Found a gem
Posted by IM2M4L@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 27 comments
Hopefully its not completely cooked. Going to trv and refurb it. Found it Iving untouched tucked away in the corner of my university's computer workshop along with an incrediblv dustv old dell. Asked around, hadn't been touched in decades
Thoughts?
majestic_ubertrout@reddit
How do you know it needs a refurb at all?
IM2M4L@reddit (OP)
dust, its been there for over 25 years so somethings bound to be busted
grizzlor_@reddit
For the most part, solid state electronics don't just "go bad" from sitting around for a long time. By far the biggest exception to this general rule, particularly for stuff from this era, is the capacitor plague.
The caps on that board look fine to me though. As long as it was working when it was put into storage (and no one like shuffled across carpet in socks and gave it a nice dose of static electricity), I bet it works. Hardly even looks dusty in the photos -- I've seen running PCs that had orders of magnitude more dust on every surface.
You definitely want to make sure the fans work -- fans can actually crap out just from sitting for years without spinning up (lube dries up/gunks up/migrates, shaft/bearings stick, etc). Speaking from experience with my Voodoo3, those tiny heatsink/fan combos are totally underprovisioned and GPUs from that era didn't have modern thermal protection mechanisms. The Voodoo3 and 5 don't even have on-die temperature sensors! Without airflow, it can easily overheat, including up to and past the point of doing actual physical damage to the silicon -- there's no "automatic thermal shutdown".
GreggAlan@reddit
For a lifetime supply of never dry out fan bearing lube, get a bottle of DOT-5 silicone brake fluid. Or some fuser oil for an old photocopier or laser printer. They're both silicone oil, the brake fluid version has a little purple tint.
Extremely low or zero VOC so there's nothing to evaporate and cause it to go gummy.
Necessary-Clock-5893@reddit
That's not how that works lol
dirtmcgurk@reddit
I pull these out of the garbage and it's about 50/50, and those were deliberately discarded. For something that's been sitting it's likely in the same condition it was when they left it, though that could have been broken haha.
fadedspark@reddit
Not really? These cards are super simple compared to modern GPUs.
If you're concerned, use a multimeter and check for any shorts on voltage lines BEFORE CLEANING, then clean it, test again, and throw it in.
Every single cap on that board looks visibly good and intact. Definitely don't recommend messing with it unless absolutely necessary.
I wouldn't even try changing the thermal paste unless absolutely necessary, it may be thermal epoxy/adhesive, or may have hardened so much it becomes dangerous to remove the heatsinks.
If it runs, run it. If not, seek out a professional if you aren't one yourself.
TheMage18@reddit
Very much this. The later Voodoo cards were more reliable than the Voodoo 1 and early Voodoo 2s with RAM ICs that failed sometimes. I would check around the SMD capacitors though to see if there's any signs of leakage or "fish smell" just in case.
Odd choice to hide the serial IMHO, guess you did that to see who the OG ones are and could identify it based on looks?
Ronin317@reddit
I had my Voodoo 1 card sitting in a box from 2000-2024, and it booted up just fine when tested and stressed. I’m sure it’s fine, just dusty. Clean carefully and rock on.
majestic_ubertrout@reddit
I wouldn't be at all surprised if it works fine. Do give it a light dusting.
GGigabiteM@reddit
Because it has shitty SMD electrolytics.
All of the tiny 10uF SMD caps leak and cause board damage if not replaced. The two large capacitors near the power connector I believe are polymers and are less likely to be bad, but I'd change them anyway. I've had to replace a bunch of polymer caps from the 90s that turned into resistors. They will show no obvious physical signs of failure in most cases, unlike the electrolytics that puke everywhere.
I had to recap my V5 5500 awhile ago, as well as several of my V3 and V2 cards from them having leaky caps.
borgie_83@reddit
I was running a Voodoo 5500 in my main retro rig but eventually replaced it with an Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4600. I loved the Voodoo GPU, but the Ti4600 trumps it in every way, so I sadly parted ways with it. Thankfully, Glide wrappers are available and work perfectly with the Ti4600 for Glide games. It’s overkill for Windows 98-era games, I know.
techika@reddit
Good find, congratulations. But what kind of mainboard support it. This card is agp x2, and maximum luck if find amd athlon with agp universal slot, or intel 440 bx + pentium 3 coopermine. Voodooo 5 pci is better because there stil find modern board to install it with modern CPU
Johnny3653@reddit
Nice. I had this card back in the 2000s, but couldn't use it because my Compaq desktop case was too short and it wouldn't fit unless I took the motherboard out. So I sat on it and sat on it. Became obsolete, but this was before these Voodoo 5's got rare and hard to find/expensive. Sold it around 2008 for much cheaper prices.
indicava@reddit
Aren’t those worrh $K’s? Or is that only the PCI variant?
IM2M4L@reddit (OP)
listings on ebay show it going for over a thousand, dunno how accurate that is realistically
Turquoise_HexagonSun@reddit
People will realistically pay $400ish
The ones listed for $600+ just remain permanently listed unless they are flawless with the box and documentation.
I refurbed my 5500 last year. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.
frenchretronerd@reddit
Congrats, you're lucky ! I hope it still works
MelinaSeeDee@reddit
I have a feeling I've been pissing y'all off. I'm tossing stuff like this into a tote from across the room.
tecnolock@reddit
I just finished re-caping Voodoo 5 5500 AGP last week. Amazing card!
Sad-Author-729@reddit
I would check around each of those SMD caps for leakage. It's a good card though, would pair nicely with a P3, Athlon or P4 system
Accomplished-Camp193@reddit
Some cultist is going to offer you enough money for it, enough that you won't need to work for a month. Money is good, even more so when you can scam a retarded cultist with this one.
neon_rodeo@reddit
Voodoo card?
IM2M4L@reddit (OP)
yup. 5500 agp
bigcurtissawyer@reddit
Voodoo 5? why not write what card it is?
IM2M4L@reddit (OP)
its a 5500 agp
rjchute@reddit
Congrats. Happy for you.