pcivsa100modgw6.jpg
http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1169273701
There is no easy way for this. If I want to find out where to connect the A11 adresses for the memory for, say, a Voodoo5 PCI, I have to get a (better dead) Voodoo5 PCI, unsolder the GPU and check with the VSA100 pinout and a multimetter where does the signal leads on the PCB. The same goes for Voodoo5 6000 too...
Also, a BIOS mod is needed but that will be the easy part.

Too bad the max speed is 166 MHz, 200 or even more would have benn great for modding V5 5500 or even V4 4500. Anyway, I'm in for some memory (let's say about 20-30 modules for 2-3 V5) if that helps, let's see if anybody else want too.

What we should do is all throw in together as a group and also pick up a few cards on ebay for the modding and hopefully Komponentis up for the job and cranks out a card or two for each of us in the group purchase ;)

RaverX wrote on 02.09.08 at 23:43:22:

Too bad the max speed is 166 MHz, 200 or even more would have benn great for modding V5 5500 or even V4 4500. Anyway, I'm in for some memory (let's say about 20-30 modules for 2-3 V5) if that helps, let's see if anybody else want too.

Yes, the chip are rated for 166Mhz, but they are not of the regular video card type; they are the industrial temp version and that means "Operation temperature condition -40°C~85°C", so If the chips are guaranteed to work with full stability at 166Mhz on a temperature of 85°C, I think that there is more than an educated guess that under normal condition it should be no problem to run them at 200Mhz.
So, so far, still 70 pieces left...

I also want to mod a Voodoo 5 5500 to 128MB, tell me what I have to do! I have a card for this project!

Who will do the modification?

Tritop wrote on 03.09.08 at 10:10:52:

I also want to mod a Voodoo 5 5500 to 128MB, tell me what I have to do! I have a card for this project! Who will do the modification?

It is up to you; if you want, I can be of help to mod your card too. First you have to subscribe here with the number of RAM chips that you want to buy. If you want me to solder the new modules on a Voodoo5 5500 AGP, you have to send me the card and 9 or better 10 16Mb chips (to have spares just in case of problems) in Romania. Or you can buy here the memory modules and mod the card at another persson/place of your choice.
I hope we would be able to get togetter enough of us to cover the minimum amount of chips the supplier will sell. This could just well be our last chance to take this step...

Ok!

1 Voodoo 5 MOD to 128MB

How much for the Chips and the Rework?

Pricing please...? :-?

Komponent wrote on 02.09.08 at 21:59:57:

the minimum batch they agreed to sell is a tray of 108 chips, at a price of 2.40 Euro (3.50 USD) without VAT for a piece

Edit:
A few suggestions for a smooth deal:
As the RAM reseller is located in Germany, it would be best (and cheaper too) if one of the german members here would agree to receive the whole tray of memory modules and then redistribute the chips to everyone of us all arround the world.
I still agree to apear with the company where I work as the official buyer (because they will not sell to private individuals) on the paper work; but it would also be simpler if the same german friend would be the one to first collect all the money from all of us and then make the bank transfer to pay for the RAM.
Anyway, I fear that we will not be doing this joint venture and will miss this chance because, to be honest, I do not see the requests for chips following here... It makes me kind of sad, knowing I awaited for years for an opportunity like this one...

@komponent,
I want too. So, count with me. :)

Regards,
Oscar

osckhar wrote on 04.09.08 at 12:13:48:

@komponent, I want too. So, count with me. :) Regards, Oscar

Guys, if you are interested in buying, please state the number of chips you want; so we will know when we are covered.
Also, please understand that this offer will not stay on forever; if we are not able to gather the funds in about a week... well... let's just say that no reseller will wait indefinately for a bunch of hobby freaks...

OK then, I want for sure 25 chips, I think it should be enough to mod 2 V5 and one V4. If you discover how to mod a V5 PCI, then increase the number of chips for me to 35. Thanks.

I want for 2 V5. :)

Oscar

So which cards are mod-able? V4 4500 AGP/PCI/PCI MAC & V5 5500 AGP?

I'm in,one v5 for sure,maybe two.I'll ask around 3dfx.cz as well.

I would take 50 chips, maybe more if needed. So count me in, please.

Komponent,

I think several folks have requested your services for actually performing the mods for them.  If you are willing to perform the mods on two more V5s for me, then sign me up for 20 chips.

Question, has this mod even been done to a V5 5500?  Is there a prototype out there of a 5500 that has 128mb on it?

Edit:  Is there anyone on here from the USA that can perform this mod?

Sigtau

Hi Komponent,

Nice to hear from you again !
And nice to hear that the Projekt is alive  ;)
Of course i'm IN !

I will take 20 pieces !

Radu.

Komponent,

What I would like to do is have the memory shipped to you (enough to mod a V5 5500 PCI) then I will aquire the card and ship it to you for the re-work.

Is that okay?

How much are we looking at for my project?

Once you answer my post, others will have a better idea how they wish to proceed.


Thanks,
Bob~

Thanks for speaking up Gamma742.

