Some photos would help.

Nothing to shoot there, really. Just a normal PV830 with its SLI connector desoldered. The cracks are small enough to be visible only through microscope - can't capture them. But the connection to the inner layers is lost - and I don't know how to repair it.

Slesar wrote on 2022-07-15, 21:59:

The problem is when I try to couple a PV830 with an STB I get 4 TMUs, but the same old 4Mb framebuffer

I think that's normal

Here if this helps somehow (the card in question is in the middle).

maxtherabbit wrote on 2022-07-15, 23:05:

I think that's normal

What isn't normal is that I can't get 1024x768 in Unreal (it just hangs), the reason being, I guess, different memory organisation (PV has double-sided 110MHz chips while STB - single-sided 90 MHz).
FPS still increases 1.5x.

On a side note: these PV830s catch an awful lot of static. With my crappy old PSU if I use a PV as a master card the picture gets all stripey. But with an STB it's smooth as a mirror.

Is the hole plating ripped or how do you know they make no internal connection? How many of them are broken?

About six holes are broken (the plating is partially ripped off, one's fallen out completely), when I got this card I inspected it through a microscope and saw that. Unfortunately there seem to be connections to these holes on inner layers (visible against light). But if I try to attach a connector to these holes and put the card in a SLI, the driver doesn't detect it. So I hoped it was possible to find some closest components on board and connect to them, maybe?

It's possible. Can you attach a photo of the connector with the affected pins highlighted?

There were actually more of them than I remembered: a total of 15. Here is a photo of the connector's footprint from the back side of the board with affected holes marked. Numbers are: 2, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 34.

It doesn't look that bad. Do you have a multimeter?

Yes.

Wherefore art thou, sdz? Or anyone?
I could start prodding it blindly with a multimeter, but I'm afraid it'll show false positives on a populated board. That and too many points to check.

Sorry for the delay, I've been away for a while.
I'll try to post the info tomorrow.

Tomorrow, he said. I'll post, he said... BUMP!

I'm back!

1 7 13 19 27 6 12 16 22 26 32 are GND

3 DAC_D13, goes to RAMDAC pin 4
5 DAC_D15, goes to RAMDAC pin 13
9 DAC_D9, goes to RAMDAC pin 65
11 DAC_D8, goes to RAMDAC pin 64
21 DAC_D6, goes to RAMDAC pin 57
23 DAC_D4, goes to RAMDAC pin 55
25 DAC_D3, goes to RAMDAC pin 54
29 DAC_D0, goes to RAMDAC pin 51
2 DAC_D15, goes to RAMDAC pin 13
4 DAC_D14, goes to RAMDAC pin 12
8 DAC_D11, goes to RAMDAC pin 67
10 DAC_D10, goes to RAMDAC pin 66
14 DAC_D7, goes to RAMDAC pin 58
24 DAC_D5, goes to RAMDAC pin 56
28 DAC_D2, goes to RAMDAC pin 53
30 DAC_D1 goes to RAMDAC pin 52

31 FBI_HSYNC goes to 74XX244 (or eq) pin 17
33 FBI_VSYNC goes to 74XX244 (or eq) pin 15

DAC_D0 to DAC_D15 and the SYNC signals are not that important, SLI will work, but the image will be corrupted.

The following pins are important:
15 FBI_CLK2X_OUT goes to FBI pin 201, either directly or through a 22-47 ohm resistor
17 SLI_SYNCIN goes to FBI pin 185, either directly or through a 22-47 ohm resistor
18 SLI_SYNCOUT goes to FBI pin 186, either directly or through a 22-47 ohm resistor
20 FBI_CLK1X_OUT goes to FBI pin 214, either directly or through a 22-47 ohm resistor
34 PCI_FIFO_STALL goes to FBI pin 184, either directly or through a 22-47 ohm resistor

The RAMDAC is the GENDAC or TI equivalent IC near the VGA connector.
The 74XX244 or eq IC is between the RAMDAC and the FBI.
The FBI is the big 3dfx IC near the PCI connector.

Edit:
Regarding video quality, it's possible to improve that, but I'd need some high res pictures of the VGA area if I don't find a PV830 in my Voodoo 2 stash.