Overkill?
Voodoo 2 cards have always got a bit too hot for my liking, and I'm sure they've been the cause of more than the odd 'hang' when playing Red Baron 3D (the only reason I have them!).
I am watercooling my entire system in an effort to eliminate all cooling fans, save for the power supply. (which is an Antec Truepower model, still under guarantee).
The whirring of cooling fans drives me up the wall, and with a system upgrade on the agenda, I decided to bite the bullet and build a watercooled rig.
The lack of fans will result in a lack of airflow through the case, which will mean more warm air circulating around those Voodoo 2 cards- not good.
Many folk have upgraded their Voodoo 2 cards with the Tennmax stealth cooler- have you seen the price of those- $21 each plus shipping, ouch!
I can build my waterblocks for pennies (infact nothing, as I build them from scrap copper) and they don't take long to make either, as I have built homemade press tools for generic GPU and CPU sizes.
Plus water is far more effective at transferring heat away than air (ask any engine designer).
The prices charged for commercial water cooling systems are hideous IMHO, plus they are generally grossly over engineered, probably in an effort to justify the price tags.
Unless you have workshop facilities, then it wouldn't be economic for the average computer user to watercool their Voodoo's. This isn't a problem in my case.
Keeping the cards cool, should ensure a long life.
I really don't fancy bidding for anymore S/H 3DFX cards on ebay, and I'm sure these cards will increase in value as they get more scarce.
I'll be watercooling the Voodoo 5 if the mods are succesful, and I may make ram cooling blocks for that!
Andy