Sounds like bad VRAM possibly, could try to replace the chips to see if that helps. That being said, the MX 440 really isn't as bad of a card as you think it is. It should play games up to 2001 or 2002 pretty well.

brian105 wrote on 2023-03-21, 20:29:

Sounds like bad VRAM possibly, could try to replace the chips to see if that helps. That being said, the MX 440 really isn't as bad of a card as you think it is. It should play games up to 2001 or 2002 pretty well.

Yeah I don't think its too bad of a card I just remember when it came out everyone called it just a geforce2 mx with some tweaks. The nvidia card I had back then after my voodoo 3 showed its age was a Geforce2 Ti and that lasted me well into the early to mid 2000's. Unfortunately I don't have the dexterity or patience to be doing any soldering of chips. I think I'm just gonna have to look for a different card.

Older Geforce AGP are not getting cheaper. I suggest you look around and grab a Geforce2 or 3 Ti 200 or similar, the Gainwards, MSI, Visiontech, etc are all good cards.
Just be sure it has a tag or silkscreen on it so you know which GPU is on it.

MX440 > GF2 Ti
http://ixbtlabs.com/articles/gf4mx/index.html scroll past all the theoretical 3dmark tests and look at quake/RTCW scores, especially in 32bit color mode

since yours is broken get another one, they are $5-10 and good enough

Yeah is why I said to make sure you know what GPU is on it. The MX400 is better than GF2, the GF3 is better than MX400 by GPU advancement....😁

Two cards both appear dead when drivers and acceleration kick in? While possible it sound more like power or motherboard issue to me. Just another direction to consider.

yeah, might be one of those boards with internal 3.3V converter instead of wiring AGP directly to ATX socket.

What model of motherboard are you using for the retro rig ?

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-03-22, 07:10:

yeah, might be one of those boards with internal 3.3V converter instead of wiring AGP directly to ATX socket.

Good one, I was thinking simply capacitors

bogdanpaulb wrote on 2023-03-22, 08:53:

What model of motherboard are you using for the retro rig ?

I am using the motherboard that was in the tower which is a Dell Dimension XPS T6oo_r i looked on the mother board and I cant see a brand, I just know its the Intel 440BX chipset from 1999. I never even considered it to be the motherboard, the thing looks immaculate but who knows. I really hope its not the motherboard, I have found another voodoo 3 3000 that I will try this one I was told is guaranteed to work. Its already been tested if it does the same thing I guess it is the motherboard at that point.

Try the 3rd card , if the problem persists , try with a known good working PSU. If you still get the same result, post some decent pictures with the motherboard.

Afaik Dell has always commissioned own boards (Pegatron/Foxconn/Compal/Wistron etc), and was leaning heavily on manufacturing cheaply ending up with a ton of bad capacitors.
https://ancientelectronics.wordpress.com/2022 … s-t___r-series/
AGP looks to be powered from ATX directly. Power supply could be a potential source of trouble, but wouldnt it monitor own 3.3V line and shutdown in case of bad output?

First things first, Don't try another Power supply!
This was the era when Dell didn't use a standard ATX connector, and all they did was move the connector over a bit stopping you from using a standard PSU! talk about a d*ck move.

It's easily fixed if your good with a soldering Iron, or you can buy adapters.
A Permanent Solution to the Dell 'Fake ATX' Power Supply Problem?

It's a real shame as the PSU's are decent and the Motherboard is made by Intel themselves (model number would be SE440BX-3) the OEM variant of the Seattle board.
But of course the hardware is about 25 years old now so problems will start cropping up.

I have the XPS T500 which is running both a GF4 Ti4600 and a V3 2000 PCI fine. I've also a Gateway with a slightly different Intel SE440BX-3 board run GF2 MX and GF4 MX So you most certainly should be able to use your V3 trouble free.

If it was me, my next step would be looking to convert it to proper ATX in whichever method you prefer as It'll need doing at some point anyway unless you want to referb the existing PSU and hope that solves the issue. After posting a pic of the motherboard here though as that's free!

I agree with chinny22, first post a picture with the motherboard , so we can all understand what we are dealing with. If it's the version with the non standard power connector you will need a adapter to use a standard PSU or you will have to look for the PSU with proprietary connector.

Thank you to everyone with all there suggestions. So apparently I really did have two broken cards. I got another voodoo 3 3000 that was guaranteed working. I popped it in, installed the drivers and it works perfectly. Been playing all my favorite glide games!