I'm in the same boat.   ;)

gamma742 wrote on 03.09.08 at 04:46:22:

What we should do is all throw in together as a group and also pick up a few cards on ebay for the modding and hopefully Komponentis up for the job and cranks out a card or two for each of us in the group purchase ;)

I was trying to move us all in that general direction but when I saw the recent response.. I thought I needed to add clarity to my original post.


Friendly regards,
gamma

Friends, I kindly asked a favour from you before: if you want to join this group buy, please clearly state the exact number of chips you want (like, say 10 pieces). If you type here something like "I want the RAM to mod 'x' cards", I have no way of knowing what your plans are... You see, I personaly need at least 1 extra chip as a spare just in case something goes bad and I damage one chip when performing the mod; but ofcourse I feel even better if I know that I have 2 extra spare chips rather than one. It is all about the work style of the modder... So if you want to have a specific card RAM swapped, ask the persson who will do the job how many chips does he need to be able to produce a working device and after that state your request here. I mean no offence to anyone, but I cannot count as valid someone's claim to "chips for a Voodoo'X' card"; ask only for number of pieces, please.
Anyway, it looks like we are allready covered for a first tray of chips, if we add Rolo01 (50), RaverX (25), M14Radu (20) and myself. There are at the RAM seller company a total number of 284 pieces in stock; that is another tray of 108 chips plus the bulk samples, so we can ask to buy more of them.
I will now start the paperwork for the first tray and organize the details betweend the buyers on the actions to be followed (payment, shipping,...).

NitroX infinity wrote on 04.09.08 at 14:05:51:

So which cards are mod-able? V4 4500 AGP/PCI/PCI MAC & V5 5500 AGP?

In theory, all cards powered by VSA100 GPUs are modable to 16Mb chips (Voodoo4 AGP and PCI, Voodoo5 5500 AGP and PCI and even Voodoo5 6000), but it is all up to the PCB. If there is on the PCB a solder point for the A11 adress line, the card can be modded. The only way I know for sure that the presence and location of this point can be investigated is the reverse engeneering: unsoldering the GPUs out of a (better) dead simmilar card and checking with a multimeter the pinout. So far I only had spares for 2 models to do my research: Voodoo5 AGP and Vodoo4 PCI, and the results and instructions are presented on the pics posted before even in this topic. If you want to mod other models, do it yourself the way I described earlier or provide those specific cards for research; sorry, I have no other means or possibilities...

ok,ps47=>20 chips,that should be enough to mod one v5agp right away and one v5pci someday in the future (hopefully).

Tritop wrote on 03.09.08 at 22:59:42:

Ok! 1 Voodoo 5 MOD to 128MB How much for the Chips and the Rework?

Okay, How much for 8 Chips (+2 spare) and the Rework?

How much would 12 chips cost?

Well... if by any chance someone wants to have me perform the mod on his card(s), here are my condition I work on:
-You pay for shipping both ways.
-You agree for patience. I have little spare time from my dayly job and modding video cards takes alot of time to be done in proper way.
-You send me 5 RAM chips for a Voodoo4 card and 10 memory modules for a Voodoo5 5500 card (and your card to be modded too, ofcourse).
-You agree to pay 10 Euro for the rework of one  Voodoo4 card and 25 Euro for modding one Voodoo5 5500. If by my fault, modding is not successfull, you pay nothing for my work, I send the parts back to you, but I do not pay for damages.
-As I am a private individual, not a company, I cannot give you receipts for payment made.
-You can ask me to send back the old chips on the card and the left-over spares, or you can send a Voodoo4 AGP card too to have it modded too using the old chips to 64Mb (by soldering 4 of the old chips in the empty spaces on the PCB), for a rework price of 5 Euro for a Voodoo4 AGP, but, ofcourse, I would me more than happy if you let me keep the old and/or spares chips to have them used in other new 3DFX projects of mine.  ;)
-I am not responsable for DOA situations.
By the way, I am located in Romania (that is in the European Union).
If anybody still wants to have me modd his card(s) after reading the above conditions, feel free to contact me.

@Komponent,
I want 50 chips.

Oscar

Tritop wrote on 05.09.08 at 03:26:56:

Okay, How much for 8 Chips (+2 spare) and the Rework? How much would 12 chips cost?

I allready answered to that question:


Komponent wrote on 04.09.08 at 03:55:34:

Komponent wrote on 02.09.08 at 21:59:57: the minimum batch they agreed to sell is a tray of 108 chips, at a price of 2.40 Euro (3.50 USD) without VAT for a piece .

Just multiply by the number of chips you want...
And, guys, please decide fast! I have to place the Purchase Order as soon as possible (no later than Monday earely morning CET). We can only buy in the following quantities: 1 tray of 108 chips (allready completed requests for chips here), 2 trays (216 pieces) or all of their stock (2 trays plus the evaluating samples, arround 270 pieces).
Important: we still need a persson based in Germany to receive the package, to keep the shipping costs low, as the shipping option they have to Romania is very high priced (by FedEx). Please if one could help here contact me and give me his full shipping adress!

@Komponent,
Check if with my 50 chips we already have for a second tray.

osckhar wrote on 05.09.08 at 11:16:40:

@Komponent, Check if with my 50 chips we already have for a second tray.

