VOGONS


First post, by aaronkatrini

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I know this topic has been discussed in many other occasions, but I wanted to try something new.
There are a bunch of pins on the Card at the top left (in the red circle) that don't get used. In fact I really couldn't find a manual explaining what those pins are for. I just wanted to know if they deliver any 5V or 12V in order to add a fan header there, maybe use some adapters like those used in the motherboard power on and reset buttons. Not a permanent type of mod.
What are your opinions? Does anybody know of the voltages on these pins?
Thanks in Advance 😀

RvuGEnAl.jpg

(PS. please don't just say: "just strap a fan on and you're good")

Reply 2 of 32, by aaronkatrini

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You are absolutely right, that would be the last resort, however I wanted to ask here before, just in case someone knew something.
What do you think, i put one lead of the multimeter on the "io shield" (don't know what it's called in the graphics card, you know, that bracket where the outputs go) as a Ground and the other lead of the multimeter try each pin?

Reply 4 of 32, by aaronkatrini

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Ok, I had some spare time to do same testing with my multimeter.
I had some of those case wires that come with a "socket" for the pin...
I labeled the pins 1 -> 26 starting from the top left as in the photo here:

EAR4mZu.jpg

And after testing them one by one with my multimeter here are my findings:

ng8ViEC.jpg

I tried puting a 12V fan into the 25 and 26 pin. I did this because I had no 5V fan and also wanted to know if the 12V fan would still spin at a lower speed and give a quiet experience. The fan did not spin though, such a shame. 🙁
I need to find one small (40-60mm) 5V fan and test this again.
If anyone has any suggestion, please let me know. I'll be more than happy if I can figure this out.
Thanks.

Reply 6 of 32, by Cyrix200+

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That connector is a feature connector (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_connector). I don't think the circuits around it are designed to provide enought power for a fan and you risk damaging your card. Connect the fan directly to you PSU.

1982 to 2001

Reply 7 of 32, by Intel486dx33

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The voodoo card are very delicate. A heavy load could short something out or burn out some circuitry.
Capacitors, regulators, diodes, traces, etc.

The real problem is attaching a fan so it does not put any stress on the GPU chip.
The heat sinks are usually glue to the GPU chip.
So you don’t want to screw the fan to the heat sink as this will add exessive weight and stress to the GPU chip.
The GPU chips is solder ball welded to the PCB board.
Broken solder ball welds and bad ram solder welds are usually why these cards fail.
All caused by excessive heat.

I found a simple solution. I purchased some inexpensive wire from the dollar store and tied the fan to the PCB board there for
The PCB board is supporting the weight of the fan and NOT the GPU.
Wire only cost $1 for 4 coils.

It is attached very securely and does not rattle.
I used a fan speed controller.
Or you can just attach directly to the molex connector.
I use 60mm x 60mm x 20mm fans but you can also use 60mm x60mm x 15mm fan for a lower profile.
there are also inexpensive fan controllers available too.

These fans are a must and should help prolong the life of the Voodoo card as these GPU run very hot.
also case fans should help.

Maybe even a wider fan to keep the entire PCB board cool including the ram chips.

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Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-11-14, 13:47. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 10 of 32, by aaronkatrini

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Already ordered a 3D replica of a design posted here on vogons of a Fan mount solution for the Voodoo 3 3000.
I can't find the link now but I've saved a copy of the 3D file on my Google Drive in case anybody wants it.

