Rise from your grave! The 3dfx re-build

TRWOV · Oct 28, 2011

I was moving things around an found my old V5 5500:

So I thought it would be fun to build a P3 based rig for it.

Targeted specs:
- Pentium 3 FSB133 slot 1; anything from 733Mhz to 1GHz.
- VIA Apollo Pro 133 slot 1 board (Asus P3V4X)
- 384MB PC133 RAM
- SBAWE64 ISA or GUS ISA
- Samsung Syncmaster 794v 17" CRT (black)
- 30GB IDE ATA100
- PIONEER DVR116D
- Floppy drive
- 350w SFX PSU (FSP, SPI)
- Win98SE

Current specs:
- Pentium III Coopermine 600E FSB100 256KB
- Chaintech CT-6VTA2 VIA Apollo Pro Slot 1 ATX board
- 384MB PC133 CL3 RAM
- SB16 CT2970 ISA
- Samsung Syncmaster 794v 17" CRT
- FUJITSU 6.4GB IDE UDMA66
- PIONEER DVR116D
- Floppy drive
- el-cheapo 550w SFX PSU
- Cooler Master Elite 360 case
- Logitech Desktop MK120 combo
- Logitech S120 speakers
- Win98SE

LOG:
Oct 27 2011
- Found my old Voodoo 5 5500 AGP. Untested.

Nov 2 2011
- Unpacked my old Samsung Syncmaster 794v 17" CRT for testing. Working fine.
- Bought a floppy drive at a flea market. Untested.
- Due to Goodman's recommendation soundcard spec changed to SB16 for optimal DOS compatibility.

Nov 4 2011
- A member on a mexican forum offers a Chaintech CT-6VTA2 + 128MB PC133. Guy is within driveable distance so a pick-up is arranged for later.
- Backordered the CM Elite 360.

Nov 6 2011
- Got an SB16 CT2970 at a flea market. Untested.

Nov 8 2011
- Got a JetRam 128MB PC133 CL3 stick at a flea market. Untested.
- Found my old PII 350Mhz Deschutes to test the motherboard. Untested.

Nov 21 2011
- Bought a Logitech Desktop MK120 combo

Nov 26 2011
- Picked up the board and RAM (PQI 128MB PC133 CL3). Untested.

Dic 22 2012
- Cancelled order for the CM Elite 360 as the shop hasn't got it in about a month. Looking for other dealer.

Jan 14 2012
- Got another RAM stick from an unknow manufacturer (a Superman like "S" logo is the only mark on the RAM). An sticker says that it's 128MB PC133 though.
- Got an unidentified Pentium III (bare board) at a flea market. Looking for a cooler.
- Ordered the CM Elite 360 at another shop plus an SFX PSU.

Jan 17 2012
- Case shipped!!!

Jan 19 2012
- Case arrives.

Jan 21 2012
- Got 2 Fujitsu IDE drives at a flea market, one 20GB and 6.4GB the other.
- Build begins with these specs

Pentium II 350Mhz
Chaintech CT-6VTA2
384MB PC133 RAM (3x128)
Soundblaster 16 ISA
Voodoo 5500 AGP
Cooler Master Elite 360
el-cheapo 550w SFX PSU
20GB Fujitsu IDE UDMA100 drive
Pioneer DVD-R IDE drive
Samsung Syncmaster 794v
Logitech Desktop MK120

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2523645&postcount=114

Jan 22 2012
- ALL WORKING!!!
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2524166&postcount=118

Jan 24 2012
- Found a couple of PIII at a flea marker: PIII Katmai 500, PIII 600E.
- Got a Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro at the same flea market. Untested. Needs cleaning.

Jan 25 2012
- PIIIs tested and working fine. Switched the PII 350 for the PIII 600E.
- Having problems with the 20GB HDD, switched to the 6.4GB HDD for the time being.
- Benched 3dmark99MAX and 3dmark2000: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2527789&postcount=140

Jan 28 2012
- Bought a set of Logitech S120 speakers.
- Playing Half-Life for the nth time.

Feb 05 2012
- Got a 10GB HDD. Reinstalled everything.

qubit · Oct 28, 2011

This sounds like an awesome retro build. Good luck with it. :toast:

erocker · Oct 28, 2011

Nice!

I actually used to run that exact card on a PIII 733Mhz system. What O/S are you going to use? Hopefully there's a decent driver out there for that card and XP.

