PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2025-10-11, 12:51:

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-10, 23:59:

ah oke, thanks in advance,It's just strange way to cripple a forum if you ask me, but I guess they have certain reasons for it, […]
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chinny22 wrote on 2025-10-08, 23:34:

DM's are enabled after a certain amount of posts, exact number I forget

ah oke, thanks in advance,It's just strange way to cripple a forum if you ask me, but I guess they have certain reasons for it, which I do respect.

As for sharing them drivers, I could do that, that is if I am aloud to share files here, then I'd happily do so.
ASOT 301 remains fantastic 😎

Think it might be around 25 -30 posts before DMs become available (took me about six or seven weeks after I joined March 2018) so get posting 😀 😀

Oh okay, no worries!

Well I do have some posts to make soon though, just paid the vital repairs for my second Gainward Voodoo2 PCI 12MB< which now has thanks to Backfire from the Voodoo Alert Forums has a renewed Chuck Frame Buffer chip, a full reflow + recap with yellow colored KEMET Tantal SMD capacitors and a full solder reflow as well, this card will be like new again despite it being well over 27 years of age., also why I waited on posting my Intel Pentium3 dream build as this second Gainward V2 is part of that project.

The K7 build is done, all I need to do now is install some games on it, it's some work around from here to there, but I'll surely get posting more once all the parts are here and all is placed together and installed correctly.
Sorry for going quiet though, just had some other things to attend to, I will post more updates soon.

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-09, 20:24:

Hey, can you upload the two Parhelia drivers you mentioned?

Well I hope this link works, these are the September 2003 & May 2007 driver kits for Matrox Parhelia as I carefully described in my post 😀
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17EZghFLWDGxw … iew?usp=sharing

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-11, 18:47:

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-09, 20:24:

Hey, can you upload the two Parhelia drivers you mentioned?

Well I hope this link works, these are the September 2003 & May 2007 driver kits for Matrox Parhelia as I carefully described in my post 😀
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17EZghFLWDGxw … iew?usp=sharing

Thanks. So you basically installed the '03 version normally then ran the installer for the '07 version to decompress it then installed the driver through device manager?

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-12, 04:51:

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-11, 18:47:

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-09, 20:24:

Hey, can you upload the two Parhelia drivers you mentioned?

Well I hope this link works, these are the September 2003 & May 2007 driver kits for Matrox Parhelia as I carefully described in my post 😀
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17EZghFLWDGxw … iew?usp=sharing

Thanks. So you basically installed the '03 version normally then ran the installer for the '07 version to decompress it then installed the driver through device manager?

Yes correct I used the installer of the September 2003 driver the 1.5.0.107 and then unpacked the May 2007 driver and used the Device manager to update the WDM driver kit for my Matrox Parhelia AGP 256MB to 1.13.0.158

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-12, 22:48:

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-12, 04:51:

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-11, 18:47:

Well I hope this link works, these are the September 2003 & May 2007 driver kits for Matrox Parhelia as I carefully described in my post 😀
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17EZghFLWDGxw … iew?usp=sharing

Thanks. So you basically installed the '03 version normally then ran the installer for the '07 version to decompress it then installed the driver through device manager?

Yes correct I used the installer of the September 2003 driver the 1.5.0.107 and then unpacked the May 2007 driver and used the Device manager to update the WDM driver kit for my Matrox Parhelia AGP 256MB to 1.13.0.158

Thanks. I snapped up a NOS "MED" variant of the Parhelia for a decent deal which is basically the same as the AGP 4x/8x Parhelia just with a special vbios. Apparently it is compatible with standard drivers via either a force install or (l suspect) an INF mod. I might try flashing the standard bios onto the card, too. Should make for an interesting build with a P4, a fast Athlon XP, or a S754 A64.

