As far as i know 3dfx almost chose to passively cool them so that's probably why the coolers are so small, they don't need a lot of cooling.

By fiddling with the coolers i'm always afraid that something goes wrong as the coolers are indeed glued on. I think by simply adding a good and big system cooler that blows straight at the card your doing more than enough. And that's exactly how i do it, with all my voodoo's.

I do have one voodoo5 that i got completely without any cooling. So i put on 2 bigger/higher heatsinks with paste in the middle and superglue on the 4 edges of each chip. If i use it i will again only blow one big fan at the card so that one would be running without it's little fans completely, and it will be fine.

meljor wrote:

As far as i know 3dfx almost chose to passively cool them so that's probably why the coolers are so small, they don't need a lot of cooling.

By fiddling with the coolers i'm always afraid that something goes wrong as the coolers are indeed glued on. I think by simply adding a good and big system cooler that blows straight at the card your doing more than enough. And that's exactly how i do it, with all my voodoo's.

I do have one voodoo5 that i got completely without any cooling. So i put on 2 bigger/higher heatsinks with paste in the middle and superglue on the 4 edges of each chip. If i use it i will again only blow one big fan at the card so that one would be running without it's little fans completely, and it will be fine.

I was thinking about doing similarly with mine, using the removal method and Titan TTC-CUV1AB HSFs linked in this thread. I know those HSFs in particular are supposed to line up (for the most part) with the pre-drilled holes around the GPUs. I measured the distances between mine, and sure enough, it does seem to match up with the specs. My biggest fear is messing up something by removing the heatsinks, although the freeze-spray method seems to work well for most.

If I can get away with just making sure the current fans keep working and perhaps adding some extra cooling if needed, then I'm all down for that. I just want to do whatever will help my V5 last.

I replaced the heatsinks and fans on my two Voodoo 5 cards. When I did so, I used thermal epoxy. Yeah, I know, it's a sin. But, these cards are for my personal enjoyment and I never plan to sell them. To me, keeping them running as long as possible is my goal, so I used high quality thermal epoxy, copper heatsinks, and good fans.

Read more and get more details in my old post here:

[Build Log] ABIT KT7A-RAID Based System

If nothing else, check this out:

http://www.3dfxzone.it/enboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3068

KT7AGuy wrote:

I replaced the heatsinks and fans on my two Voodoo 5 cards. When I did so, I used thermal epoxy. Yeah, I know, it's a sin. Bu […]
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I replaced the heatsinks and fans on my two Voodoo 5 cards. When I did so, I used thermal epoxy. Yeah, I know, it's a sin. But, these cards are for my personal enjoyment and I never plan to sell them. To me, keeping them running as long as possible is my goal, so I used high quality thermal epoxy, copper heatsinks, and good fans.

Read more and get more details in my old post here:

[Build Log] ABIT KT7A-RAID Based System

If nothing else, check this out:

http://www.3dfxzone.it/enboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3068

Same here. I owned my V3 since 2000 before it gave up the ghost recently, and I've had the V5 for several years now. So long as I can keep it running, I have no intent to sell it. 😀

Thanks for the details! I might look into both the Evercool and the Titan coolers, since the Titan ones were reported to fit without modification. In any case, I've heard it go both ways: some feel the stock coolers are more than adequate, and some call them a joke. If I can get the stock HSFs off without damaging the board, I don't mind the time and effort required to make sure this thing lasts. But even with the different proven techniques of removing them, it's still a bit terrifying. 😅

I remember being really nervous when I removed the heatsinks on my Voodoo 5 cards. Still, at the time, an AGP model was only about $55 on eBay. PCI models were going for about $75. There was still a risk in destroying my cards, but being able to afford a replacement wasn't too much of a concern. Thus, I wasn't too terribly worried about it. Nowadays, I don't know if I would attempt it with today's insane prices for Voodoo 5 cards on eBay. I'm glad I got my cards when I did, because I don't think I would ever buy one at today's prices.

Anyway, I did my cards by putting them in my freezer and turning it down to its coldest settings. I left them in there for two days. When I was ready, I got all my tools and work area prepped. I knew I would only have minutes to do the job after removing the cards from the freezer.

I used an old credit card to shield the GPU chips and a large flat-head screwdriver to pop off the heatsinks. The trick is to work quickly after removing the cards from the freezer. You want them as cold as possible so that the heatsinks pop off quickly and easily.

Once the heatsinks are off, let the cards warm up to room temperature. Then, using the strongest isopropyl alcohol you can find and a bunch of cotton swabs, start working at removing the old glue on the chips. I remember this taking an incredibly long time; something on the order of an hour+ per chip. Just keep working at it and the glue will come off eventually. Make sure you're grounded and using good ESD prevention while doing this stuff.

Here is a video of me removing the heat sinks off my v5 using freeze spray. It is surprisingly easy.

https://youtu.be/5hB4jOCHLHc

mzry wrote:

Here is a video of me removing the heat sinks off my v5 using freeze spray. It is surprisingly easy.

https://youtu.be/5hB4jOCHLHc

Actually, yours is the one I saved in my Watch Later list a couple weeks back, haha! If I go about doing it, it'll likely be this way. 😀