So far we have:

First tray of 108 chips:
RaverX      - 25
Rolo01       - 50
M14Radu    - 20
Komponent - 13

Second tray of 108 chips:
Osckhar - 50
Ps47      - 20
Sigtau    - 20 (?)
Kaitou    - 10 (?)

Those marked with (?) are still to confirm their orders.
Still 8 chips left on the second tray. Please rush an answer if you are interested.
Also, we still need someone from Germany to agree to be the receiver of the package with all our chips.

Komponent wrote on 05.09.08 at 13:21:14:

So far we have: First tray of 108 chips: RaverX      - 25 Rolo01       - 50 M14Radu    - 20 Komponent - 13 Second tray of 108 chips: Osckhar - 50 Ps47      - 20 Sigtau    - 20 (?) Kaitou    - 10 (?) Those marked with (?) are still to confirm their orders. Still 8 chips left on the second tray. Please rush an answer if you are interested. Also, we still need someone from Germany to agree to be the receiver of the package with all our chips.

Komponent,

I'm in for 20 chips.  I'll send you a PM later today to discuss your modding services.

Sigtau

Count me in for 8 then :)

Completed the second tray! (Well... sort of; still waiting for Kaitou to confirm; she (he?) has the first dibs on those 10 chips.)
I will post the official purchase order at the seller company the moment a german friend from here offers his help as the sole receiver of all chips, or wait until Sunday and have the goods shiped to Romania, but in this case we all will have to pay more. If a german guy could help collecting the money from all of us and them make the bank transfer (that would also be of great help), then I will only be collecting the VAT (so my company will pay its taxes). That is 0.67 USD or 0.46 Euro for each single chip.

Komponent, Guys, Gals:

After thinking more about this during my drive into work this morning, I'm going to have to back out on the 20 chips.  The cost per V5 card to do this mod ends up costing over $100 USD (two way shipping from/to USA, V5 card, chips, VAT, modding, etc).  That's getting pretty rich for my blood considering the risk involved in the mod being successful.  

I apologize to you guys for backing out.  At least this will free up 20 more chips for someone else that wants in on the action.  I hope you guys are successful with this project.  I'll be kicking myself when I start seeing 128 MB V5 5500 cards selling for $500 on eBay :'(

Komponent: don't take my backing out as a knock against your skills.  I've seen the work you did on the V4 and it's top notch.  I'm sure you'll be successful with this project.

Sigtau  

I guess this is my chance to jump in and request the following:

12 chips (Komponent can keep the extra chips after the successful mods) (29.4 EUR) ($42.00)

Services Requested:
v5 5500 AGP Mod (25 EUR) ($36.00)
v4 4500 AGP Mod (with remaining chips) (5 EUR) ($7.00)

Extra costs I calculated :
VAT charges(.46 EUR per chip x12 = 6 EUR ) ($9.00)
Shipping both ways (28 EUR) (~$40)

Totaling = ~94.00 EUR / $134.00

@ Komponent - just to confirm, the cards will be modded, flashed, and fully tested before being sent back?

Thanks in advance Komponent for offering such a service to the 3dfx community.  You rock!  8-)

Put the remaining 8 on my tab, that's 16 in total for me.

What does VAT mean?

And did I get the point? 108 chips for less then 3 EUR???
If someone from Germany buys the trays I will take one tray (108 chips) for the 3 EUR + proportionate shipping costs...

Chosen_One wrote on 05.09.08 at 18:12:58:

What does VAT mean? And did I get the point? 108 chips for less then 3 EUR??? If someone from Germany buys the trays I will take one tray (108 chips) for the 3 EUR + proportionate shipping costs...

I'm sorry; you got it all wrong... 3.50 USD is the price without VAT for a sigle chip of memory. They are 108 RAM modules inside a tray, so a full tray cost is 378 USD without VAT.
Speaking of the VAT tax... it means "Value added tax" and companies have to pay it to the state. More about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax

I will take 14 if possible!

Are they 5,5.5 or 6ns?

But if not I will confirm my 10 Chips here officially!

You can have 4 of mine, meaning I'll take 12 in total then.

Yay! Thanks!

Because I wanted to mod a Voodoo 5 and a Voodoo 4

Sorry, guys, I will try to answer your questions as soon as possible. I just have a couple of things to attend to right now. Thanks for understanding...

First, some quick answers:
@ Sigtau: No problem. It is not easy for me too to pay the cost of my own chips (but the opportunity is not the every day encounter).
@ Rottentreats: No question about it; the cards that I will mod will be flashed and fully tested. That is why I ask for patience.

So, we are on for 2 full trays of 16Mb chips. That concludes our group buy first phase. I will place the order on the items right now. Please take it serious and we will have a fast and smooth deal. As I said before, I do not sell anything here and I gain no penny from this action; I only try to organise some details and offer some help by acting as a middle-man on route to the RAM seller company.
I also have some great news: our friend Roland (Rolo01) from Germany has offered his help and he will serve as the receiver of the package with all our chips. He will take care that everyone will have his pieces sent to the needed location. The buyers will talk to him about the shipping costs to the desired destinations.
Rolo01 has also agreed to collect the money from us all and then make the bank transfer as payment to the memory seller company. The buyers will be contacted to discuss perssonaly the payment details.
I want to express my gratitude to Roland for all the effort he has enlisted for our 3DFX community! Please, offer him all your thanks too.
I will update the list of the names, requested chips and costs soon.