AsRock · Oct 28, 2011

Cool, funny that the same sticker on mine is all so coming off too lol.

TRWOV · Nov 2, 2011

I guess I had a brain fart. The monitor isn't beige, it's black so the target specs have changed:

New target specs:
- Pentium III Coopermine slot 1 CPU. Anything from 733Mhz to 1GHz.
- VIA Apollo 133 based board
- 1GB PC133 SDRAM
- Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
- Soundblaster AWE 64 Gold ISA
- Samsung Syncmaster 794v 17" CRT (black)
- CDRW (black)
- Cooler Master Elite 360 case
- Win 98 SE

Sasqui · Nov 2, 2011

LOL, I just realised I have an ORIGINAL Ad-Lib sound card... I think it was the first PC sound card made.

Anyway, I might have a Slot1 CPU kicking around, I'll have a look-see.

qubit · Nov 2, 2011

erocker said:
Nice!

I actually used to run that exact card on a PIII 733Mhz system. What O/S are you going to use? Hopefully there's a decent driver out there for that card and XP.

It is nice, isn't it?

My first "3D high performance" card was a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI (yes, PCI!) lol, which I bought new in a retail box and still have to this day. I ran it on a much weaker rig than yours though. I think it was an AMD K6 something or other, I honestly can't remember.

For drivers, yes, I remember the problem well...

Card supports DirectX 7 and that will work fine on XP, with the Windows 2000 driver (3DFX went under before XP came out). However, OpenGL/Glide is another matter, as there was intrinsic support for it in Windows 2000, but got pulled in XP for some reason. This meant that card companies had to implement the full functionality in the driver, but by then 3DFX had been borged by NVIDIA... :ohwell:

There were a few hacked drivers around, but none of them were completely problem-free as I remember. Man, this takes me back a decade. I feel old. :eek:

Our OP will be fine on Win98 though. Can't wait to see some benches.

Easy Rhino · Nov 2, 2011

if i can get a nice p2 chip,mobo i can assemble a competing voodoo2 build with a 4 meg ati card

m4gicfour · Nov 2, 2011

I've been waiting for a reason to use this

Red_Machine · Nov 2, 2011

Hey, this is just like my old legacy build I had my 5500 in. I think I still have the 1GHz PIII from it, but it was a Super Socket 7 version.

Luciel · Nov 2, 2011

I think the right sound card for this should be a Creative Sound Blaster Live! : )

Also, why a beige case? Mod the shit out of it, make it 3dfx themed, that´d be awesome

TRWOV · Nov 2, 2011

Luciel said:
I think the right sound card for this should be a Creative Sound Blaster Live! : )

Also, why a beige case? Mod the shit out of it, make it 3dfx themed, that´d be awesome

Because I thought my old Syncmaster was beige but I got it out of its box and turns out it's black. I'll use a CM Elite 360 for the case.

Is the Live available for ISA slots? EDIT: No, it isn't. The AWE64 and GUS Extreme are, apparently, the best ISA sound cards available.

Sasqui said:
LOL, I just realised I have an ORIGINAL Ad-Lib sound card... I think it was the first PC sound card made.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Adlib.jpg/744px-Adlib.jpg

Anyway, I might have a Slot1 CPU kicking around, I'll have a look-see.

That's an ISA 8bit card. Nice!

Luciel · Nov 2, 2011

Good question, one to which I do not have an answer sorry : /

Goodman · Nov 2, 2011

Want to sell it?

It would be nice addition in to my 3Dfx collection...
The only cards i don't have are Voodoo1 & any Voodoo5 series & of course the ultimate V5 6000... :cry:

I got like 3x V2 & two of them in SLI in my old Pentium 1
2x V3 2000 one PCI & the other AGP
1x V3 3500 (i think , got to check that again)
2x V4 4500 AGP

They are all in good working condition , last time i checked/tested few years back...

Anyhow here where you can still get drivers for 3Dfx...
http://www.3dfxzone.it/index.php

Need help with anything building your retro gaming PC , just let me know

TRWOV · Nov 2, 2011

Goodman said:
Want to sell it?

It would be nice addition in to my 3Dfx collection...
The only cards i don't have are Voodoo1 & any Voodoo5 series & of course the ultimate V5 6000...

Sorry but no.

I know that I could sell it for about $60 but it's a piece of computer history plus it was in my first self-built rig.