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-13, 20:33:

Thanks. I snapped up a NOS "MED" variant of the Parhelia for a decent deal which is basically the same as the AGP 4x/8x Parhelia just with a special vbios. Apparently it is compatible with standard drivers via either a force install or (l suspect) an INF mod. I might try flashing the standard bios onto the card, too. Should make for an interesting build with a P4, a fast Athlon XP, or a S754 A64.

Hey no worries man always happy to help, I kept all original driver releases of the Parhelia, this is my favorite graphics card of all time just how underrated and incorrectly reviewed they were, if the reviewers use my driver methods they would get far better results,the image quality when using the 1Billion Giga Color mode is phenomenal especially when usign one of Sony's GDM F520 or GDM 900 FW Trinitron CRT's, just mind blowing image depth ideal for those that love photography or gaming alike Freelancer will look fantastic on my upcoming GDM F520 which an old close friend of mine from Austria will be giving me his two units next year during his visit, that will be a separate thread for the 3dfx forums as for Vogons as well of course 😎

They will do justice for my Matrox Graphics cards for sure.

But here a nice update of the AMD K7 Athlon 700Mhz Thunderbird Slot A Build, it's finally done as it's two new HDD's have been installed and a new slave DVD RW Drive by LG/TSST Systems:

Nighthawk

AMD K7 Athlon Thunderbird 700Mhz Slot A
3x 256MB PC-133 Legend / Hynix @ PC-100
MSI MS-6195 AMD Irongate AM751 Chipset
3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV AGP 16MB Rev.A 3199 (Eur PAL variant, mint in box)
Vantec Cooling Spectrum Slot cooler card for V3 3500
Samsung 3.5" FDD Drive
1x 40GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD400EB 7200 rpm HDD Main drive + 8MB Cache
1x 80GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 7200 rpm HDD Slave drive + 8MB Cache
LG 40x/16X CD/DVD RW Drive
NEC 5 port USB 2.0 PCI Card + Front Panel 3 in PCI Card 2 in Front Panel
3-Com 3C 905C 10/100Mbit Ethernet PCI Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350
2002 A-Open H-600-B ATX Case
A-Open 350 Watt PSU or equivalent.
Compaq S710 17" Blackshade CRT from 2001
Reso @ 1024x768x32 ! 85Hz | 0.22.5 Dot Pitch

Win2K Pro UK + Service Pack 4 with Roll Up 01 for Service Pack 4
AmigaSport 3.0 for Win2K/XP by AmigaMerlin for V3 3500

Here the inner parts all nicely connected:

Here the windows desktop:

And here all the parts neatly detected and installed:

Here some games I played with it:

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

Hexen: Beyond Heretic

Half-Life

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-15, 12:57:

Hey no worries man always happy to help, I kept all original driver releases of the Parhelia, this is my favorite graphics card […]
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Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-13, 20:33:

Thanks. I snapped up a NOS "MED" variant of the Parhelia for a decent deal which is basically the same as the AGP 4x/8x Parhelia just with a special vbios. Apparently it is compatible with standard drivers via either a force install or (l suspect) an INF mod. I might try flashing the standard bios onto the card, too. Should make for an interesting build with a P4, a fast Athlon XP, or a S754 A64.

Hey no worries man always happy to help, I kept all original driver releases of the Parhelia, this is my favorite graphics card of all time just how underrated and incorrectly reviewed they were, if the reviewers use my driver methods they would get far better results,the image quality when using the 1Billion Giga Color mode is phenomenal especially when usign one of Sony's GDM F520 or GDM 900 FW Trinitron CRT's, just mind blowing image depth ideal for those that love photography or gaming alike Freelancer will look fantastic on my upcoming GDM F520 which an old close friend of mine from Austria will be giving me his two units next year during his visit, that will be a separate thread for the 3dfx forums as for Vogons as well of course 😎

They will do justice for my Matrox Graphics cards for sure.

