VOGONS


First post, by rick6

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Hi there vogons! I'm quite new to the blog and english isn't my first language so bare with me 😉

I've aquired a used voodoo2 card about 12 years ago for a dirty cheap price only to find it was faulty. I couldn't ever go above the 512x384 resolution in any 3D game without crashing the game and so i gave up on it just until recently. I'm getting all nostalgic and i want to assemble a rig around it.
Windows works just fine. Most likely because it is the 2D card doing that job, since as far as i can remember the voodoo2 only renders 3D and no 2D at all.

After further inspecting the voodoo2 card i found that there was a missing smd cap near a memory chip, and i think this could justify the card not being able to go above 512x384 (not enough memory to go around with resolutions above 512x384).

What do you think? Also i would really like that someone could point me a possible replacement for the missing cap. I have no ideia of which value should i get for that missing cap.

If required i can post photos later on!

Thank you in advance

My 2001 gaming beast in all it's "Pentium 4 Williamate" Glory!

Reply 1 of 4, by kokornov

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These capacitors are usually connected to a +5v rail and used for additional filtering of supply voltage. This can be checked by measuring the resistances - one pad should be connected to ground and other to +5v rail (just insert Voodoo in any motherboard with power supply and check the connection of these pads to corresponding pins of Molex connector). If so, you can use almost any ceramic SMD capacitor with voltage from 6.3v and above, and capacitance from 0.1uF and above. For exact value you should measure capacitance of capacitors near other memory chips. I don't think that would help, but it's worth trying.

Reply 2 of 4, by rick6

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Thank you for your help. I'll measure it as you told me so. Unfourtanely i can't measure the capacitance of the other nearby capacitors because i don't have a capacimeter, but i'll aim for a 1uf cap, and SMD if possible.

My 2001 gaming beast in all it's "Pentium 4 Williamate" Glory!

Reply 3 of 4, by Hatta

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You'll have to desolder the cap to check its capacitance. The test works by applying voltage, so if it's in a circuit it could throw the reading off or potentially damage other components in the circuit.

Reply 4 of 4, by rick6

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I know, i know...
ThreadNecro.gif
Even though this was a thread of my own, i'm only awnsering now 😜

Only now i got around a capacitor meter and removed a good bypass cap to measure what value should i get for the missing bypass cap, and the value was 1nF. After desoldering a LOT of smd capacitors from a box of dead hardware i finally found a 1nF smd cap and placed it on the voodoo2. Still beyond 512x384 all i get is artifacting and the computer crashes. My guess is that this was the original fault with the video card and the missing cap was only a later consequence of someone throwing it into the bin.

Should i quit this voodoo2? I've inspected all the chip soldering points of the card so i assume this card has a faulty ram chip. Is this a common thing on a voodoo2?
If so, any way to find which? My ideia would be a laser thermometer to compare the memory chips temperature but i don't have such tool still.

My 2001 gaming beast in all it's "Pentium 4 Williamate" Glory!