ANYBODY ever seen a Voodoo2 like this?

[Dputiger]

I've got a friend with what he claims is a 12 Meg Voodoo2...only this sucker is a MONSTER. 3 chips, and 24 RAM chips! Looks huge, but claims to be a standard 12 Meg Voodoo2 from Diamond.

I OWNED a 12 Meg Voodoo2 from Diamond, and it sure wasn't this big! Anybody know what this could be?

[Wilan Wong]

Wow.. have u actually seen it?? or could u provide a pic if possible.. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[JayMan]

hmm well my voodoo2's have got 3 "3dfx" chips (as do all voodoo2's, top 2 are texture mapping units, bottom one is triangle rendering engine and frame buffer interface). From memory its got ummm 12 ram chips on it. Perhaps his could be a early version where they used 500KB ram chips instead of 1MB ram chips to save $$$ or sumfin. Anyways, i got 6 "3dfx" chips and 24 1MB ram chips :-) , i've also got 2 voodoo2 cards tho hehe voodoo2 SLI, very sweet (considering the age).

JayMan

[Dputiger]

Unfortunately I have no scanner--you'll have to take my word for it. This card is nearly as big as my Voodoo5 and has 24 RAM chips.

Unless its some version of a Diamond SLI card it's got to just be using 500 K RAM chips.

[Ultima]

Well,

I have seen such a card, at work.

Regarding size it sure does look like a voodoo5 serie card, but it ain't.

The card I had seen was a Voodoo rush card.

I will try to get a picture, altho I am not sure I can get it.

Pim

[NDD]

The card you're talking about might be one of Quantum3D creations, when V2 got introduced to public, they realeased some kind of SLI-on-one-card monster, I remember I saw it on their site. It really has 24 MB of memory, donno how much 3Dfx-marked chips ...

[seti]

How much memory does it say it have on the video BIOS screen?

[Dputiger]

I haven't thrown it in my system and booted it yet. It's clearly stamped Diamond Multimedia, however. I'm guessing its just a really early V2.

Something that STILL doesn't make sense, though, is that the original V2's were EIGHT meg, not 12 meg boards. They CLEARLY carried 8 1 Meg chips. If that's true, why would Diamond release a board with 24 500 K chips to hit 12 Meg?

[Richard_Cranium72]

I have here in hand a 3dfx Voodoo V2 1000 12mb, and it is a Monster Card..

3 chips marked 3dfx
1 other processor looking chip
12 memory chips

This thing is 2 times bigger than my 3dfx V3 2000 16mb card ,

both pci btw

The reviews I've read here and there on this 12 mb card is really impressive,
note some of the newer cards have small memory,, WHY ?

And cost a ton of money, I'd expect 500mb of RAM for what some of them cost..

[Dputiger]

Richard,

When you say 12 memory chips, do you mean twelve single-sided chips (only stick through on one side of the card) or twelve double-sided chips? (Can be seen on both sides of card).

[Richard_Cranium72]

Single sided chips.

The solitary chip says "Gendac" on it.

[Dputiger]

These are 12 double-sided chips. I'm just gonna have to fire it up and see how she benches Q2. An ordinary Voodoo couldn't do more than 60 fps.

[scourge]

I tend to agree with ND. The only voodoo2 card that I've seen that can be proclaimed "HUGE" is the Quantum3D Obsidian X-24. It was a single card SLI solution that had dual voodoo2 chipsets and 24megs of RAM. It supported up to 1024x768 graphics and is still a great card when mated to a 400MHz or faster system.

There's got to be some proprietary markings on it. Creative Labs/Quantum3D/Intergraph anything like that??

[Dputiger]

It's marked Diamond Multimedia.

24 RAM chips.

3 3Dfx chips.

The only thing I can think of is that its an early production sample. I installed it but was never able to get it to perform above a standard Voodoo2.

[Dputiger]

I took a measurement. It's FULLY the size of my Voodoo5.

[NDD]

That's what u should do ...
1. Get Sisoft Sandra, current v2001 Pro (system benchmark/information utility)
2. In the program, u have PCI/AGP Bus information module.
3. Than u have ur card installed (or just plugged into computer without even installing the drivers), run the module.
4. U'll be able to see ur card specs under "OEM Device Name" topic.
5. Don't forget to post the outcome ...

[Dputiger]

Didn't work. I have a V5--the machine gets VERY confused by V2 drivers.

[NDD]

Dude !
Don't install ANY drivers for the card ...
Just plug it in and boot the system, be sure also to remove all previous installs by using "Safe mode"

[Dputiger]

Gotta install drivers. Otherwise nothing recognizes it and Sandra can't give a RAM count.

[NDD]

RAM count ?!?! What are u talking about ?!?!
Let me explain once again ...
1. Plug the card.
2. Install NOTHING when Windows asks to ...
3. Check the specs under PCI/AGP info tab ...

I got some NIC last week, knew NOTHING about that, wasn't even sure if it's NIC, plugged it, booted the comp, refused to install the drivers when got detected by Windows, went to Sandra and discovered it was some ISDN http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Try again ...


[This message has been edited by ND (edited 12-15-2000).]

[Dputiger]

ND--

Let me explain. The Voodoo2 is a 3D ONLY card. It requires a 2D card to work correctly or display a picture at all.

My only other video cards are also Voodoo's. This means that I CANNOT install a Voodoo2 and a Voodoo5 at the same time. The drivers for the Voodoo2 crash the Voodoo5 promptly AND vice versa.

[NDD]

Get some simple PCI/AGP main card ...
Btw, I know V2 is 3D only card, had one http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[Richard_Cranium72]

Here's a link to a Diamond Card.

They say it's 8mb but it has 12 memory chips.

It looks just like my 3dfx V1000 12mb card.

DrVette http://www.axiontech.com/quicksell/viewpic.asp?pic=QSVI10000439_1

[Dputiger]

Richard,

Interesting. That's not at all what MY Diamond Monster 3D II looked like--though it IS what my friend's board looks like.

My Voodoo2 was only about 3/4 of that size and had fewer RAM chips. On that card, there are RAM chips on BOTH sides of the card--on my card there were chips on only ONE side.

[JayMan]

Thats almost exactly what both my voodoo2's look like, except mine have the new 3dfx logo on it, same amount of ram chips, and has "3dfx interactive" stamped where that has diamond multimedia.

JayMan

[JayMan]

Thats almost exactly what both my voodoo2's look like, except mine have the new 3dfx logo on it, same amount of ram chips, and has "3dfx interactive" stamped where that has diamond multimedia.

JayMan