I'm a proud owner of a V3 3000 with an original Black Heatsink and upgraded ram chips in case I want to overclock it to V3 3500 speeds! (not interested for now).
I wanted to install the fan on the card itself to be a more All-In-One solution, its aesthetics I'm after. 😀

ODykPyY.jpg

I want to paint the Bracked also Black... and then the "Dark Knight" (as I like to call it) will be complete! 😁

(btw any Italian here can get the joke about the "Il Cavagliere Nero" by Gigi Proietti xD)

Reply 12 of 32, by Deksor

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According to here https://old.pinouts.ru/Video/VesaFeature_pinout.shtml and many other sources the two pins with 5V should be disconnected for the standard. So actually it isn't designed for anything. Maybe it can take the load of a fan ? Maybe this is the +5V coming from the motherboard ? Someone should check this ^^

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 13 of 32, by appiah4

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Just use the 12V and 5V on the Molex rails. Remove the cooler and replace it with a simple chipset cooler, stick it on with adhesive thermal tape. Voila:

3dfx-Voodoo-3-3000-D.jpg

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Reply 14 of 32, by Intel486dx33

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appiah4 wrote:
Just use the 12V and 5V on the Molex rails. Remove the cooler and replace it with a simple chipset cooler, stick it on with adh […]
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Just use the 12V and 5V on the Molex rails. Remove the cooler and replace it with a simple chipset cooler, stick it on with adhesive thermal tape. Voila:

3dfx-Voodoo-3-3000-D.jpg

That fan is too small, If you are going to mod the card then do it right so proper cooling is accomplished.
A large fan that cools the entire board is a better solution. It might not look pretty but it will provide better cooling.
Maybe an 80mm x 800mm x 20mm fan tide on with some thin wire.
Rubber bands straps may become brittle over time so are not a good solution for fasteners.

Reply 15 of 32, by imi

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a small fan is heaps better than no fan, and probably more than adequate to cool it properly.

remember these cards were passively cooled to begin with, just any airflow will help a lot with keeping them cool, they don't use huge amounts of power.

Reply 16 of 32, by appiah4

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Intel486dx33 wrote:
That fan is too small, If you are going to mod the card then do it right so proper cooling is accomplished. A large fan that coo […]
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That fan is too small, If you are going to mod the card then do it right so proper cooling is accomplished.
A large fan that cools the entire board is a better solution. It might not look pretty but it will provide better cooling.
Maybe an 80mm x 800mm x 20mm fan tide on with some thin wire.
Rubber bands straps may become brittle over time so are not a good solution for fasteners.

No it's not. It's more than enough and cools the graphics chip way better than the slap of aluminum it came with.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 17 of 32, by aaronkatrini

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Cannot tell if the original heatsink without cooler is better or worse than the small heatsink with fan.
I'm no expert in calculating how much heat each of these solutions can dissipate.
However we can all agree that the original heatsink with a small (40-60mm) is the best way to go.
Also removing the heatsink it's not an easy task on the V3, sometimes it can come off really easy with dental floss or as I've heard by putting the card on the freezer. (The card must be put inside a bag to avoid condensation!)
Too bad the cooler cannot be directly attached to the pins apparently...

Reply 18 of 32, by Intel486dx33

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aaronkatrini wrote:
Cannot tell if the original heatsink without cooler is better or worse than the small heatsink with fan. I'm no expert in calcul […]
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Cannot tell if the original heatsink without cooler is better or worse than the small heatsink with fan.
I'm no expert in calculating how much heat each of these solutions can dissipate.
However we can all agree that the original heatsink with a small (40-60mm) is the best way to go.
Also removing the heatsink it's not an easy task on the V3, sometimes it can come off really easy with dental floss or as I've heard by putting the card on the freezer. (The card must be put inside a bag to avoid condensation!)
Too bad the cooler cannot be directly attached to the pins apparently...

You can take a temp sensor gun to it.
My Cooler master temp sensor reads 123F.

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Reply 19 of 32, by dan86

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I had a voodoo 3000 years ago. What I did to cool it better was putting a bga vram heatsink on the back of the card behind the the GPU core and replaced the thermal compound with something better, likely AC5 given the time frame I was using the card. I ran the card at 183mhz and the case had a 80mm intake and 60mm exhaust fan. I never seem to feel it needed anything more.

Id would like to see someone play around with the voodoo3 to see if there is anywhere on the board that a fan can be powered from. The caps and mosfet come in mind here.