Sounds like it's just overheating and that's leading to artefacts - what's the problem with adding some heatsinks or a cooling fan? (Does your case not have an intake fan that targets the expansion card area?) Doesn't sound like it's defective if you can eliminate the issue with cooling. Adding heatsinks, fans, etc to Voodoo2 cards isn't exactly a new concept - plenty of older boards came with some sort of heatsink, and there were after-market coolers to address the same problem. Also if the card is sandwiched in with something else that gets hot, like a modern GPU, that might be a contributing factor as well.

The card artifacts while the motherboard is outside the case. I guess it shouldn't overheat when it's outside the case it's not in between other cards. I understand i can and should add heatsinks, but i believe that if the card does this after 5 minutes in such conditions it's not in a great shape and could be on it's way out. I'm going to get a few heatsinks and a slot fan for it. I hope it solves the problem as the card performans great on the AMD k6 2 it is in!

I'd say if it works fine with sinks or cooling and runs stable for long periods of time (hours) it probably just needed cooling. If adding some sinks or a fan doesn't solve the problem, then you're probably right and it isn't in great shape. You said it seems to work with a fan blowing at it - have you set that up on your bench with it running a game and just let it run for a few hours with the fan to see if it can hold its own?

As far as Voodoo2s in general - remember most of these boards are 16-17 years old, and in a lot of cases have probably been swapped around a number of times over the last decade as they've become collectible. It isn't surprising that some of them end up with issues.

I bought 6 voodoo 2 cards, each and every one was dead.

perhaps one of the BGAs has cracks?

Are the Cards/Driver overclocked ?

obobskivich wrote:

You said it seems to work with a fan blowing at it - have you set that up on your bench with it running a game and just let it run for a few hours with the fan to see if it can hold its own?

I wouldn't exactly say hours, but on my bench with fans blowing directly at it, even without heatsinks it worked well. I need to get some heatsinks and put in inside the case and see how it does\lasts.

Stojke wrote:

I bought 6 voodoo 2 cards, each and every one was dead.

Woot? Really?..I'm quiting voodoos 2 then 🙁

cdoublejj wrote:

perhaps one of the BGAs has cracks?

The voodoos chips are quad-flat chips, i've checked the solder joints with a magnifying glass and "abused" the chips physically while the card was working and it did nothing. What did trigger the artifacting was when i artificially heated the chip in the middle (can't recall exactly what that one did..TMU?) , the effect was almost immediat so the problem has to reside there.

Sammy wrote:

Are the Cards/Driver overclocked

I've checked and it was running at 90Mhz. I've tried to underclock the card to 60Mhz but it had little\no effect.

I'm yet to find why my other voodoo2 wont go above 512x384

It could be worth a shot to reflow the solder on any old board that doesn't work right.

I have 2 diamond 3d II 8MB, last time I've checked my oldest (actually it's a newer rev, but I had it for long) presents artifacts after +- 5 minutes of running quake 2, but if I underclock OR place a fan near it works stable, never crashed like this,

the other never gives me artifacts, but it just freezes after some 5 minutes of quake 2, fan or clock don't change anything.

I have one of the original Diamond Monster 3D cards, and three of the Diamond branded V2 cards - each and every one came to me in perfect working condition. No overheating at all, although when I replaced an 8 MB V2 card for two 12 MB cards in SLI I did add a fan blowing into the case right on top of them. Like I said, I have had no heat or artifact issues, after the drivers were installed that is.

I wouldn't worry too much about picking up these cards, especially the Diamond branded cards so long as you are getting them from somebody who has actually owned and USED them personally. I have had issues with quite a few items when ordering them from a recycle shop, or a yard sale find. It should kind of be expected at this date.

I have seen 2 defective v1 cards through the years, one dying on me in a system and one bought defective at a fleamarket (beeing handled rough i guess).