Many Thanks Roland  for your help !

Oh...then I'm out.

Update on the next phase of our group buy:
The official purchase order from my company to the RAM seller has been sent and accepted. 2 trays of 108 chips each have been reserved for a limited amount of time and the payment must be completed as soon as possible. Due to legal issues, the shipping has to be to the adress of the buyer company, in Romania. The cost of shipping through theyr FedEx account to be payed is 45 Euro. So, with no other option left, the package with all 216 chips will arrive straight in my hands. From here, if some buyers decide to ask me to mod cards for them, I will keep theyr chips; else I will send the items to the provided adresses.
I will post bellow a list with the names, number of chips and the amount of money the selected perssons should pay to complete this phase (the cost to have all the chips arrived to me, in Romania).

RaverX          - 25 chips -  75  Euro
Rolo01           - 50 chips - 150 Euro
M14Radu        - 20 chips -  60 Euro
Komponent    - 13 chips -  39 Euro
Osckhar         - 50 chips - 150 Euro
Ps47              - 20 chips -  60 Euro
Nitrox Infinity - 12 chips -  36 Euro
Kaitou            - 14 chips -  42 Euro
Rottentreats   - 12 chips -  36 Euro

So, the price for a single chip of 16Mb SDRAM to have it arrived in my possesion is just above 3 Euro, including taxes and shipping to Romania, but for convenience and to keep my word I will have it set to a round 3 Euro each.
Our friend, Rolo01 will be collecting the money from all of us and next he will do the bank transfer to pay to the RAM seller company. You will settle with Roland on how do each of you will send him your share, but please make it fast. In this deal, time is of the essence.
To all parties in this group buy: Please contact Rolo01 through private message on this forum or other way and send him the money as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation!

Ok! I will send you then a Voodoo 5 5500 AGP

How much would the mod + chips will be?

8x8MB -> replace wirht -> 8x16MB

Tritop wrote on 07.09.08 at 21:37:14:

Ok! I will send you then a Voodoo 5 5500 AGP How much would the mod + chips will be? 8x8MB -> replace wirht -> 8x16MB

First, and as soon as possible, please send your share of 42 Euro to Rolo01. He has to collect all the above listed sums to be able to pay to the RAM seller company the chips.
Then, after the memory arrives into my posession, if you decide to do so, you can send me cards to have them modded with your chips, or I can have your chips shipped to a adress you will provide.
So, first you pay to Roland for the price of the chips; only after that you send cards and pay to me for modding and shipping.
My condition for modding cards are:


Komponent wrote on 05.09.08 at 10:29:21:

Well... if by any chance someone wants to have me perform the mod on his card(s), here are my condition I work on: -You pay for shipping both ways. -You agree for patience. I have little spare time from my dayly job and modding video cards takes alot of time to be done in proper way. -You send me 5 RAM chips for a Voodoo4 card and 10 memory modules for a Voodoo5 5500 card (and your card to be modded too, ofcourse). -You agree to pay 10 Euro for the rework of one  Voodoo4 card and 25 Euro for modding one Voodoo5 5500. If by my fault, modding is not successfull, you pay nothing for my work, I send the parts back to you, but I do not pay for damages. -As I am a private individual, not a company, I cannot give you receipts for payment made. -You can ask me to send back the old chips on the card and the left-over spares, or you can send a Voodoo4 AGP card too to have it modded too using the old chips to 64Mb (by soldering 4 of the old chips in the empty spaces on the PCB), for a rework price of 5 Euro for a Voodoo4 AGP, but, ofcourse, I would me more than happy if you let me keep the old and/or spares chips to have them used in other new 3DFX projects of mine.  ;) -I am not responsable for DOA situations. By the way, I am located in Romania (that is in the European Union). If anybody still wants to have me modd his card(s) after reading the above conditions, feel free to contact me.

Will Rolo contact us or do we need to contact him?

NitroX infinity wrote on 07.09.08 at 22:30:05:

Will Rolo contact us or do we need to contact him?

Please do contact him yourself, as he will be investing alot of effort in this enterprise for the good of our 3DFX community.

gamma742 wrote on 04.09.08 at 22:02:58:

Komponent, What I would like to do is have the memory shipped to you (enough to mod a V5 5500 PCI) then I will aquire the card and ship it to you for the re-work. Is that okay? How much are we looking at for my project? Once you answer my post, others will have a better idea how they wish to proceed. Thanks, Bob~

Rolo is all of your 50 pieces spoken for? I guess I wasn't clear that I wanted in. if you only have a few extra maybe I can ask my friend Oscar for a few.  

Quote:

Rolo is all of your 50 pieces spoken for? I guess I wasn't clear that I wanted in. if you only have a few extra maybe I can ask my friend Oscar for a few.

No problem gamma, just let me know how much ram you need.

Status update :

RaverX          - Money sent
M14Radu        - Money sent
Osckhar         - Money sent
Ps47              - Money sent
Nitrox Infinity - Money sent
Kaitou            - Money sent for 5 chips
Rottentreats   - Money sent
Gamma742    - Money sent

Transaction done, money is sent to company.