In fact I've thinking about picking up some old graphic cards for collecting purposes. I went to a flea market and bought a floppy drive ($1) and the guy had a Trident Blade 3D and some unidentified nVidia and Matrox cards. I think I'll go again next week to pick up the Blade 3D and maybe the Winfast 3D (nVidia Vanta). There was an Acer one that I think it's a TNT2 by the looks of it.

Pictures of the monitor later.

Wrigleyvillain · Nov 2, 2011

Thoooose weeeere theeeeee daaaaaays!

TRWOV · Nov 3, 2011

Would it be worth to hunt a MIDI controller? Maybe a Roland MPU-401? I don't recall having a use for one, though.

Goodman · Nov 3, 2011

TRWOV said:
Sorry but no. I know that I could sell it for about $60 but it's a piece of computer history plus it was in my first self-built rig.

In fact I've thinking about picking up some old graphic cards for collecting purposes. I went to a flea market and bought a floppy drive ($1) and the guy had a Trident Blade 3D and some unidentified nVidia and Matrox cards. I think I'll go again next week to pick up the Blade 3D and maybe the Winfast 3D (nVidia Vanta). There was an Acer one that I think it's a TNT2 by the looks of it.

Pictures of the monitor later.

Was not serious about the sell , although if price is right.... what about $61 box? :laugh:

Stop collecting 3Dfx long time ago because i couldn't find one in any computers stores or flea market in my region (i don't ever buy online)

As for the TNT2 , i also got one TNT2 Pro 64MB & yes still working condition also have one S3 , Matrox , Trident 512K lol! , Sis , Ati Rage 3D Pro & possibly one or two more that i don't remember right now
I got so many old PC's & PC parts (Boards , Sound Blaster , Floppy 3"1/2 & 5" 1/4 , etc..) in my basement it's almost unbelievable :eek:

I should make a thread about it one day , when ever i make the time to clean up the mess that it's in right now... :eek:

Mussels · Nov 3, 2011

look at windows 2000 for a system this old, it runs almost everything XP does, but with less overheads.

Goodman · Nov 3, 2011

Mussels said:
look at windows 2000 for a system this old, it runs almost everything XP does, but with less overheads.

If it's for playing older games Win98se is the way to go since it's "Dos" base , so lots of older Dos games (MS-Dos) works just fine under Win98... as long as you got an SB 16bit

Mussels · Nov 3, 2011

Goodman said:
If it's for playing older games Win98se is the way to go since it's "Dos" base so lots of older Dos games (MS-Dos) works just fine under Win98...

98SE then, at least.

i found 2K to be incredibly stable, whereas the 9x systems ran like carp.

Goodman · Nov 3, 2011

Mussels said:
98SE then, at least.

i found 2K to be incredibly stable, whereas the 9x systems ran like carp.

Agree more stable but very few games can play on W2000 & when it does it plays like crap!

stinger608 · Nov 3, 2011

Can't wait to see pictures!!!!!!!

MilkyWay · Nov 3, 2011

Dual boot a lightweight linux distro and win 98se for the old gaming compatibility. This should be really cool once its finished. Don't forget a power supply, 350w should be more than enough right?

Goodman · Nov 3, 2011

MilkyWay said:
Dual boot a lightweight linux distro and win 98se for the old gaming compatibility. This should be really cool once its finished. Don't forget a power supply, 350w should be more than enough right?

A 300w would be enough , in fact i used to run more than that with only a 250w with not problem at all

@OP re-read all your system specs you want to built & i see two important thing you should change...

1- 1GB of ram for older software/games is way overkill beside Win98se will not like it
go between 256-512MB that will be more than enough (256MB if only playing older games)

2- Don't get the SB AWE 64 you will run into problems with games & some software (one of the worst card that creative made IMO) believe me what you want to get is , the older SB16bit or a good SB 128

If you can't find a good old SB16bit let me know i can always check in my basement & see if i have more than one?

