Added 12MB STB Black Magic 3D Voodoo2's and a couple of Intel NICs to the collection. I bought them because of the 12MB all being located on the front of the board. The seller listed them as 8MB boards, though, because of the 8MB listed in texture RAM from the 3dfx control panel. I added a couple image comparisons. 12MB boards are at the top and bottom, an 8MB board is in the middle.

The Intel NICs are going into period specific builds; the PRO/100 with chip 82557 for 1996 and the Pro/100+ with 82559 for 1998

Seems someone spends alot on ebay... Nice cards..

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:22:

Seems someone spends alot on ebay... Nice cards..

I rarely buy things anywhere else. If I had your skills, connections, and if I wasn't lazy (haha..) maybe it would be different...

That's interesting. I didn't know that there were 12mb variants with chips only on one side. That's really nice.

All of mine are double sided.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:59:

That's interesting. I didn't know that there were 12mb variants with chips only on one side. That's really nice.

I didn't know, either. They popped up on eBay, I thought that's interesting, checked trusty Vogons: Is there a Voodoo2 12MB with only 12 chips?, and then bought them.

I've seen V1000's on eBay 1000 times, but I never noticed models with 12MB on one side. I think I noticed it this time because the seller priced them cheaper than I would expect (and thus I usually ignored).

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:16:

Added 12MB STB Black Magic 3D Voodoo2's and a couple of Intel NICs to the collection. I bought them because of the 12MB all being located on the front of the board

Nice cards! Is there any advantage to having the memory on only one side? I looked at the other thread and only noticed the memory is higher density.

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 22:02:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:59:

That's interesting. I didn't know that there were 12mb variants with chips only on one side. That's really nice.

I didn't know, either. They popped up on eBay, I thought that's interesting, checked trusty Vogons: Is there a Voodoo2 12MB with only 12 chips?, and then bought them.

I've seen V1000's on eBay 1000 times, but I never noticed models with 12MB on one side. I think I noticed it this time because the seller priced them cheaper than I would expect (and thus I usually ignored).

The question now is ...could one throw another 12 MB on the back of the card and have a 24mb Voodoo2 ?

I mean the pads are there and the traces look intact, I suspect the higher density ICs were the only thing that really changed, so perhaps the pads on the rear are still hooked up or could be made so.

Then next question after that would be, can the Voodoo2 even address more than 12mb.

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:41:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:22:

Seems someone spends alot on ebay... Nice cards..

I rarely buy things anywhere else. If I had your skills, connections, and if I wasn't lazy (haha..) maybe it would be different...

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:06:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:41:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:22:

Seems someone spends alot on ebay... Nice cards..

I rarely buy things anywhere else. If I had your skills, connections, and if I wasn't lazy (haha..) maybe it would be different...

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

So glad I grabbed up any thing and everything like an absolute madman 3-5 years ago when stuff was still cheap. Cards I paid $25 for going for $200 now.

This is what happens when you don't gate keep shit and your hobby gets "discovered' which it seems like anything remotely interesting tech related was during the pandemic.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:06:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:41:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:22:

Seems someone spends alot on ebay... Nice cards..

I rarely buy things anywhere else. If I had your skills, connections, and if I wasn't lazy (haha..) maybe it would be different...

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

I'm also rural, but it's all but a mountainous, humid jungle most of the time, heh...

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:10:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:06:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:41:

I rarely buy things anywhere else. If I had your skills, connections, and if I wasn't lazy (haha..) maybe it would be different...

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

So glad I grabbed up any thing and everything like an absolute madman 3-5 years ago when stuff was still cheap. Cards I paid $25 for going for $200 now.

This is what happens when you don't gate keep shit and your hobby gets "discovered' which it seems like anything remotely interesting tech related was during the pandemic.

Yeah.... I remember some Russian seller on eBay selling Voodoo2 PCI's new in the box. He like 100 of them and they were selling for peanuts around 2018, even. I ignored them because Voodoo3 2000 PCI? What do I need with that...