Rolo01 wrote on 08.09.08 at 13:43:10:

Quote: Rolo is all of your 50 pieces spoken for? I guess I wasn't clear that I wanted in. if you only have a few extra maybe I can ask my friend Oscar for a few.   No problem gamma, just let me know how much ram you need.

Rolo I need need what ever it takes to do a V5 5500 + a few extras per Komponent (lets make it 10). Please PM me with your PayPal address and the amount. Don't forget to include a little extra for the PayPal fees you will be charged ;)

Please ship my memory along will everyone elses to Komponent for the mod.

I will look for a V5 5500 on ebay for the mod. That I will ship directly to Komponent

My Thanks to all who are participating in the group effort making it possible for all of us 8-)

Komponent wrote on 05.09.08 at 10:29:21:

Well... if by any chance someone wants to have me perform the mod on his card(s), here are my condition I work on: -You pay for shipping both ways. -You agree for patience. I have little spare time from my dayly job and modding video cards takes alot of time to be done in proper way. -You send me 5 RAM chips for a Voodoo4 card and 10 memory modules for a Voodoo5 5500 card (and your card to be modded too, ofcourse). -You agree to pay 10 Euro for the rework of one  Voodoo4 card and 25 Euro for modding one Voodoo5 5500. If by my fault, modding is not successfull, you pay nothing for my work, I send the parts back to you, but I do not pay for damages. -As I am a private individual, not a company, I cannot give you receipts for payment made. -You can ask me to send back the old chips on the card and the left-over spares, or you can send a Voodoo4 AGP card too to have it modded too using the old chips to 64Mb (by soldering 4 of the old chips in the empty spaces on the PCB), for a rework price of 5 Euro for a Voodoo4 AGP, but, ofcourse, I would me more than happy if you let me keep the old and/or spares chips to have them used in other new 3DFX projects of mine.  ;) -I am not responsable for DOA situations. By the way, I am located in Romania (that is in the European Union). If anybody still wants to have me modd his card(s) after reading the above conditions, feel free to contact me.

I agree :D

And will be shipping you a Voodoo5 5500 and will be donating the old chips back to you.


Bob~

Small update: after the payment will be cleared (probably Monday), the chips will be shipped to me. I am confident that everything will go smooth, so it is time to decide what you want to do with your share. The ones who want the chips shipped to a location of theyr choice, please contact me and provide the adresses.

News: the package will soon arrive in my hands. If you want to check on its route, see the FedEx tracking system:
http://fedex.com/Tracking?ascend_header=1&clienttype=dotcom&cntry_code=us&language=english&tracknumbers=792749089509
Roland, an updated list with the payments would be appreciated.
Also, friends, the ones who have not yet contacted me yet, please let me know about your intentions regardind your shares of the chips. I will do my best to send the chips as soon as possible to the owners, but please provide me the shipping adreses. Thanks!

Komponent wrote on 16.09.08 at 22:39:37:

News: the package will soon arrive in my hands. If you want to check on its route, see the FedEx tracking system: http://fedex.com/Tracking?ascend_header=1&clienttype=dotcom&cntry_code=us&language=english&tracknumbers=792749089509 Roland, an updated list with the payments would be appreciated. Also, friends, the ones who have not yet contacted me yet, please let me know about your intentions regardind your shares of the chips. I will do my best to send the chips as soon as possible to the owners, but please provide me the shipping adreses. Thanks!

Sorry Komponent,
I will write U via email. :)

Regards,
Oscar

... and all 216 chips are here!

Nice ! Could you take a pictures of them and put it here ?

And I send you a PM  ;)

RaverX wrote on 17.09.08 at 16:03:51:

Nice ! Could you take a pictures of them and put it here ?

Here you go:

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/9950/picture005lp1.th.jpg http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2701/picture009rw1.th.jpg

Friends, if you have not contacted me yet to state your intentions regarding what to do with your share of the chips, please do so. For example, provide me a shipping adress so I will be able to send you your pieces.

nice, I wish I would've joined.

If there are any chips left over from let's say all soldering going fine and no spare chips needed, can you count me in as a last one??
Or do you still have some chips that are not assigned to anyone yet??

I only have 1 5500 I would like to have modded.

I have 20 chips total,and I think 10 (one card) will be enough for me,so if you want the extra 10 chips,send me a pm..if not,I'll keep them for future use or something.

Komponent wrote on 18.09.08 at 09:28:42:

Friends, if you have not contacted me yet to state your intentions regarding what to do with your share of the chips, please do so. For example, provide me a shipping adress so I will be able to send you your pieces.

Well, I'm still waiting for your response to my PM, as I said there, I would like to send the cards to you...

RaverX wrote on 18.09.08 at 18:09:11:

Well, I'm still waiting for your response to my PM, as I said there, I would like to send the cards to you...

Hey, my appeal was pointed at the guys who failed to contact me yet so far. My thanks to those who allready cleared theyr intentions with me. Also, please understand that if one teamed up with another to buy RAM chips under a single name, I have to get confirmation from the one whose name appears on the "official" list before I split his share of the chips.
Also, those who want to send me cards to be modded please have a little patience before doing that, as there are a couple of details to be sorted out. Thanks for understanding!

