Likely a bad card, you can try getting your money back, or put it up for display

Capacitors probably, i.e. card can't handle heavy load.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2020-04-22, 22:20:

Capacitors probably, i.e. card can't handle heavy load.

might be worth him hitting it was an overvolt. That might make up for the drop in power through the capacitors. But the long term fix here sounds like a recap.

candle_86 wrote on 2020-04-22, 14:21:

Likely a bad card, you can try getting your money back, or put it up for display

I would like to repair the card. But it is already on display in its box though.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2020-04-22, 22:20:

Capacitors probably, i.e. card can't handle heavy load.

Could the caps be bad, even though they look perfect?

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2020-04-23, 03:48:

might be worth him hitting it was an overvolt. That might make up for the drop in power through the capacitors. But the long term fix here sounds like a recap.

How does one overvolt the card? Not sure if I dare do that, but still interested in hearing about this.

Pictures:

Did you get this from France?

aaronkatrini wrote on 2020-04-23, 10:34:

Did you get this from France?

No, USA

There was one from France last week, the seller mislabeled it as "asus v5600" or something like that, and the price was really low for a GF256 (just 15 euro), I was just about to complete the purchase, when it was sold. I thought it was you. 😀

Anyway, if the card doesn't work, I think you should contact the seller and send the card back.

PS. Do you happen to own a 3dfx Lucky Star Banshee?

aaronkatrini wrote on 2020-04-23, 14:31:

There was one from France last week, the seller mislabeled it as "asus v5600" or something like that, and the price was really low for a GF256 (just 15 euro), I was just about to complete the purchase, when it was sold. I thought it was you. 😀

Anyway, if the card doesn't work, I think you should contact the seller and send the card back.

PS. Do you happen to own a 3dfx Lucky Star Banshee?

Ah ok.
I also bought two v6800 mislabeled, sometime ago.

I can't send it back it was bought as untested.

Yes, you have asked me before about the Lucky Star Banshee if I recall correctly. The card died after a failed BGA reflow, I almost got it but then the chip slipped, I had fixed some of the artifacts )::

Damn, that is a shame you cannot send it back. I hope you didn't pay too much for it. 🙁

I was asking you about that Banshee because it was my first 3dfx card, oh the memories. I was so upset when it stopped working. After some years collecting dust I put if for sale. I'm so sad it to hear it wasn't fixed in the end. I kind of regret selling it. Sorry if this is inappropriate, but is there any chance you could send it back to me? I can send another type of working video card or sound card in exchange. 😀 I hope I'm not breaking any rules with this unusual request. Also, please forgive me for changing the topic of this thread.

aaronkatrini wrote on 2020-04-23, 19:16:

Damn, that is a shame you cannot send it back. I hope you didn't pay too much for it. 🙁

I was asking you about that Banshee because it was my first 3dfx card, oh the memories. I was so upset when it stopped working. After some years collecting dust I put if for sale. I'm so sad it to hear it wasn't fixed in the end. I kind of regret selling it. Sorry if this is inappropriate, but is there any chance you could send it back to me? I can send another type of working video card or sound card in exchange. 😀 I hope I'm not breaking any rules with this unusual request. Also, please forgive me for changing the topic of this thread.

Ill write a pm, no worries ofc you can get it back

Bump. If anyone has any advice, I am very keened on getting this running again. I was contemplating replacing the caps, but I cant workout their value.

What system are you using the card in?
What drivers have you been trying?
Have you tried using the card with a clean install of Win98SE/2k?
Have you tried testing the card with Video Memory Stress Test Clean Environment?
You say you sometimes get into Windows. What happens other times?
Have you tried forcing AGP 1x, 2x, 4x (assuming your system supports different AGP modes)?

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 06:34:

What system are you using the card in?

ASUS TUSL2-C Pentium III Tualatin 1400 Mhz
512 MB SDR
Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 120 GB
XP SP1 and SP3 tried

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 06:34:

What drivers have you been trying?