But here a nice update of the AMD K7 Athlon 700Mhz Thunderbird Slot A Build, it's finally done as it's two new HDD's have been installed and a new slave DVD RW Drive by LG/TSST Systems:

Nighthawk

AMD K7 Athlon Thunderbird 700Mhz Slot A
3x 256MB PC-133 Legend / Hynix @ PC-100
MSI MS-6195 AMD Irongate AM751 Chipset
3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV AGP 16MB Rev.A 3199 (Eur PAL variant, mint in box)
Vantec Cooling Spectrum Slot cooler card for V3 3500
Samsung 3.5" FDD Drive
1x 40GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD400EB 7200 rpm HDD Main drive + 8MB Cache
1x 80GB Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 7200 rpm HDD Slave drive + 8MB Cache
LG 40x/16X CD/DVD RW Drive
NEC 5 port USB 2.0 PCI Card + Front Panel 3 in PCI Card 2 in Front Panel
3-Com 3C 905C 10/100Mbit Ethernet PCI Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350
2002 A-Open H-600-B ATX Case
A-Open 350 Watt PSU or equivalent.
Compaq S710 17" Blackshade CRT from 2001
Reso @ 1024x768x32 ! 85Hz | 0.22.5 Dot Pitch

Win2K Pro UK + Service Pack 4 with Roll Up 01 for Service Pack 4
AmigaSport 3.0 for Win2K/XP by AmigaMerlin for V3 3500

Here the inner parts all nicely connected:

Here the windows desktop:

And here all the parts neatly detected and installed:

Here some games I played with it:

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

Hexen: Beyond Heretic

Half-Life

I got a screaming deal on on of those 3500s a couple of years ago because it didn't have the purple dongle. It also has a Euro spec tuner on it, but that's not a big issue TBH. The secret to using one of these things without a dongle is to hunt town a VESA P&D to VGA adaptor (cheap) and nibble most of the shielding off. It'll plug right in and work. An EVC to VGA cable or adaptor is a direct fit, but they're a bit harder to hunt down. I found one, however it's 25 feet long, 🤣. It's gonna go in a Mobile Athlon (Palomino) or Geode GX-M 1700 based rig I'm working on. It should be a nice jack of all trades rig that can span a fairly wide period of games.

i know its only screen caps but half life looks good here, the lighting on the lower right image seems like perfect blue-greens. maybe its just a great game so i'm gonna like it anyway 😀

Jackal1983 wrote on 2025-10-15, 14:11:

I got a screaming deal on on of those 3500s a couple of years ago because it didn't have the purple dongle. It also has a Euro spec tuner on it, but that's not a big issue TBH. The secret to using one of these things without a dongle is to hunt town a VESA P&D to VGA adaptor (cheap) and nibble most of the shielding off. It'll plug right in and work. An EVC to VGA cable or adapter is a direct fit, but they're a bit harder to hunt down. I found one, however it's 25 feet long, 🤣. It's gonna go in a Mobile Athlon (Palomino) or Geode GX-M 1700 based rig I'm working on. It should be a nice jack of all trades rig that can span a fairly wide period of games.

Yea I found a M1-DA to VGA convertor cable but the shielding looks poorly made, so I will send it to my friend in Germany for research maybe to help design a M1-DA to VGA convertor, I have an idea with it, but hoping to make some use out of it for this future project.

V3 3 500's are such nice cards , I always am seeking the 3dfx/Compaq USA Voodoo3 3500c + TV-Out Rev.A 4399 - 2100 the same for the PowerColor Evil King 3 Pro / Evil King 3 Ultra, these are just the best alternatives as they don't require any dongles, some people mass bought them as by having duplicates and this can be an issue for those that actually seek one to use, as many have tried to sell them for stupid amounts, this is why I just stuck to my original Voodoo3 3500 TV AGP instead, I just place a high box behind the system thereby avoiding the sag on the original IO Pod it's self, the M1-DA dongles are nice but due to the narrowly placed shielding many of these don't even fit.
Maybe an idea to make a topic regarding the M1-Da to VGA dongles with links of the ones that do fit on the V3 3500's M1-DA connector without issues, or some guide an idea?

just my thoughts to the matter.

gerry wrote on 2025-10-16, 17:23:

i know its only screen caps but half life looks good here, the lighting on the lower right image seems like perfect blue-greens. maybe its just a great game so i'm gonna like it anyway 😀

Half-Life was one of the best single player games I ever played great story with a very mysterious vibe to it, even with every replay I am always mind blown of this game, it's truly it's own idea which also gives it's own originality we all love today, playing with Dual Gainward Voodoo2 PCI 12MB's is fantastic though, it runs so well at 1024x768x16 with 3Dfx Glide API.