Quote:

Also, those who want to send me cards to be modded please have a little patience before doing that, as there are a couple of details to be sorted out. Thanks for understanding!

I am glad to hear you are not in a hurry for the V4/V5 cards to be modded. I should have mine shortly and will stay tuned to this thread for shipping instructions.

Sorry, friends, lately there has been alot of work at my job and I had little time for my 3DFX hobby... Only half of the Voodoo5 mod was yet completed, as I replaced 4 RAM chips out of 8 on a Voodoo5 AGP. The card runs with no problem. I will try to swap the other 4 chips this evening. Please wait a little time until I am able to show a fully working 128Mb card and then you can start sending me yours to be modded. I will keep you in touch with any progress.

Later Edit:
All 8 orriginal memory chips have been replaced with the new 16Mb modules. Voodoo5 runs OK. So far so good... I hope tomorow I will have time to connect the A11 adresses, mod the BIOS and all the stuff to get a 128Mb card functional. Keep your fingers crossed for me...

crossing fingers while typing this message.......fingers start to hurt like hell. LOL

:-X WOW WOW ^^

YOU ARE MY HERO °_°

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5091/morememas0.jpg

/edit:  Also a BIG Thanks to all who have contributed towards this project.  (from those who gave Komponent technical advise, and to those who pitched in on the group buy, and everyone else for being supportive)

10 Chips  for me plz. ;)

i subscribet to this projekt time ago in voodooalert forum. Now i saw the Message from 14radu that i have to write it here. Hope u still have my 10 Chips. :-[

I ran into some problems today with the high frequency noice; now solved but that delayed the completion of the project.

[quote author=0E0F573C0 link=1220381997/60#72 date=1222161943]10 Chips  for me plz. ;)

i subscribet to this projekt time ago in voodooalert forum. Now i saw the Message from 14radu that i have to write it here. Hope u still have my 10 Chips. :-[/quote]

@23k: Maybe someone who has purchased many chips would agree to sell you 10 chips. I for sure have not ever posted anything on VoodooAlert forum, as I have no knoledge of the German language, sorry...

Huh... nice job the engeneers at 3DFX have done on the Voodoo5 AGP...
After alot of work, some interesting informations have arrised:
The memory configuration is set up both on hardware level with strappings on the PCB and on logical values into BIOS. You cannot have one without the other. If the settings conflict, the card will default to 8Mb RAM. The good news is that now I know how I have to proceed further and I identified the pinout of the strapping; the bad one is that it will take more days until results should be expected...

Progress is good news!  :)

Keep up the great work Komponent! ;)

Komponent wrote on 24.09.08 at 21:43:43:

Huh... nice job the engeneers at 3DFX have done on the Voodoo5 AGP... After alot of work, some interesting informations have arrised: The memory configuration is set up both on hardware level with strappings on the PCB and on logical values into BIOS. You cannot have one without the other. If the settings conflict, the card will default to 8Mb RAM. The good news is that now I know how I have to proceed further and I identified the pinout of the strapping; the bad one is that it will take more days until results should be expected...

I can't help to wonder if the AGP and PCI 5500s will be the same...

The card I purchased for the mod is PCI ::)

I just have one Voodoo 5 MAC, and I dunno if I should risk it...

I am waiting for first results though...

That's what I have. Flashed to PC 8-)

For modding the PCI model Komponent needs a dead V5 PCI for remover the GPUs and to search for the connctiion points  on the PCB.
So, no one have a V5 PCI dead?

Oscar

osckhar wrote on 25.09.08 at 10:36:18:

For modding the PCI model Komponent needs a dead V5 PCI for remover the GPUs and to search for the connctiion points  on the PCB. So, no one have a V5 PCI dead? Oscar

Well no I didn't know that. Has the PCI 4500 been modded yet?

Well, the updates on the project are: I got the Voodoo5 correctly configured by strappings on the PCB to 128Mb. On boot, it displays 128Mb video memory. But it still was highly unstable; it will hang the system on Windows loading. I had my educated guess about why was this happening and my blame was on the additional wires soldered onto the PCB during the mod as they are prone to high frequency noise; but just to make sure I removed the mods (except the new RAM chips) and reverted the card back to the closest possible default state to test if it is working flawlessly... and it does, no problem there.
Then, I had the ideea that it would be fun to play with the strapping setups to initialize different values for the usable RAM on the card.
Anyone interested in an elusive Voodoo5 5000 AGP (16MB memory for each GPU for a total of 32Mb onboard)? Well, not realy the true one, but my test card with only a quarter of its installed RAM activeted:

http://img2.abload.de/img/bootosp.jpg

http://img2.abload.de/img/3dmarkpmc.jpg

http://img2.abload.de/img/dxdiagwmk.jpg

Ofcourse, the card runs OK with 2x16MB RAM, but with much reduced performance. It was fun to play with this mod, but will get back on track to serious modding soon. I will let you know about the progress in killing electrical high frequency noise.

Nice Work Komponent !