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:15:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:10:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:06:

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

So glad I grabbed up any thing and everything like an absolute madman 3-5 years ago when stuff was still cheap. Cards I paid $25 for going for $200 now.

This is what happens when you don't gate keep shit and your hobby gets "discovered' which it seems like anything remotely interesting tech related was during the pandemic.

Yeah.... I remember some Russian seller on eBay selling Voodoo2 PCI's new in the box. He like 100 of them and they were selling for peanuts around 2018, even. I ignored them because Voodoo3 2000 PCI? What do I need with that...

Id love a PCI Voodoo 3, have a couple of rigs I could use one in but ..fuck them prices.

Right now I only need two cards to pretty much complete my 3DFX collection a Velocity 1000 and a Rush, I doubt I will ever collect the PCI stuff, exotic 3DFX cards or the V5 6000 but having all the rest will be enough !

Might grab a PCI V3 if I ever see one at a reasonable price.

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:13:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:06:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:41:

I rarely buy things anywhere else. If I had your skills, connections, and if I wasn't lazy (haha..) maybe it would be different...

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

I'm also rural, but it's all but a mountainous, humid jungle most of the time, heh...

Here its nothing but flat open scrub land leading into a vegetated desert (Aussie deserts are weird till you get to the center of OZ).

Im glad I dont have to deal with humidity, spent a few weeks up in the tropics of Australia and the humidity nearly killed me, Ill take dry heat any day of the year. (Dry heat is also great for storing retro parts)

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:03:

The question now is ...could one throw another 12 MB on the back of the card and have a 24mb Voodoo2 ? […]
Show full quote

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 22:02:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-08-06, 21:59:

That's interesting. I didn't know that there were 12mb variants with chips only on one side. That's really nice.

I didn't know, either. They popped up on eBay, I thought that's interesting, checked trusty Vogons: Is there a Voodoo2 12MB with only 12 chips?, and then bought them.

I've seen V1000's on eBay 1000 times, but I never noticed models with 12MB on one side. I think I noticed it this time because the seller priced them cheaper than I would expect (and thus I usually ignored).

The question now is ...could one throw another 12 MB on the back of the card and have a 24mb Voodoo2 ?

I mean the pads are there and the traces look intact, I suspect the higher density ICs were the only thing that really changed, so perhaps the pads on the rear are still hooked up or could be made so.

Then next question after that would be, can the Voodoo2 even address more than 12mb.

Check this thread where it was asked previously: Voodoo2 16mb do they exist?

As answered by swaaye, it appears 16MB of texture and 4MB of Frame buffer are the maximums:
http://darwin-3dfx.sourceforge.net/voodoo2.pdf

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:31:

Check this thread where it was asked previously: Voodoo2 16mb do they exist? […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:03:

The question now is ...could one throw another 12 MB on the back of the card and have a 24mb Voodoo2 ? […]
Show full quote

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-06, 22:02:

I didn't know, either. They popped up on eBay, I thought that's interesting, checked trusty Vogons: Is there a Voodoo2 12MB with only 12 chips?, and then bought them.

I've seen V1000's on eBay 1000 times, but I never noticed models with 12MB on one side. I think I noticed it this time because the seller priced them cheaper than I would expect (and thus I usually ignored).

The question now is ...could one throw another 12 MB on the back of the card and have a 24mb Voodoo2 ?

I mean the pads are there and the traces look intact, I suspect the higher density ICs were the only thing that really changed, so perhaps the pads on the rear are still hooked up or could be made so.

Then next question after that would be, can the Voodoo2 even address more than 12mb.

Check this thread where it was asked previously: Voodoo2 16mb do they exist?

As answered by swaaye, it appears 16MB of texture and 4MB of Frame buffer are the maximums:
http://darwin-3dfx.sourceforge.net/voodoo2.pdf

Two 16(20)mb voodoo2s in SLI would be amazing, would be fun to see 😁

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:28:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:13:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:06:

I'm the same, Evilbay is really my only way of sourcing retro hardware, comes from being 4 1/2 from the nearest major city and living in a rural town next to a desert.