Windows default drivers, ASUS provided driver disk (does not work in XP) and 45.23 Nvidia driver, and some older and some newer

(card does not like official drivers, but does load with windows default) and provides correct information in Everest

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 06:34:

Have you tried using the card with a clean install of Win98SE/2k?

No only clean XP (But I have had many Geforce256 run in XP with default drivers and 45.23. ASUS 6600MX, ASUS6800DDR, and Creative Blaster Geforce 256.

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 06:34:

Have you tried testing the card with Video Memory Stress Test Clean Environment?

No

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 06:34:

You say you sometimes get into Windows. What happens other times?

Sometimes I get into windows, and all seems normal, until i try to run an 3d application.

Other times it freezes when windows have loaded on a solid colored screen (more than one color blended, but does not look like artifacts)

Other times memory anomalies appear, where a directory window leaves a "imprint" of where it was when you move it, along with some black lines.

Card always boots up and shows bios without artifacts and windows xp loading screen is also without artifacts.

I have had video cards with corrupt memory, and this does not look like that in my opinion.

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 06:34:

Have you tried forcing AGP 1x, 2x, 4x (assuming your system supports different AGP modes)?

No, what would this show ?

Quick answers:
1. I assumed you were using Win98/2k. A clean WinXP install should be fine too.
2. The VRAM isn't my first suspect either but the test will simply assure us we're not dealing with a VRAM related problem. It will also help determine wether the card is stable under moderate load.
3. When avaliable, NV10 based cards should use AGP 4x by default. Forcing slower AGP modes will sometimes increase signal integrity. Forcing AGP 1.0 will raise signal voltages from 1.5V to 3.3V often further helping signal integrity. Forcing AGP 1x also disables fast writes which sometimes cause problems with NV10 cards, but fast writes should not be avaliable on i815 motherboards anyway.
Please perform the suggested troubleshooting steps and report your results.

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-01, 15:43:

Quick answers: 1. I assumed you were using Win98/2k. A clean WinXP install should be fine too. 2. The VRAM isn't my first suspec […]
Show full quote

Quick answers:
1. I assumed you were using Win98/2k. A clean WinXP install should be fine too.
2. The VRAM isn't my first suspect either but the test will simply assure us we're not dealing with a VRAM related problem. It will also help determine wether the card is stable under moderate load.
3. When avaliable, NV10 based cards should use AGP 4x by default. Forcing slower AGP modes will sometimes increase signal integrity. Forcing AGP 1.0 will raise signal voltages from 1.5V to 3.3V often further helping signal integrity. Forcing AGP 1x also disables fast writes which sometimes cause problems with NV10 cards, but fast writes should not be avaliable on i815 motherboards anyway.
Please perform the suggested troubleshooting steps and report your results.

2. I can't get into windows now, it freezes during windows loading.

3. The TUSL2-C can't force 1x, only 2x and 4x. Forcing 2x did not do any difference

The booting process:

Freezing here:

(sorry about the dust)

Seems you suffer from Power issues,

replace PSU, replace Capacitors on TUSL.
Retry.

Please show pictures of the Mainboard.

matze79 wrote on 2020-05-04, 10:27:

Seems you suffer from Power issues, […]
Show full quote

Seems you suffer from Power issues,

replace PSU, replace Capacitors on TUSL.
Retry.

Please show pictures of the Mainboard.

I can run other geforce 256's SDR and DDR, Geforce 2's, 3's and 4's without issue, so I don't think the power issue is on the card and not necessarily on the mainboard/PSU

One slightly buldging CAP near northbridge

Is this cap ok? it looks a bit like it got bent and one leg got ripped out partially.
Also how did Video Memory Test Clean Environment go? You don't need to boot the PC into Windows for that.

Doornkaat wrote on 2020-05-05, 09:22:

Is this cap ok? it looks a bit like it got bent and one leg got ripped out partially.
Also how did Video Memory Test Clean Environment go? You don't need to boot the PC into Windows for that.

As far as I can tell, its ok, its just not seated correctly, but both legs are in. I will seat it properly once I have a reason for removing the mainboard.

How do I run the memory test without going into windows ?