System Name	Dell-y Driver
Processor	Core i5-10400
Motherboard	Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling	Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory	2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	UHD 630
Storage	1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Dell 220w
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	Quantumville™
Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Dell-y Driver
Processor	Core i5-10400
Motherboard	Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling	Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory	2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	UHD 630
Storage	1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s)	Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Dell 220w
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	Senile
Processor	I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard	MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling	Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory	16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage	Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s)	34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (34401440) FREE_SYNC*
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software	Win 10

Rise from your grave! The 3dfx re-build

TRWOV

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

erocker

*

AsRock

TPU addict

TRWOV

Sasqui

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

m4gicfour

Red_Machine

Luciel

TRWOV

Luciel

Goodman

TRWOV

Wrigleyvillain

PTFO or GTFO

TRWOV

Goodman

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Goodman

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Goodman

stinger608

Dedicated TPU Cruncher & Folder

MilkyWay

Goodman

System Name	Desktop
Processor	i5 13600KF
Motherboard	AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-U9S
Memory	4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s)	Gigabye M32U
Case	Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse	MX Master 3s
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software	The Matrix

Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG X570S Tomahawk Max WiFi
Cooling	EK Supremacy EVO Elite + EK D5 + EK 420 Rad, TT Toughfan 140x3, TT Toughfan 120x2, Arctic slim 120
Memory	32GB GSkill DDR4-3600 (F4-3600C16-8GVKC)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Radeon RX 7900XTX Gaming OC
Storage	WDBlack SN850X 4TB, Samsung 950Pro 512GB, Samsung 850EVO 500GB, 6TB WDRed, 36TB NAS, 8TB Lancache
Display(s)	Benq XL2730Z (1440P 144Hz, TN, Freesync) & 2x ASUS VE248
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Audio Device(s)	Topping D50S + THX AAA 789, TH-X00 w/ V-Moda Boompro; 7Hz Timeless
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Sharkoon Fireglider optical
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Chachamaru-IV \| Retro Battlestation
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X \| Intel Pentium II 450MHz
Motherboard	ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F Gaming \| MSI MS-6116 (Intel 440BX chipset)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4
Memory	32GB Corsair DDR4-3000 (16-20-20-38) \| 512MB PC133 SDRAM
Video Card(s)	nVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 FE \| 3dfx Voodoo3 3000
Storage	1TB WD_Black SN850 NVME SSD (OS), Toshiba 3TB (Storage), Toshiba 3TB (Steam)
Display(s)	Samsung Odyssey G5 27" @ 1440p144 & Dell P2312H @ 1080p60
Case	SilverStone Seta A1 \| Beige box
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster AE-7 (Speakers), Creative Zen Hybrid headset \| Sound Blaster AWE64
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 750 G2 \| 250W ASETEC
Mouse	Roccat Kone Air\| Microsoft Serial Mouse v2.0A
Keyboard	Vortex Race3 \| Dell AT102W
Software	Microsoft Windows 11 Pro \| Microsoft Windows 98SE

System Name	Main PC
Processor	PII 925 x4 @3.724GHz (266x14) 1.525v NB 2660 1.425v
Motherboard	Gigabyte AM3 GA-890XA-UD3 (790x+SB850)
Cooling	Scythe Mugen 2 rev.B
Memory	Hyperx 8GB (2x4) 1600@1418 8-7-7-20-27-1t
Video Card(s)	GTX 680
Storage	256GB SSD / 2TB HDD
Display(s)	LCD Samsung 24" 16:9
Case	Cooler Master HAF 912
Audio Device(s)	On-Board HD
Power Supply	CM 750w GX \|3.3v@25a\|5v@25a\|12v@60a
Software	Kubuntu dual boot /Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Benchmark Scores	later...

System Name	DarkStar
Processor	i5 3570K 4.4Ghz
Motherboard	Asrock Z77 Extreme 3
Cooling	Apogee HD White/XSPC Razer blocks
Memory	8GB Samsung Green 1600
Video Card(s)	2 x GTX 670 4GB
Storage	2 x 120GB Samsung 830
Display(s)	27" QNIX
Case	Enthoo Pro
Power Supply	Seasonic Platinum 760
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei
Keyboard	Ducky Pro MX Black
Software	Windows 8.1 x64

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	Dean Machine/2020 Ryzenfall
Processor	Intel 4790K/AMD Ryzen 5800X
Motherboard	MSI 1150 Gaming mATX/Asus ROG STRIX B550-F Gaming Wifi
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED/SilverStone AH240 AIO
Memory	16 gigs Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer/32 gigs G.Skill TridentZ NEO DDR4
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 1660 Super/EVGA GTX 1080 FTW Hybrid Gaming
Storage	Crucial SSD 256 and 2TB spinner/Dual Samsung 980 Pro M2 NVME 4.0
Display(s)	Overlord 27" 2560 x 1440
Case	Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s)	On board
Power Supply	Seasonic modular 850 watt Platinum/EVGA T2-850 Titanium
Software	Windows 10 Pro/Windows 10 Pro