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Taking screenshots (Read 790 times)
NitroX infinity
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #15 - 02.08.04 at 00:43:16
 
Not overclocking: (big-ass) heatsinks.
Overclocking: (big-ass) heatsinks with fans Grin
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voodoo5500
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #16 - 02.08.04 at 00:55:39
 
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  Undecided, 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 ?



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voodoo5500
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #17 - 02.08.04 at 01:20:08
 
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  Smiley
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gdonovan
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #18 - 02.08.04 at 01:37:39
 
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Hmm, not sure if I agree  Undecided, 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.
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #19 - 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, 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  Wink

I still believe Nvidia could have secured a huge potential customer base if they had done things differently.
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gdonovan
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #20 - 02.08.04 at 02:42:19
 
Quote:
@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


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Hammer
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #21 - 02.08.04 at 03:48:16
 
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...
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #22 - 02.08.04 at 03:58:46
 
@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  Wink

Hail 3dfx

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« Last Edit: 02.08.04 at 04:31:53 by voodoo5500 »  

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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #23 - 02.08.04 at 04:28:28
 
@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  Embarrassed

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  Shocked

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  Smiley

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« Last Edit: 02.08.04 at 04:44:06 by voodoo5500 »  

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Hammer
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #24 - 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?
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #25 - 02.08.04 at 09:45:06
 
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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 Cheesy
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #26 - 02.08.04 at 10:56:13
 
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
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #27 - 02.08.04 at 17:23:57
 
@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 ?

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Hammer
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #28 - 02.08.04 at 18:59:47
 
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 ;(
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Re: Taking screenshots
Reply #29 - 02.08.04 at 19:14:17
 
@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  Wink

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« Last Edit: 02.08.04 at 19:16:58 by voodoo5500 »  

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