Only those two caps?

C405 - 4.7µF - Memory voltage
C220 - 330nF - GPU voltage

Same as MS-8851.

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-04-25, 19:22:

Only those two caps?

Yep only 2 for this card. Thank you again master guru! Another Geforce 3 back online.

I got lucky and was able to run this card on Ti500 speeds stable. Woohoo.

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-04-25, 19:22:

Same as MS-8851.

@tehsiggi any chance you know what resistors to move around for the card to identify as a Ti500 in Windows? I found this post mentioning the resistors, https://warp9-systems.proboards.com/thread/14 … 200-500-hardmod

The problem is I need to take the GPU heatsink off to get access to the resistors to see if they are the same but I don't know how this butterfly style plastic clip works. I've squeezed the plastic piece behind the board but I can't lift the clips out.

Alright I got the GPU heatsink off. I used plyers to squeeze the plastic closer together (behind the board) and used some masking tape around the clips so I didn't damage the board if I slipped.

Glad I got it off because the factory thermal paste was in a shocking state. The core temperature went from 60c to 52c (used a thermal cam).

I then upgraded the BIOS to a Prolink PixelView Ti500 (found here http://www.x86-secret.com/articles/nvbios.htm).

Backup original BIOS

1nvflash -b original.rom

Test new BIOS

1Vgabios.exe -fplti501n.rom

Flash new BIOS

1nvflash -5 -6 plti501n.rom

Now that the frequencies are hard coded. Time for the resistor mod to make Windows think it’s a Ti500.

R219 to R218
R216 to R217

The resistor mod worked perfectly and Device Manager identified the card as a Ti500.

For some reason performance is better with a Ti500 BIOS.

Glad it works! And glad the mod worked as well! It could be that the ti500 bios has better memory timings programmed.

That's sweet. I had no idea the Ti200 could be modded into a Ti500.

I have two of the original GeForce3 (faster than Ti200). I don't see any value in touching them with a soldering iron, and wonder if they can be flashed to Ti500 without physical changes?

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-26, 10:33:

That's sweet. I had no idea the Ti200 could be modded into a Ti500.

I have two of the original GeForce3 (faster than Ti200). I don't see any value in touching them with a soldering iron, and wonder if they can be flashed to Ti500 without physical changes?

Test increasing core and memory frequency in Windows (Coolbits registry to enable overclocking in nVidia control panel)

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjWv_NpswY

The main thing is to keep an eye on memory and your core’s temperature .

Once you have confirmed your card is stable at the frequencies you want then flash the BIOS with matching frequencies

I own the Hercules 3D Prophet III since January of 2002. It's in storage since 2005. Should I try it?

JSO wrote on 2026-04-27, 09:23:

I own the Hercules 3D Prophet III since January of 2002. It's in storage since 2005. Should I try it?

Depends on which version you have, many Ti200s came with 5ns memory. The one the OP has (Prolink PixelView GeForce3 Ti 200) actually came with 4ns memory so why the mod works, I have a Medion Geforce 3 Ti200 with 5ns memory so it refuses to clock up that high. With standard Geforce 3 cards I think they vary, when I look up Hercules 3D Prophet III GF3 standard it looks like they had 3.8ns according to a iXBT Lab review.

zuldan wrote on 2026-04-27, 08:44:

Test increasing core and memory frequency in Windows (Coolbits registry to enable overclocking in nVidia control panel) […]
Show full quote

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-26, 10:33:

That's sweet. I had no idea the Ti200 could be modded into a Ti500.

I have two of the original GeForce3 (faster than Ti200). I don't see any value in touching them with a soldering iron, and wonder if they can be flashed to Ti500 without physical changes?

Test increasing core and memory frequency in Windows (Coolbits registry to enable overclocking in nVidia control panel)

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjWv_NpswY

The main thing is to keep an eye on memory and your core’s temperature .

Once you have confirmed your card is stable at the frequencies you want then flash the BIOS with matching frequencies

Good job on the core over clock, I know the core overclocks much easier than the memory but in reviews I saw anandtech managed 215/490 MHz and iXBT Labs managed 200/500 MHz

If you want to try for more I have and old bookmark I had to look up on wayback as its gone now. (as was the anandtech one above)

Grem Five wrote on 2026-04-28, 18:03:

Good job on the core over clock, I know the core overclocks much easier than the memory but in reviews I saw anandtech managed 215/490 MHz and iXBT Labs managed 200/500 MHz

I saw those reviews and was surprised because the reviewers couldn’t get the clock speeds I am getting. I didn’t have high hopes.

Grem Five wrote on 2026-04-28, 18:03:

If you want to try for more I have and old bookmark I had to look up on wayback as its gone now. (as was the anandtech one above)

Thanks for that link. I’ve it saved! Not sure if I want to go to that extent of overclocking. Might save it for a Ti200 that’s in really bad shape (when I come across one).

I just overclocked a Inno3D Tornado 128MB Ti200 to a Ti500, and again it’s super stable. Either I’m just getting lucky or it’s pretty common for Ti200’s to overclock easily.

I see Inno3D Tornado 128MB Ti200 have 4ns memory as well, even most the Medion Ti 200s I see online have 4ns memory but mine alias does not and I did see a few other Medion Ti 200s that were like mine with 5ns memory.

GF3 series always benefited more from memory clocks then core clocks

Not a big deal as I have a set of Ti200, GF3, Ti500 so never felt the need to over clock that particular card. Many many years back I picked up a bunch of GF3 standard cards for cheap and those should all clock to TI 500 or higher speeds if I feel the need. GF3 tends to be the cards I put in my systems for testing.