By reading your results, i remember that the AGP4X projekt stopt because i was not able to set the AGP configuration on hardware level and on logical values into BIOS. ( strapping bits ) >:(
Can u pls describe how did u change the configuration ?
;)

m14radu wrote on 26.09.08 at 20:18:43:

Nice Work Komponent ! By reading your results, i remember that the AGP4X projekt stopt because i was not able to set the AGP configuration on hardware level and on logical values into BIOS. ( strapping bits ) >:( Can u pls describe how did u change the configuration ? ;)

Sure. After the moment I am able to produce a fully working 128Mb Voodoo5 5500, I will disclose all the details that one needs to be aware of to be able to duplicate my work. Until then there is still work in progress and not safe to aply one more than one card.
I will also look into the Voodoo5 AGP at 1.5V project in the future if not solved yet by then... Please understand that I do this as a hobby in very limited spare time.

Just a taste of what is to come:
The 128Mb modded Voodoo5 5500 is now working with no problem on Single Chip setting. I do not have time today to finish the other half of the card, so I will post the first results of a functional 64Mb for a VSA100 GPU. When I will complete my work on this card, I will open a new topic and present alot of details; but for now I will offer a snek peak.
You all are familiar with the next screenshots... They are taken when using the orriginal Voodoo5 5500 AGP on Windows ME and x3DFX drivers:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6685/3dfxtools64dr3.jpg

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6999/dxdiag64au9.jpg

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/608/3dmark64gr9.jpg

When running 3DMark2001SE on a 64Mb Voodoo5 5500 AGP with Single chip setting, I got 1687 points.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2593/result64ec7.jpg

Time to enter the "mutant" 128Mb Voodoo5 5500 AGP:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8098/3dfxtools128vt3.jpg

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6637/dxdiag128ym6.jpg

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5443/3dmark128tg8.jpg

And now, time for a quick benchmark:

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8113/result128ce1.jpg

As you can see, I got 1815 points, that is 128 3DMarks increase in performance, so the extra RAM is realy being used.

Now, if only I would be able to free some time to finish the modding of the card...

*connects the tips of his fingers and closes his eyes*

excellent.

What processor are you running on?

Well done Komponent !
:o :o :o :o :o
Keep up the good work.

I can't wait to see the final result !

NitroX infinity wrote on 27.09.08 at 21:10:06:

What processor are you running on?

Athlon 1900+ (1600Mhz) on Epox 8k3a KT333 with 768Mb RAM.

@all: Thanks; I appreciate your support!

And it looks as it is working in full 128Mb.
3DMark 2001SE 64Mb 4x Anti-Aliasing: 733 points

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4299/result64slirazielcl0.jpg

3DMark 2001SE 128Mb 4x Anti-Aliasing: 823 points

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4513/result128slirazielka1.jpg

Not much, 90 3DMarks extra performance, but clearely better. Will test with a more powerfull CPU. I do not see the mod as completed, as there are still problems: the card does work with no problem in Windows 9x, but it will not initialize in Windows 2000/XP/2003. It is possible that the issue resides in software microcode (BIOS, driver, etc.) but there are still a number of hardware strapping configurations to be tested. Keep in touch!

@Komponent,
Nice work!!!! :)

Regards,
Oscar.

What's the difference in points without FSAA?

Mucho Props @Komponent! 8-)

NitroX infinity wrote on 01.10.08 at 11:58:04:

What's the difference in points without FSAA?

In Single-Chip mode, there is a clear difference in performance.
In Fastest-Performance mode, the scores are virtualy the same order.
In 4x Anti-Aliasing mode, the 128Mb is visible better than 64Mb.
In 2x Anti-aliasing mode, see below:

3DMark 2001SE 64Mb 2x Anti-Aliasing: 1662 points

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/379/642xaast2.jpg

3DMark 2001SE 128Mb 2x Anti-Aliasing: 1774 points

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/619/1282xaapv7.jpg

That stands for a difference of over 110 3DMarks, so I say it clearely shows that the extra memory is being used.
The other conclusion is that we need to find another much more texture intensive benchmark than 3DMark 2001SE, another test that could realy make use of more video RAM. I also remember that some time ago someone said that there is a game that will not start on 32Mb for chip configurations, like the orriginal Voodoo4/5, but it wil run on a 64Mb modded Voodoo4 AGP (maybe it was Rolo01?). If you could point me to this, I would like to try it on the 128Mb Voodoo5 against a default 64 Mb Voodoo5 5500 AGP.
And last, the bad news: I still found no way to run the modded card on Windows 2k/xp. Work is on progress but time is limited...
Thanks for the congrats and cheers, friends!

it was Codename PANZERS - Phase Two,I believe:

v4 with 64MB BIOS: http://mitglied.lycos.de/gtxe/v45k_64mb_mod/Screenshot_v45k_64mb_03.jpg
with 32MB BIOS: http://mitglied.lycos.de/gtxe/v45k_64mb_mod/Screenshot_v45k_64mb_04.jpg

@ Komponent
Very impressive, congrats !

@PS47
True, Codename: Panzers Phase 2 requires a 64mb/Chip card.
There might be others, I have to check that when I am back home.

