Oh I did clean it already, and yeah cleaning fixes most old cards. This one has actual problems unfortunately.

No power?
Blank bios?
Artifacts?

Artifacts since the post screen. Doesn't load into windows at all. Crashes very early

Fun one.
Iirc there did exist dos versions of mats/mods from back then
Bar the simplest thing is to reflash the bios, booted as a secondary card and see if it fixes.

GeForce3 - mixing memory modules
Maybe dos mats mods

So the card might've had a rough life. The heatsinks on the memories are slightly tilted, which cause the main heatsink to not sit straight. The pegs are slanted because the holes of the heatsink are not aligned with the holes on the PCB. And it seems it has more paste than normal for this reason. The gap seems to be nearly 1mm. So, not ideal. Probably ran very hot. I didn't want to mess with it because fixing it properly likely requires to remove the heatsinks on the memories, which are glued on. Assembled in Germany. I basically bought the only item in the world the Germans failed to build properly.

myne wrote on 2024-12-03, 07:24:

Fun one. Iirc there did exist dos versions of mats/mods from back then Bar the simplest thing is to reflash the bios, booted as […]
Show full quote

Fun one.
Iirc there did exist dos versions of mats/mods from back then
Bar the simplest thing is to reflash the bios, booted as a secondary card and see if it fixes.

GeForce3 - mixing memory modules
Maybe dos mats mods

Do you think I should reflash its own bios? I heard that works sometimes, which is mind blowing to me. What software do I use to dump nvidia bioses and perform the checksum on them? Or where to I find GF3 (non-ti) bioses? I'm pretty sure this is a standard GF3 even if Elsa called it Black Edition. Thanks. I need to get myself an ATI PCI card because the only other PCI card I have is a nvidia and I don't want to flash that by accident 😜

https://videowww.vgamuseum.info/index.php/car … geforce3-ti-200

Might work if you can't find the correct one

Holy EISA Batman. Needed a floppy controller for the Asus dual Pentium 1 board, so I might as well get SCSI with it. And some networking connectivity.

I can finally enjoy my Dreamcast 😀

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-12-03, 06:57:

Crossing fingers. Like twisting them. Multiple times. Like a rope. Rope fingers.

Made me laugh...

myne wrote on 2024-12-03, 07:02:

Chuck them all in the dishwasher (no soap) and retest the elsa.

You might be surprised.

Say goodbye to any paper labels though. Also, getting lots of water inside the fans isn't great either.

I personally just wash cards by hand if they need it.

You strip them first... 🤦

And 20yo paper labels are remarkably resilient for anyone who gives a crap about them

Bought a Voodoo 3 PCI, for parts/not working. unfortunately it really isn't working 🤣... Stone cold dead, no output ( however the computer boots up, so it doesn't stop post).
Physical inspection is good, no missing/broken parts.
Doesn't detect in windows with second card inserted.
Voltage regulator has 3.3v coming in 5v coming out?
The core or anywhere on the card never gets hot.
No short across the core, shows 186omhs. sounds about right.
I don't know what to check next.

Bought a Pentium 4 670 3.8GHz a few days ago, still waiting for it to arrive. Was about market price at 60€, so not cheap, but I really wanted one for my 2005 NForce4 Intel Edition build. Still deciding between X1800, 6800 GT/Ultra SLI or 7800GT/GTX SLI.

Also got a HD7990 for 75€. Last missing puzzle piece between my other ATI/AMD dual GPU cards from 3870x2 to R9 295x2.

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-12-03, 16:12:

Bought a Voodoo 3 PCI, for parts/not working. unfortunately it really isn't working lol... Stone cold dead, no output ( however […]
Show full quote

Bought a Voodoo 3 PCI, for parts/not working. unfortunately it really isn't working 🤣... Stone cold dead, no output ( however the computer boots up, so it doesn't stop post).
Physical inspection is good, no missing/broken parts.
Doesn't detect in windows with second card inserted.
Voltage regulator has 3.3v coming in 5v coming out?
The core or anywhere on the card never gets hot.
No short across the core, shows 186omhs. sounds about right.
I don't know what to check next.

Reflash the BIOS. Sometimes they come alive.

Bits un Bolts mentioned in his latest video that Witchery (the Voodoo Diagnostics Tool) will have Voodoo 3 support in the future. That will give you a very good indication of what the issue is.

Masterchief79 wrote on 2024-12-03, 19:56:

Bought a Pentium 4 670 3.8GHz a few days ago, still waiting for it to arrive. Was about market price at 60€, so not cheap, but I really wanted one for my 2005 NForce4 Intel Edition build. Still deciding between X1800, 6800 GT/Ultra SLI or 7800GT/GTX SLI.

Also got a HD7990 for 75€. Last missing puzzle piece between my other ATI/AMD dual GPU cards from 3870x2 to R9 295x2.

I have an AMD top 2005 build and i would love to see your Intel one ! Please share some pictures when it's ready.

My first retro build : 2005's finest (almost)

I choosed a pair of 7800GTX 512MB in SLI but they were extremely hard to find... I also got an A8N32-SLI since my original post but was too lazy to swap the motherboard. Maybe someday

zuldan wrote on 2024-12-03, 20:13:

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-12-03, 16:12:

Bought a Voodoo 3 PCI, for parts/not working. unfortunately it really isn't working lol... Stone cold dead, no output ( however […]
Show full quote

Bought a Voodoo 3 PCI, for parts/not working. unfortunately it really isn't working 🤣... Stone cold dead, no output ( however the computer boots up, so it doesn't stop post).
Physical inspection is good, no missing/broken parts.
Doesn't detect in windows with second card inserted.
Voltage regulator has 3.3v coming in 5v coming out?
The core or anywhere on the card never gets hot.
No short across the core, shows 186omhs. sounds about right.
I don't know what to check next.

Reflash the BIOS. Sometimes they come alive.

Bits un Bolts mentioned in his latest video that Witchery (the Voodoo Diagnostics Tool) will have Voodoo 3 support in the future. That will give you a very good indication of what the issue is.

Yep.
Same goes for any card really, but especially older ones.

With any card, it's possible someone had a bad flash and didn't know how to fix it.

With old cards, well, eeproms like ssds don't hold their data forever.
Depending on the exact type, but many are a bunch of... Not exactly capacitors like ram, but similar enough for the purpose of explaining, and they leak.

Very very slowly compared to ram, but nevertheless they leak.

Think of the difference between an unglazed, open terracotta pot, and a corked wine bottle.

Terracotta is quite porous. In the sun, between evaporation and seepage, it'll be empty in about a week.

A corked wine bottle will seep slowly through the cork, and in the same sunny environment it could take a decade to dry out.

Ram is the terracotta. It lasts milliseconds at best.
Ssd/eeproms are the wine bottle. Excellent, but not perfect.

acl wrote on 2024-12-03, 22:31:

I also got an A8N32-SLI since my original post but was too lazy to swap the motherboard. Maybe someday

I just had a look at your build and was going to say that the A8N-SLI would be slowing down your Nvidia cards in SLI. Glad you sourced a A8N32-SLI so you get full 16x in each slot. Swapping it out will be a pain 😉 I got a nice boost in 3dMark going from a A8N-SLI to a A8N32-SLI. I have 2x 8600GT's.

Saw this old PC on eBay and one photo caught my eye. Managed to make a winning bid. Not yet received but hope it's working 😀

Nice find!