But I am wondering if the V2's can also run it in Direct3D, or will the Matrox G400 MAX take over for that role?

Anyways as the P3 Dream build goes it's finally done after 4 long years of finding the parts buying them getting the recapped, , and other reworks like trace repairs and chip replacements it all worked out better than I had ever expected and man it runs nicely!

Avenger M99

Intel Pentium !!!/E Coppermine 850Mhz S.E.C.C. II Slot1 CPU
Thermaltake Golden Orb for S.E.C.C. II Slot 1 CPU's
2x 256MB PC-100 Legend CL2 (Kingston ram chips)
EPoX EP-BX3 + Modified Bios 4.23
Matrox Millennium G400 MAX DH AGP 32MB 128Bit Rev.A 4399 + Soltek Bronze Orb
2x Gainward Dragon 3000 PCI 12MB 192Bit EDO in SLI (Rev.A 4698 & Rev.A 1099)
Terratec Promedia Audio System EWS64XL ISA 34MB Rev. 1.2 9733 + Full Gold Nichicon Recap done by Backfire from VoodooAlert(dot)de
1x Maxtor DiamondMax 9+ 30GBB 7200 rpm HDD (Main drive)
1x Western Digital WD1200BB 120GB 7200 rpm HDD (Game drive)
1x Creative Labs 12x DVD-Rom Drive
1x Mitsumi Electric 3.5" FD Drive
FKI FK-6043 Midi Tower
Enermax EG351P-V PSU 350 Watt PSU
Compaq S710 17" Blackshade CRT from 2001
Reso @ 1024x768x32 @ 85Hz | 0.22.5 Dot Pitch

Win98 SE + UnOfficial SP 3.2 UK
Latest G400 Max drivers from 2002
Ciacara's No OC FastVoodoo2 Driver kit ver 4.6

Here the system with the side panel removed revealing the inner parts:

Here the system without the PSU, revealing the hidden parts 😀

Here the system running Quantum3D OpenGVS Monterey Tech Demo of the Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt & Unreal:

Here the Bootup screen and the Bios of the EWS64 XL:

Here the desktop and all the installed parts shown in the Device Manager:

Here the G400 MAX control Panel:

Here the Gainward Voodoo2 control panel:

Here the wallpaper I use on this system which is a pair of Pyro GL's scouting the wetlands named Pyro's In The Dawn by Zonerie

Next are all the recapped parts 😀

Here the recapped Enermax EG351P-V PSU that was recapped by Backfire with Japan made Panasonic capacitors:

Here the Main graphics card:

Matrox Millennium G400 MAX DH AGP 32MB 128Bit Rev.A 4399 + Soltek Bronze Orb
This card was made during week 43 of year 1999.

Here the Voodo2 graphics cards, both were recapped by backfire from Voodoo Alert forums, Germany, the slave card been through three different reworks which I will add later.

Main V2 which was recapped by Backfire with 13x KEMET SMD Tantal Capacitors.
That is this card:

Gainward Dragon 3000 PCI 12MB 192Bit EDO Rev.A 9846
This card was made in year 1998 during week 46.

Here the secondary Gainward V2 as how I got it after it's reworks:

These were the three reworks that were applied to that card:

01. 3Dfx Chuck Frame Buffer Chip was renewed
02. Solder Reflow was applied
03. Recap with 13x KEMET SMD Tantal Capacitors

Here the newly replaced Chuck Frame Buffer chip:

Here is where i was applying the thermal pads which have double sided sticky surfaces, makes it ideal to stick the heatsinks to the 3dfx Bruce & Chuck chips but also add a thermal compound solution at the same time:

And here the card back to it's original form:

Gainward Dragon 3000 PCI 12MB 192Bit EDO Rev.A 1099
This card was made during week 10 of year 1999.