I have opened a new topic dedicated to my first Voodoo5 5500 AGP with 128Mb, here:
http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1223002040

Next step is modding a Voodoo4 PCI to 64Mb, so the first persson to ask me to mod such a card will have priority over the rest who have asked me to mod cards for them. So please contact me if you want to be the owner of the first Voodoo4 PCI with 64Mb in the world, he-he...

Well i do have a v4 pci to be modded just waited to see when you would take accept the cards for modding. talk more privately.
Nice work on the v5 agp.

G1nX wrote on 03.10.08 at 11:06:43:

Well i do have a v4 pci to be modded just waited to see when you would take accept the cards for modding. talk more privately. Nice work on the v5 agp.

Great! So RaverX/G1nx team will be the first. Everyone else that expressed the intention to have mo mod cards for them will be soon contacted to settle the details.
I can't wait to pull another first: Voodoo4 PCI with 64Mb!!! Anticipation is killing me!

Update:
All 4 RAM chips from a Voodoo4 PCI have been replaced with new 16 modules. I was to tired today after work to continue further the mod. I hope tomorow to be able to solder the wires for the extra memory adresses and maybe to find and execute the strapping configuration for initialising 64Mb RAM. As allways, will keep you in touch with the latest news.

Edit:
Done! It was not so easy, but now I got it working with full 64Mb video memory. I have opened a new topic to show this new world's first here:
http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1223587794

Tough decision, but had to be done. Everyone in this group buy has payed theyr shares of chips, except Kaitou who has only covered the cost of 5 memory modules out of the requested 14. I realy am sorry, we had alot of patience, but we had to put in money from our own pockets when we payed for the chips; and we waited a reasonable amount of time, more than 2 months. So there is the point of no return: I will seize the chips that were not payed for yet; I'm sorry, but there is no turning back of my decision. Kaitou will decide what she/he wants me to do with the 5 chips that were covered. Please contact me.

How far out do you anticipate the Voodoo5 5500 PCI 128MB Project? No hurry. I just figured I may as well send you my card since it was acquired specifically for this project.

@Rolo01 and Komponent

Please check your PMs

Sorry friends; I have been away for too long...
In a futile attempt to keep my job in times of economic crisis, in the last months I had time only to eat, shower, sleep and work... and double worked I did, but finaly all this titanic effort I invested was to no happy end, as I have just been forced by my employer to quit my job.
Again, please excuse me, but I could not squeeze 3DFX into my life those past months. Soon, in a week or so, I will restart modding cards again. I will try until then to reply to the unanswered messages that I received. Please have a little patience. Thanks for understanding.

Hi there,
Sorry to hear about your job related issues we really did not know what to think in all this past time.
Glad to know the project will continue.
Best wishes,
G1nX

UGH! Sorry to hear about the job @Komponent - sucks more what with the economy and all... :-/

Hope something good will come along for you soon... 8-)

Hey Komponent! I hope you will be fine soon. I payed the rest of the money last year to rolo01 (40 Euros or something) for all of the 14 Chips and I really want you to do a mod now :D

Please give me a message when you are ready :)

Can anyone get a hold of Komponent?

So my chips are gone?? O_O

Man. Tough luck. Hopefully hes still doing alright.

Komponent... Please say something...  :'(

that reminds me,I have a bunch of memory chips in this as well..oh well.

Hi, friends,
I am not well; I was much worse; hope soon I will be better.
I do not feel like talking about it.
Please forgive me, but my problems were (in some degree still are) so serious that anyone of yourself in my place would have had to be forced to put away everything and just hope to get out of this in a fair state, too.
Give me a couple of days while I will try to pull some things back together again and I will be able to get back to you.

HI KOMPONENT,

I hope you become better soon... All the best!

Do you still have the memory chips? Are you going to mod cards? If not, we can agree that you send me mine :)

Thank you Kaitou and all who sent me good wishes! I am better each new day.
Yes, I do have everybody's RAM chips.
Yes, I will mod cards; in fact I will try to hammer new mods very soon (don't want to spoil the surprise).
Also, it is everyone's choice: if you want your chips shipped send me the address; else you can ask me to mod your card, if you have just a little more patience.
After such a long time of not being able to work on what I love to do, I have a huge frustration and hunger to produce something new for the 3DFX community, so... beware!

Is it not too late to join the project?

you will either have to buy the correct memory chips and send them to Komponent yourself,or ask someone who already has some if he would be willing to sell you some..I have two sets if I remember correctly,I may be willing to sell you one.

I'd like to buy one set from you. How much you want? :)

I think I would sell one set to you,but I have to check on the price again,I don't remember how much did they cost me anymore..I'll send you a message.

Please Komponent, tell when you are ready to mod

No Mods? What about my 40 Euros? I can´t have them back either or what?

Hello,

I have 20 pcs of memories for the projekt, and i want to sell them if there is somebody interrested.
Please send me a message if interrested.

;)

Hi
I'm interested in buying some modules.  I'd like to get enough for modding an AGP and a PCI 5500 card.
Please PM me or reply back to this post.
thanks

PM sent ! :)

PM replied.  :)

@Komponent - if you are still visiting this site/thread, I sent you a PM as well.