VOGONS


First post, by Jackal1983

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A couple of questions about this card:
1. This version of the Riva 128 is the one where STB just slapped a MOSFET heatsink on the main chip and called it done. I removed that atrocity and put a fairly wide but thin heatsink for a Raspberry Pi on it. I just want to make sure that its sufficient. Pics are attached below.

2. The caps (3 16v/220uf and 12 16v/10 uf) are not any brand I recognized. They're marked "T.I" and a search doesn't bring up anything. Do you guys recommend replacing them? I bought some Rubycon YXF for the larger value caps and Nichicon SA for the smaller ones.

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Reply 1 of 5, by shamino

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I have 2 STB RIVA128 ZX cards that don't have a heatsink on the GPU, one came out of a Dell where I doubt anybody messed with it. I ran at least one of them pretty hard doing benchmarks. I don't know how hot the chip got but I don't think a heatsink was considered necessary at the time so having any at all is a bonus.

My cards are ZXs though. If the original riva128 chips ran hotter, or if this card overvolts the GPU to aid overclocking then maybe the heatsink is more important.

If you are comfortable replacing caps then I'd go ahead and replace them, but otherwise I don't think RIVA128s were known for stressing capacitors that much so you'd probably get away with leaving them.

I've never seen T.I. caps either, but as a rule any unknown "brand" can be assumed to be cheap junk. There's far too many fly by night labels out there to keep track of them all, much easier to just remember the ones that are reputable.

Reply 2 of 5, by Jackal1983

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shamino wrote on 2021-06-16, 19:32:
I have 2 STB RIVA128 ZX cards that don't have a heatsink on the GPU, one came out of a Dell where I doubt anybody messed with it […]
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I have 2 STB RIVA128 ZX cards that don't have a heatsink on the GPU, one came out of a Dell where I doubt anybody messed with it. I ran at least one of them pretty hard doing benchmarks. I don't know how hot the chip got but I don't think a heatsink was considered necessary at the time so having any at all is a bonus.

My cards are ZXs though. If the original riva128 chips ran hotter, or if this card overvolts the GPU to aid overclocking then maybe the heatsink is more important.

If you are comfortable replacing caps then I'd go ahead and replace them, but otherwise I don't think RIVA128s were known for stressing capacitors that much so you'd probably get away with leaving them.

I've never seen T.I. caps either, but as a rule any unknown "brand" can be assumed to be cheap junk. There's far too many fly by night labels out there to keep track of them all, much easier to just remember the ones that are reputable.

Yeah, I've heard that the original 128 does run warm. I suspect what I found is sufficient (definitely has more surface area that the MOSFET heatsink that came glued on it); I'd just like some confirmation. I did slap some thermal compound under the VRM MOSFET on the lower corner, I've heard too many horror stories about PCI Voodoo 3s cooking themselves because there wasn't any TIM under them. Do you think general purpose caps like the ones I mentioned are ok? I'll probably swap out the larger caps regardless, they seem to be on the output section and if the rep of this chip is anything to go by it needs all the help it can get!

Last edited by Jackal1983 on 2021-06-17, 05:02. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 3 of 5, by matze79

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i still searching for 8Mb SGRAM Version of the Riva 128.. i just can find the 8Mb SD-RAM Slow Versions:/

Anyone owns one for PCI =?

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 4 of 5, by shamino

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Jackal1983 wrote on 2021-06-16, 19:48:

Do you think general purpose caps like the ones I mentioned are ok? I'll probably swap out the larger caps regardless, they seem to be on the output section and if the rep of this chip is anything to go by it needs all the help it can get!

I don't know what kind of caps other Riva128 cards used, but being it's a 1997 card I can only guess they probably don't need that low of an ESR and those caps ought to be fine.

Reply 5 of 5, by Jackal1983

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shamino wrote on 2021-06-18, 09:05:
Jackal1983 wrote on 2021-06-16, 19:48:

Do you think general purpose caps like the ones I mentioned are ok? I'll probably swap out the larger caps regardless, they seem to be on the output section and if the rep of this chip is anything to go by it needs all the help it can get!

I don't know what kind of caps other Riva128 cards used, but being it's a 1997 card I can only guess they probably don't need that low of an ESR and those caps ought to be fine.

Thanks, I'll probably use them and if I have any issues, I'll hunt down some 10% spec tantalum caps. I think the Diamond version of the Riva 128 used tantalums.