Here the Terratec Promedia Audio System EWS64 XL rev. 1.2 9733 Mint in box (before Recap & trace repair)
This card was made in year 1997 during week 33.

Here the card from Before & After the Gold recap:

Here the 5.25" Digital Interface IO drive, before and after Gold recap

Here the trace repairs that were also applied:

And here the entire set:

And there you have it, this was a wonderful 4 year project that I was able to make a reality, my Intel Pentium3 dream build, it does everything I'd want it to on the 1D and 3D rendering scene for games and simulations as well on the musical side of things 320Kbps MP3's FLAC's as well as superb Midi music quality, this is probably the coolest retro/vintage PC project I ever worked on, the AMD equivalent is that AMD K7 Athlon Thunderbird Slot A build, also from the same era, these both have parts from 1997 -2000, this was a fantastic time in the world of computing.

Enjoy the photo's as always 😎

It was the best of times in terms of that specific mid 90s to early 2000s era. I miss the idealism of the age. It's as though we could accomplish anything.

Beautiful build btw 😀

Mahigan wrote on 2025-10-19, 19:56:

It was the best of times in terms of that specific mid 90s to early 2000s era. I miss the idealism of the age. It's as though we could accomplish anything.

Beautiful build btw 😀

Hey man many thanks! yea I too have those feelings, computers of today feel like a waste of money an time, but sadly we do need them, most of my money goes in to build like the ones I posted in this thread, they took years bu man all that har work truly paid off, no crappy boring emulators for me rofl.

Compliments, great builds!

PD2JK wrote on 2025-10-19, 20:40:

Compliments, great builds!

Hey many thanks, I'll try and make some screenshots in a few games as well,sadly only Direct3D, because I can' find a good program to make screenshots when using 3Dfx Glide API, something that is not HyperSnap.

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-19, 17:46:

Avenger M99

Intel Pentium !!!/E Coppermine 850Mhz S.E.C.C. II Slot1 CPU
Thermaltake Golden Orb for S.E.C.C. II Slot 1 CPU's

An 850 Slot-1, that's a rare beast. Lucky you. And looking so beautiful with the Golden Orb

H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-10-19, 21:23:

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-19, 17:46:

Avenger M99

Intel Pentium !!!/E Coppermine 850Mhz S.E.C.C. II Slot1 CPU
Thermaltake Golden Orb for S.E.C.C. II Slot 1 CPU's

An 850 Slot-1, that's a rare beast. Lucky you. And looking so beautiful with the Golden Orb

Hey thanks,yea I really wanted something different, most P3 builds I seen are 600, 700 or 1000Mhz builds but never an 850, so I was like what a cool idea!
So I bought this CPU and the Golden Orb came from my friend SWZSSR from South Australia, I bought this CPU from a German ebay seller in 2021 for 60 Euro's, which was 72 Euro's with shipping from Germany to me here in Netherlands and with that I decided to make them part of my Pentium 3 Dream Build project, the rest kind of followed to the piece of beauty it became, a project I really enjoyed doing.
If you really want to accomplish something, you just need to follow your dreams and within time you will succeed, never give up on your goals as they are all part of the challenge 😎

But if you need help finding P3/E 850 for Slot1, I can surely look out for one for you 😀

You definitely have some really nice hardware but what I really like about your builds are they true snapshots in time.
Unlike creating period correct builds today, these systems also have the heatsinks, bright colored fans and other small details that were all the fashion at the time but rarely re-created now.

chinny22 wrote on 2025-10-20, 01:16:

You definitely have some really nice hardware but what I really like about your builds are they true snapshots in time.
Unlike creating period correct builds today, these systems also have the heatsinks, bright colored fans and other small details that were all the fashion at the time but rarely re-created now.

