I already had a fully retail boxed pair of Diamond Monster 3DII's, which were both 12Mb, which I have now identified to be from the US.  The box has the US rebate retainer sticker on and a US postal address.  Both cards are still sealed in their anti-bags, and have never been used, just like the documents, discs and cables.  Only the box has been opened.

At the weekend, I received another fully retail boxed pair of Diamond Monster 3DII's which I also purchased, expecting them to be exactly the same.  However, this is not the case.

The second set are in a smaller Diamond retail box, and instead it has the tri-language (English, German and French, respectively) indicating that this version is a european version, sepearate from the US version.  What else is different, is that the US models are both called "Model X100" whereas the two european models that have recently arrived are known as "Model X200".  This is stated on the two boxes.  

Physically, the differences between the cards are the existence of 3 heatsinks on each of the euopean cards.  One is located on each 3dfx chipset.  These have definitely been put on by Diamond as the worksmanship on each of the cards and heatsinks is perfect (well-aligned, good quality heatsinks).

The memory on the two cards is also different.  Although they are both the same frequency (100MHz) and have the same serial no. There is a small number that is different on the two.  On the US version the number is "9820F" and on the european version, the number is "9819F".  This number is located on each memory chip on both of the cards.

So I have a European SLI pair and an American SLI pair.  I suppose it's better than having two pairs of the same!  :)  Whatsmore, the boxes are different in look and shape too, so that means a bigger collection for me! YAY!  :D

Has anyone else ever noticed the difference in these two Voodoo2 boards by Diamond?  ???

wrote on 12.09.04 at 20:05:43:

[...] The memory on the two cards is also different.  Although they are both the same frequency (100MHz) and have the same serial no. There is a small number that is different on the two.  On the US version the number is "9820F" and on the european version, the number is "9819F".  This number is located on each memory chip on both of the cards. [...]

Seems like a production-date to me; 1998 week 19/20 and the 'F' might indicate a revision.

wrote on 12.09.04 at 20:05:43:

These have definitely been put on by Diamond as the worksmanship on each of the cards and heatsinks is perfect (well-aligned, good quality heatsinks).

I hate to play the devils advocate but I have looked at a few thousand Diamond Voodoo II cards on Ebay Europe and have not seen a single Diamond card with triple heatsinks.

It's okay Gary, I can prove their authenticity!  Their factory sealed!  ;D

wrote on 13.09.04 at 12:30:07:

It's okay Gary, I can prove their authenticity!  Their factory sealed!  ;D

I can "factory seal" any box with a roll of shrink wrap and a hairdryer ;-)

Now if it had the diamond logo running through the shrink wrap near the upc I'd say you have a rare bird indeed.

Picture of Diamond logo on the seal with same serial no. and product no. on the seal as it is on the product label sticker on the back of the card, which I can just make through the silver anti-static bag! Pretty much confirms it if I say so myself!  ;)

NOTE: When I say factory sealed, I mean the anti-static bags of the cards! The box has no film on it, but all the cables, documentation and driver discs are all still sealed in plastic! Then the cards are sealed in silver anti-static bags with the diamond seal running along the opening.

This goes for both boxes, the Euro boxes contents AND the US boxes contents! Untouched!  :)

Well then shoot some pics of those puppies!

That's what I want to do, but the cards are in the anti-static bags.

I was wondering, will I knacker my scanner (or the graphics card for that matter) if I attempt to scan the cards in the reflective bags?  ???

I'm very wary it may cause some damage!  :-/

wrote on 13.09.04 at 15:02:05:

I was wondering, will I knacker my scanner (or the graphics card for that matter) if I attempt to scan the cards in the reflective bags?  ???

No, just might get some bad reflections.

okay, I'll give it a shot and let you know what I come up with (if it's anything worthy of an image, or if you can make it out!).  ;D

Okay, bad news.  :(  The scanner will not show whats in the bag on the front of the card.  Maybe this is because the heatsinks are black, it makes everything else inside the bag darker, therefore the scanner cannot pick it up.  A little better for the back of the card, but that's not we want really!  :(

http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Sep13001.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Sep13002.JPG

Speaking of three heatsinks on a V2 check this out-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5111550532

Card just came in today from the UK, I thought it was a MAC card but it's a PC version made by a MAC company.

Wild!

3198-A2 date code
TECHWORKS V21200 part number

I'll take pics and e-mail them to you, this card even has the original bag with the Techworks V2 part number on it.

I don't discount the possiblilty of someone adding the heatsinks on after the fact.

I'd ask the seller but he is currently being difficult over the matter of a missing (but advertised as being there) driver disc.

Patience, the ebay auction you gave, shows the manual and driver disc, which look very like mine. However, I cannot make out much of the card as the photo goes blurry there and looks rather "smudgy".  As for the SLI cable, which is the same extrordinary size.  When mine arrived I was amazed at the length of the cable!  Much longer than standard majority SLI cables!  I suppose it is a good idea for people who can't have two V2's sitting next to each other!   :D  And I guess this could be a little improvement of a performance increase, as the cards won't get as hot being sat next to each other!  :)

Err...yeah it WOULD be a good idea IF it weren't so troublesome! ::)

A long SLI cable can lead to 'synch' problems between the V2 cards, so the shorter the better! ;)

Darn triple heatsink Voodoo II's are coming out of the woodwork!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3762&item=5123765190

Cheers Paul matey, I didn't know this. :)  So the longer the belt, the more risk of sync problems encountered?

I tried my SLI pair and luckily they were ok. I tried one in PCI Slot 1 and one in PCI Slot 6.  Luckily, they are fine. Phew!  :)

Can this also lead to speed problems then?  Because if the sync problems could occur, this would slow down the vertical and horizontal synchronisation on the screen, processed by the two cards.  Would this lead to visual tearing?  ???

wrote on 15.09.04 at 13:08:42:

Cheers Paul matey, I didn't know this. :)  So the longer the belt, the more risk of sync problems encountered

Yes- as a matter of fact if you do a search on Tom's Hardware there is mention of the cable issue in a review of the first Creative Labs cards. They were in such a hurry to get them to market before everyone else that they shipped with a 3-4" cable and a note indicating a shorter cable was available for free and would be in later boxes. Heck CL was in such a hurry the early disc graphics were not color.

Now why this isn't a problem with the Pure3d II cards I'm not sure but it may have something to do with where the connectors are located on the cards.

How many versions?
Well, I have two TechWorks Power3d3 8mb with drivers and everything - not a SLI cable though :( I will buy one in a shop soon...
A shot may be seen on my not that well done site @ http://xn--grsten-jua.se/3dfx/ or @ the direct links http://xn--grsten-jua.se/3dfx/images/voodoo2.jpg
http://xn--grsten-jua.se/3dfx/images/voodoo2.jpgcd

wrote on 14.09.04 at 19:28:49:

Ok, we are off-topic  ;) But is it possible to know how many versions of the TechWorks Voodoo 2 (Power 3D2) for Pc exist ? i saw an other with a cable sli (~ long like this one we find with the Canopus) and a manual. This is for now the third (mine, Gary and this one). http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5121200667

I have the BE and FK numbers here for the X100 Diamond Monster 3D2 models here.  Cannot get the X200 numbers because the cards are sealed and the they have factory heatsinks glued onto the chips.

X100 Card 1
CK  9820F
BE  D19254.00

X100 Card 2
CK  9823F
BE  D19255.00

What is the difference in these numbers, even though they are marginal?