Tetrium wrote:

I heard about these Compaq V3s, but also some members having troubles with them.
Are yours alright?

I bought several of these in bulk, and did have a problem with one where I couldn't get it stable. They do get VERY hot... But when they work, they do work pretty well - especially for the price! Much cheaper than buying 2 x Voodoo2's (+ a 2d card) and better image quality too.

Artex wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

I heard about these Compaq V3s, but also some members having troubles with them.
Are yours alright?

I bought several of these in bulk, and did have a problem with one where I couldn't get it stable. They do get VERY hot... But when they work, they do work pretty well - especially for the price! Much cheaper than buying 2 x Voodoo2's (+ a 2d card) and better image quality too.

True. Especially since those Compaqs are 3500s, I rigged a fan to a PCI V3 2000 years ago as I thought that one was getting hot! Although I think the PCI variants do get a bit hotter with that extra heatsink needing to dissipate extra excess heat.

So what's your Voodoo 3 collection look like? 😁

I have a couple of silver heatsink V3 2000 AGP, one black heatsink V3 3000 and one V3 3500TV (the long cumbersome DONGle is annoying so I replaced it with a voodoo 4).

Unfortunatly I don't have a picture of my V3 3500TV and it's huge purple DONGle on hand.

Tetrium wrote:

So what's your Voodoo 3 collection look like? 😁

Not sure on the memory/speed/type for some of the V3's, but I have pix in my collection link in my sig. In total it looks like I'm up to roughly 80+ 3DFX cards.

3DFX Voodoo3 2000
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB PCI Sealed
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB PCI Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB PCI Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB AGP Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB AGP Sealed

3DFX Voodoo3 3000
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Sealed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB PCI Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB PCI Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB PCI Sealed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Bare

3DFX Voodoo3 3500
4 x 3DFX Voodoo3 3500 (Compaq 147286-001 147908-001 Non-TV Version) 16MB AGP Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 3500 TV (UK\PAL) 16MB AGP Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3500 TV (US\NTSC) (Orange '3500') 16MB AGP Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3500 TV (US\NTSC) (Yellow '3500') 16MB AGP Boxed

Artex wrote:

Not sure on the memory/speed/type for some of the V3's, but I have pix in my collection link in my sig. In total it looks like […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote:

So what's your Voodoo 3 collection look like? 😁

Not sure on the memory/speed/type for some of the V3's, but I have pix in my collection link in my sig. In total it looks like I'm up to roughly 80+ 3DFX cards.

3DFX Voodoo3 2000
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB PCI Sealed
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB PCI Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB PCI Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB AGP Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 2000 16MB AGP Sealed

3DFX Voodoo3 3000
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Sealed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB PCI Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB PCI Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB PCI Sealed
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 3000 16MB AGP Bare

3DFX Voodoo3 3500
4 x 3DFX Voodoo3 3500 (Compaq 147286-001 147908-001 Non-TV Version) 16MB AGP Bare
3DFX Voodoo3 3500 TV (UK\PAL) 16MB AGP Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3500 TV (US\NTSC) (Orange '3500') 16MB AGP Boxed
3DFX Voodoo3 3500 TV (US\NTSC) (Yellow '3500') 16MB AGP Boxed

Nice! 😁

Which of your cards feature SDRAM and which ones SGRAM?
And the color of the heatsinks? 😀

kanecvr wrote:

I have a couple of silver heatsink V3 2000 AGP, one black heatsink V3 3000 and one V3 3500TV (the long cumbersome DONGle is annoying so I replaced it with a voodoo 4).

Yup, I made a bit of a mistake to buy the bare V3500 tv (x2) without it's cable. I couldn't find any (or not at a reasonable price) so I ended up doing some homework, modding my own using an adapter (looks like a wider DVI connector) which didn't fit properly so I had to cut away some parts. 1 of the 2 displayed but the other one gave no image, even though the computer it was in seemed to POST just fine (as if the monitor cable wasn't plugged in, so I suppose there was something else wrong with either the adapter or the V3 3500 itself).

Artex wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

I heard about these Compaq V3s, but also some members having troubles with them.
Are yours alright?

I bought several of these in bulk, and did have a problem with one where I couldn't get it stable. They do get VERY hot...

I hadn't heard about this; the 2 that I own have been rock solid in my experience but I do cool them. I use the '3dfx Voodoo3 V1.07.00' driver found here: http://www.falconfly.de/voodoo3.htm

badmojo wrote:

Artex wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

I heard about these Compaq V3s, but also some members having troubles with them.
Are yours alright?

I bought several of these in bulk, and did have a problem with one where I couldn't get it stable. They do get VERY hot...