Hey many thanks!, Yea that too was my goal to make them as authentic as possible most of these PC's are parts I kept over the years, so I thought lets get the recaps done by my friend Backfire in Germany he has like 48 years of electro engineering on him, all the recaps you seen in this thread were mostly done by him, just nice clean results and everything works how it used to do.
To make it safe for use, recaps are very of need, everything that I now use for 10 years I will send to Germany to backfire for inspection & recaps,, you can't buy the parts new anymore so yea recaps & chip replacements is all we can do these days.

All the coolers are indeed original from the timeline they came out, some of them I was able to get cheap from friends or even people on the German ebay, that too was helpful.
As my builds go I wanna use them and get the max out of them, I just got so bored and tired of using emulators, with the real hardware at hand, you don't need any of that crap and just make good use of the real deal instead, maintenance is important but as long it's all done correctly you can still have a fun time with these old systems.

This hobby is truly fascinating also what others come up with though, I did my best on my part I am curious to see other projects here, Vogons has tons of great topics though, I'm glad this place is still around, a decent place for us retro/vintage computer builders/owners to stick around in, always welcoming to see 😀

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-19, 22:29:

Hey thanks,yea I really wanted something different, most P3 builds I seen are 600, 700 or 1000Mhz builds but never an 850, so I […]
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H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-10-19, 21:23:

Gold Leader-B747 wrote on 2025-10-19, 17:46:

Avenger M99

Intel Pentium !!!/E Coppermine 850Mhz S.E.C.C. II Slot1 CPU
Thermaltake Golden Orb for S.E.C.C. II Slot 1 CPU's

An 850 Slot-1, that's a rare beast. Lucky you. And looking so beautiful with the Golden Orb

Hey thanks,yea I really wanted something different, most P3 builds I seen are 600, 700 or 1000Mhz builds but never an 850, so I was like what a cool idea!
So I bought this CPU and the Golden Orb came from my friend SWZSSR from South Australia, I bought this CPU from a German ebay seller in 2021 for 60 Euro's, which was 72 Euro's with shipping from Germany to me here in Netherlands and with that I decided to make them part of my Pentium 3 Dream Build project, the rest kind of followed to the piece of beauty it became, a project I really enjoyed doing.
If you really want to accomplish something, you just need to follow your dreams and within time you will succeed, never give up on your goals as they are all part of the challenge 😎

But if you need help finding P3/E 850 for Slot1, I can surely look out for one for you 😀

Oh yeah, I guess the 850 came in a time where Slot-1 was being obsoleted completely, especially by newer motherboards with i815, i820 or i810 (yuck) chipsets, and by then the 1000 MHz or 933 were so close in price range, so people bougth those. I have a sh*tload of 933s - they were everywhere, it seems 🤣

H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-10-20, 05:29:

Oh yeah, I guess the 850 came in a time where Slot-1 was being obsoleted completely, especially by newer motherboards with i815, i820 or i810 (yuck) chipsets, and by then the 1000 MHz or 933 were so close in price range, so people bougth those. I have a sh*tload of 933s - they were everywhere, it seems 🤣

Yea sounds about right though, the P3/E 850 for Slot 1 was released on March 20, 2000, quite late for a CPU of this type, my old P3/E 650 for Slot 1 is from October 25, 1999, found that out here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_P … _III_processors
The Pentium !!!/EB 933 for Slot 1 came out on May 24 of year 2000 while the Pentium 3/E 1000 & Pentium 3/EB 1000 came out on March 08, 2000.

And then there is that one unicorn we all had hopes for, the Pentium3/EB 1133 with Coppermine Core for Slot1, seems that this was an engineering sample, but so far I never seen anyone with one yet.
https://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL4HH.html

Would of been nice if they brought these out for Slot1 Coppermine series, even though they did release as Pentium 3/ Coppermine T & Pentium 3S Tualatins later in 2001.