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:



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:



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



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



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...

Wow! Very nice work .

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

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?

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.

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

One word : Awesome !

Komponent wrote on 25.01.09 at 12:32:52:

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

awesome work,btw

The answer to:

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

KOMPONENT

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