This is a split follow up of the general topic "Group buy for the "Voodoo4/5 more memory" project"
http://www.falconfly.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1220381997
Alot of informations have been allready posted there, so I will not create redundancy here, as there are many new datas to be presented.
From hardware point of view, I see the mod complete. First, see some pictures with the modded Voodoo5, but bare in mind that this card has taken alot of punishment when I was searching "in the dark" to find a way to make it functional.





Now, a picture showing the initialization sequence, when it displays the right amount of RAM:



As you allready know, The card runs perfectly on Windows 9x/Me, but it does not work yet on Windows 2000/xp/2003. This seems to be a driver issue, as setting it to "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" produces a functional system. I had no time to circle through all available drivers, just tried a couple of them, so it is possible that a solution might be available, else maybe SFFT could have a look at it.



Anyways, you have seen in the previous topic 3DMark tests againts the regular 64Mb Voodoo5, as proof that the extra RAM does make a difference. But the big hit is that now, with 128 Mb, the card is able to run games that were not available to a Voodoo5 before.
As an example, when launching Codename Panzers: Phase Two on a default 64Mb Voodoo5 produces an error message complaining about not enough video memory:



But if I run the game on my modded 128Mb card, it works, as you can see in the next pic:



I will get back with the technical details on how to duplicate this mod.
I want to offer my thanks to the 3DFX community for the support and my special gratitude to Rolo01, M14Radu and Skinnie (from 3DFXzone.it) who over the time have helped me continue working on 3DFX projects!

like i say in the other thread
i buy one modded card

Are you ready to mod a Voodoo 5 5500 PCI yet?

Congratulations Komponent!!!

Maybe you could add the urgency of the extra-wiring etc to your first post, in order to get all the informations in this thread. I don't like crossreading in two threads and the other thread has a different kind of topic...

NitroX infinity wrote on 03.10.08 at 12:19:47:


I personaly would advice against connecting the extra wires other way than my solution, but I could do it if asked for; that is to place them from the other side of the chip; yet it is my strong oppinion that it would be a bad ideea. There is a reason why the wires are glued ontop of the RAM chips: this restricts the wire from moving and stressing the solder joint and bending the pin and thus preventing a possible short circuit or damage to the memory. As for the heatsinks, I think that this card is more of a collector item than your every day video adapter, as there will probably be extremely few of them in the whole world; but it is a matter of owner's taste, I guess...
Ofcourse, next cards will have a better look; my first has been through many attempts of rework and it amazes me that it has survived...

exxe wrote on 03.10.08 at 13:05:24:

I will have none to sell, but I am just currious: I wonder how much would it end up in an Ebay auction one such card? Probably not so high, but I guess it would be cheaper to buy the RAM chips and to have a regular card modded. Maybe some of the friends that were able to buy a greater share would agree to sell a few chips to you? Anyway, I hope you manage to get yourself a 128Mb Voodoo5 5500 too!

osckhar wrote on 03.10.08 at 14:39:44:


Thanks, Oscar! So far, I have only tried Amigamerlin 3.1R11, SFFT 1.3 and 3DFX 1.4 drivers. There are many more 2D/3D cores available. I will give them a shot as soon as possible. But so far, when I start Windows 2000/XP/2003, the O.S. loads just until before the G.U.I. is activated. The loading logo is presented on the screen and just when the Windows desktop should appear, the video signal from the Voodoo5 is switched off. So I cannot test anything as long as I do not have any image on the monitor... This is clearely a driver issue, as proven in the first post of this topic. I also have not tested yet the card as a secondary display adapter. I will let you know when there will be news on this subject. So far, fortunately, Windows 9x drivers work very much OK with the 128Mb card.

Tritop wrote on 03.10.08 at 17:05:51:


I have said before, I cannot be able to mod other types of cards until I sacrifice one of the same to reverse engeneer the PCB. That stands for Voodoo5 PCI and for Voodoo5 6000 too. I have to remove the GPUs of the research card and to find the connection points for the extra memory adresses and for the new strapping configuration. No other way is possible. Since I do not have a Voodoo5 PCI (or a 6000), I will try to buy a dead or damaged card to disassemble it, but I have no clue when will I be able to get one. So far, the only cards I can mod are Voodoo4 PCI and AGP from 3DFX and Voodoo5 5500 AGP. I will, no doubt, let you know when modding for more types of cards will get possible.

m14radu wrote on 03.10.08 at 17:43:09:

m14radu wrote on 03.10.08 at 18:23:56:


Thanks for the congrats, Radu! But you and Roland also are entitled to your share of the credits, because a couple of years ago, just after another hit of mine, the Voodoo4 AGP with 64Mb, I had then so difficult time on my personal life that I was close to exit the 3DFX community. Yet, you two have helped me not to give up working on 3DFX modding.
It is not the same card you are refering to; this one was a non-functional one that I fixed back to life like 3 years ago. Someday I will try to resurect the other card too, but it will be hard.
There is a chance that the Voodoo5 6000 to 256Mb project will one day be completed. It is not my right to say more, but it would be one great honour for me if I could offer my help...

Chosen_One wrote on 03.10.08 at 18:05:26:


I am sorry, my English is so bad that I cannot understand what are you asking me to do. You want me to copy/paste something from the other topic to the first post of this one? Sorry, I take the fault, but please clarify what about the wiring you need here? Thanks for the congrats and for helping me over time with various BIOSes from your collection. You are of great help to the 3DFX community.

RaverX wrote on 03.10.08 at 23:05:18:


I know about it; it will be tough, not entirely safe and no way cheap one to pull through, but still the most spectacular possible. Let us hope that in the future this dream will become reality...

Friends, I dare to ask you for a favour. I need high res pics of the front (with no heatsinks) and back of a Voodoo5 AGP, as I have no digital cammera of my own and I do not want to borrow again one. I need them to mark on the pics the mods that need to be performed to activate 128Mb of RAM. After that, I will post those details here.

Congrats on the successful mod Komponent!!   Keep up the good work!!

Here are some high-res pics of a v5 5500 AGP card you requested. [ let me know if you need anything different ]
[ my apologies if the quality is subpar, I am not that good ]

/edit - updated better pictures...

Very detailed modding instruction !

Btw: The 4.7K resistor is for the strapping configuration ?

Thanks Komponent for the good work !!!