I'm also rural, but it's all but a mountainous, humid jungle most of the time, heh...

Here its nothing but flat open scrub land leading into a vegetated desert (Aussie deserts are weird till you get to the center of OZ).

Im glad I dont have to deal with humidity, spent a few weeks up in the tropics of Australia and the humidity nearly killed me, Ill take dry heat any day of the year. (Dry heat is also great for storing retro parts)

I don't like the humidity, either, but when we went vacationing in Nevada and Arizona, we couldn't stand the dry heat; it was very hard to breath. Thank God for A/C is all I have to say.

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:35:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:28:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:13:

I'm also rural, but it's all but a mountainous, humid jungle most of the time, heh...

Here its nothing but flat open scrub land leading into a vegetated desert (Aussie deserts are weird till you get to the center of OZ).

Im glad I dont have to deal with humidity, spent a few weeks up in the tropics of Australia and the humidity nearly killed me, Ill take dry heat any day of the year. (Dry heat is also great for storing retro parts)

I don't like the humidity, either, but when we went vacationing in Nevada and Arizona, we couldn't stand the dry heat; it was very hard to breath. Thank God for A/C is all I have to say.

Hard to breathe, hmmm I guess if your lungs had adapted to living in moist environment better suited to a fish I could understand that 🤣.

Humidity is hard on retro components though, but as long as they are stored with silica gel packets or in a controlled environment I can see them holding up well for a while.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:38:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:35:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:28:

Here its nothing but flat open scrub land leading into a vegetated desert (Aussie deserts are weird till you get to the center of OZ).

Im glad I dont have to deal with humidity, spent a few weeks up in the tropics of Australia and the humidity nearly killed me, Ill take dry heat any day of the year. (Dry heat is also great for storing retro parts)

I don't like the humidity, either, but when we went vacationing in Nevada and Arizona, we couldn't stand the dry heat; it was very hard to breath. Thank God for A/C is all I have to say.

Hard to breathe, hmmm I guess if your lungs had adapted to living in moist environment better suited to a fish I could understand that 🤣.

Humidity is hard on retro components though, but as long as they are stored with silica gel packets or in a controlled environment I can see them holding up well for a while.

I don't have any gills yet, but you'll before the first one to know when I do!

frankmonk wrote on 2022-08-05, 15:46:

Got pretty lucky on ebay and got me a Roland MPU-401AT new in the box
IMG_20220805_174356.jpg

Nice! How much was it?

I recently scored another boxed Music Quest PC MIDI card.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:38:

Meatball wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:35:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-07, 02:28:

Here its nothing but flat open scrub land leading into a vegetated desert (Aussie deserts are weird till you get to the center of OZ).

Im glad I dont have to deal with humidity, spent a few weeks up in the tropics of Australia and the humidity nearly killed me, Ill take dry heat any day of the year. (Dry heat is also great for storing retro parts)

I don't like the humidity, either, but when we went vacationing in Nevada and Arizona, we couldn't stand the dry heat; it was very hard to breath. Thank God for A/C is all I have to say.

Hard to breathe, hmmm I guess if your lungs had adapted to living in moist environment better suited to a fish I could understand that 🤣.

Humidity is hard on retro components though, but as long as they are stored with silica gel packets or in a controlled environment I can see them holding up well for a while.

This causes me constant concern, most of my machines are stored outside in a garage that is used and isn't climate controlled, I'm sure the humidity nears 100 percent in there some days. The floor gets moist on the worst days, but I try to keep my components up higher. I haven't seen anything fail yet, but I keep meaning to go pull all the graphics cards and move them in doors, since those seem to be the main thing going up in price.

I don't really have any better options, unfortunately. I don't own the place and this is the space I'm alotted.