Only one v2 has been acting up strange trough the years and i have 5 perfectly working 12mb samples, all without cooling (2 of them are brand new tough and only unboxed a couple of weeks ago. they run fine without any cooling in sli, sandwiched between other cards)

Had one v3 not posting (dead) and a voodoo 5 5500 agp missing one capacitor a couple of years ago but this one still worked fine without it.
Since i bought about 30 used 3dfx cards through the years i think it is awesome that most are very reliable and still work flawless!

Auzner wrote:

It could be worth a shot to reflow the solder on any old board that doesn't work right.

I need to get one of those cheap reflow stations from ebay. I only have a hot air fun with a large nozzle that would heat everything on the card unnecessarily. Still something tells me that it isn't a problem of bad solder joints but rather a bad chip on the way out. I might add a few heatsinks and a fan flowing at them. With merely a fan the card works fine for quite a while.

But figure, my luck is supper this week. I just got a sweet geforce 6800 Ultra agp and when i turned it on this is what i got:

Now this one is rather a case of cracked solder balls or electrostatic damage caused by the bubble wrap used by the seller. Not really lucky lately heh?

What kind of power supply are you using? Which motherboard? Are your components receiving clean power?

I'm using a good power supply, dual rail etc. Those 25 amps requirements are only for when the videocard is being stressed out by games or benchmarks, while running merely the computer bios it shouldn't artifact. Actually if the power was low for the card it would either crash, beep or not boot at all.

Depending how this works out with the seller, if i end up keeping the card i'll try to reflow it, if it works then i need to reball it for a long term solution, which is a real bummer since i don't have a reflow station. I might get one of those cheap chinese reflow stations from ebay and give it a go.

Which model PSU?

Also, what is the state of the filtering capacitors on your motherboard?

I've tried a Trust Power Master 520w Dual Rail (12v) power Supply and my OCS ZS Series 650watts power Supply that is now powering my i5 750 oced to 3,8Ghz and my Ati 7870 OC edition, so power supply isn't the issue here. As for the computer, the filter caps are in good shape. Actually i've already tried on three different motherboards ranging from athlon XP to Semprons and Athlon 64. All have the same symptoms. The video card has BGA solder cracks for sure, it needs a reflow or reball.
Also low power to the video card would cause it to beep, crash or not boot at all. I've never seen a video card going artifact on the computer bios by connecting it to a cheap power supply (not saying it can't happen anyway).

Ok, Rick, looks like you've covered all your bases.

Yes, the GeForce is bad, ALL GeForce cards after Geforce FX (Geforce 6 to GeForce 9) are potentially defective. I had a chance to buy a V9999 a while back (Unique 6800 with 3.3V/1.5V ability), but it's just not worthwhile, considering their relatively short life.

Don't know about the Voodoo2 though. I've got a Voodoo3 AGP that's bad, maybe Voodoos have a higher than average failure rate.

ESD damage is realistically pretty rare. It could be vibration damage in shipment or just a bad card

mockingbird wrote:

I had a chance to buy a V9999 a while back (Unique 6800 with 3.3V/1.5V ability), but it's just not worthwhile, considering their relatively short life.

Don't know about the Voodoo2 though. I've got a Voodoo3 AGP that's bad, maybe Voodoos have a higher than average failure rate.

I also have a V9999 and i intend to modify it sometime in he future for AGP 3.3v, and as you said they have a short life. It already has some artifacts even though very rarely. All these cards need a good BGA reball to restore them to good health but that requires skills and equipment, none of which i have. Since i'm gathering so many faulty hardware lately i'm considering getting a 35\40€ reflow station, get some practise and fix them myself.

As for the dead voodoos you mentioned, i don't know why, but it breaks my heart everytime i see or hear one has passed away.

smeezekitty wrote:

ESD damage is realistically pretty rare. It could be vibration damage in shipment or just a bad card

ESD can also shorthen computer hardware's life, even if it can still work well for a fews years. This particular geforce 6800 ultra came in the original box, physically well protected with bubble wrap, but bubble wrap can have static electricity so it's not ideal to use in direct contact with hardware i believe..