I hadn't heard about this; the 2 that I own have been rock solid in my experience but I do cool them. I use the '3dfx Voodoo3 V1.07.00' driver found here: http://www.falconfly.de/voodoo3.htm

Yeah, and truthfully, mine may have been a fluke as I didn't try the card in a different system. The others have all been very stable - even without additional cooling - and I do use the same driver you referenced there.

I think I have 6 V3 3500 Compaq and one has graphics corruption. I love these cards and use them often. The V2, V4 and V5 are used more for special occasions so to speak 😀

IMO past V3 I prefer using other cards from Nvidia and ATI.

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

IMO past V3 I prefer using other cards from Nvidia and ATI.

I just don't see a reason to own V3's or V4's besides the issue with cooling a V5 (that part takes a bit of work). Really, all of them were equally obsolete by the end of 2000 or let's say about Q1/2001.

firage wrote:

I just don't see a reason to own V3's or V4's besides the issue with cooling a V5 (that part takes a bit of work). Really, all of them were equally obsolete by the end of 2000 or let's say about Q1/2001.

V3 is cheaper and often more than enough for anything I'd rather run on a Voodoo instead of a Geforce 2+.

I have eight of the Compaq V3 3500's and none of the three I have tested have shown any function issues. Every single one was unused when I bought them, so other than aging from storage, they should have plenty of life. They do get VERY hot which is why created that thread over the summer about installing a good cooler and keeping them single slot. I have not heard about the Compaq V3's having issues, but I'd bet its got to be from reclaimed/recycled systems. That late 90's model Compaq's were beyond cramped, and had virtually no cooling other than the PSU. Most of their cases didn't even have a front intake vent. I'm sure the already hot running V3's with their little passive heatsinks and piss poor TIM just ended up slow roasting in those rigs.

Right now, I'm working on a silly PIII rig thats going to use one of these Compaq V3's and a ghetto rigged water cooling setup. I'm trying to keep the budget below $100.00 for the whole system, so it may be a few months before I finish it. Phil's rubber band cooling mod inspired the idea to try some twistix and 3M thermal tape to stick on a water block. It looks very ghetto and silly, but its got character.

Kodai wrote:

Phil's rubber band cooling mod inspired the idea to try some twistix and 3M thermal tape to stick on a water block. It looks very ghetto and silly, but its got character.

🤣 Looking forward to seeing that!

Just to be clear, it was in another thread maybe a few weeks ago where 2 or 3 members all had problems with their Compaq V3 3500s, all were from the same seller. I think 1 even went for a refund or at least was considering this.

alexanrs wrote:

firage wrote:

I just don't see a reason to own V3's or V4's besides the issue with cooling a V5 (that part takes a bit of work). Really, all of them were equally obsolete by the end of 2000 or let's say about Q1/2001.

V3 is cheaper and often more than enough for anything I'd rather run on a Voodoo instead of a Geforce 2+.

^This

I see it like this:

Voodoo1: best compatible with all glide games (and personal nostalgia)
Voodoo2: almost as compatible but up to 3x the speed
Voodoo2 sli: Even faster and/or 1024x768 and sli is simply cool
Voodoo3: a bit less compatible with older glide but sharper image

Voodoo4: well..... it needs to have a home, right? Can do older games with 2xAA but less compatible

Voodoo5: High res, high speed for later glide games and can run a lot of them with 4x AA to make it even look better.

So, they all have a purpose 🤣

Geforce i use for games that only support directx and they shine in TnL supported games. If glide is supported i prefer glide.

V2 has nearly complete compatibility with the oldest Glide titles, and for those that work with it it's the preferable solution performance & image quality wise. Same deal with V5 I believe - if there is something V3 or Banshee are compatible with that V5 isn't, I'm not aware of it (which admittedly isn't saying all that much :p).

GeForce is chiefly in the 2001+ DX8 category for me, they have more compatibility issues with old D3D games besides lacking Glide. And apparently their DVI output sucks for DOS, while the Voodoos with DVI are good.

Can only report that one of my Compaq 3500's only work in my Athlon AGP-Pro system.
The other is working in every type of computers that can handle such a card.

The seller you all are referring to... Is it the one from Fort Lauderdale?
If so, well... Then it is strange, because he assured me that mine was the only one that
ever had any problems with cards that he sold.

I'm curious about this as well. Brostenen mentioned an eBay seller that had a couple hundred V3's at one point, but is now sold out. I bought my V3's from that seller as well. I plan to build a couple of cheap retro boxes for friends and a couple test rigs using these V3's and keep a couple in reserve as long term backups.

Yep that's the seller I got mine from too 😀

Can you identify the manufacture of this card ?
It's a Voodoo-3 3000 PCI , SGR ?
http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/component … x-voodoo-3-3000

I give up, who makes it?

What I found interesting when reading this old thread is that nobody produced benchmark evidence showing the speed benefits of SGRAM per the same clock speed. Anyone have these benchmarks?