The Voodoo5 6000 ResearchOkay, first before I go all nitty-gritty on the Vodoo5 6000 parts and all here a list of all the revisions 3dfx went through to make this Crazy idea even thinkable to like possible...
Lets take a walk down memory lane of the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 program :) Thanks to all the contacts I have obtained within the entire 3dfx community I was able to apply all the photo's of these lost legends.
So the fist card made was the Voodoo3 1000 AGP Voodoo Volts Test Board, this card was made to test what power would be needed to power the Voodoo5 6000:
![](http://tdfx.de/pic/210-0390-001-A0_3699_01.JPG)
Here an other one with lesser components on it:
Some had heatsinks, some didn't, they used what they had, some ran core/mem 100Mhz to 143Mhz.
Several of these were made, since they needed to determine how much power a V6K would really need, in the end they all seemed to be overkill rofl. These are true Lab cards, these are cards you'd normal never see as common people.
These cards are Rev.A0 3699, that being the Voodoo5 6000 program was started in week 36 of year 1999...
It ended in week 39 of year 2000, but we will get to that pit a little bit later
The first Voodoo5 6000 3dfx made was a dummy card, this was needed to keep the "dog and pony show"rolling at the Comdex 1999. Many leaks of the Voodoo5 6000 were spread around like this famous picture many of you may have seen:
or this one:
![](http://www.overclockers.ru/images/lab/2011/05/24/1/0_3Dfx_Voodooo_big.jpg)
So due to that they made a dummy board at the 1999 Comdex Show this is what you normally saw from a distance:
1. 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 TV AGP x2 32MB Proto:
![](http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/991116/com_3_3.jpg)
2. 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP x2 64MB Proto:
![](http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/991116/com_3_4.jpg)
3. 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 2x2 Proto aka de Voodoo5 6500:
The Voodoo4 4500 AGP + TV 32MB is actually a 3dfx Voodoo3 3500C AGP +TV-Out 16MB Rev.A 4699, which is this card:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/55434-2/3dfx+Voodoo3+3500C+16MB+_+TV-Out+Rev_A+4699+top.jpg)
All the did is remove the heatsink and paste a 3dfx VSA-100 sticker on the Voodoo3 chip, this was enough to trick the crowd for it to be a Voodoo4 4500 AGP 32MB + TV-Out, even I fell for it back then rofl, we were all very surprised that it was 3dfx 355 Avenger based card and nothing else heh. 355 Avenger is the codename for Voodoo3 & Velocity 100/200 series.
The second picture shows the only true VSA-100 based product the 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP 64MB Rev.A0 4699, no one has ever acquired this card yet, the one that comes close to it is the Voodoo5 5500 AGP 64MB Rev.A1 0900, which is this one:
![](http://tdfx.de/pic/v5_0900_01.JPG)
![](http://tdfx.de/pic/v5_0900_02.JPG)
The third card is indeed a Voodoo5 6000, but with a 2x2 layout of 3dfx 355 Avenger chips that were used for the Voodoo3 3500 TV AGP & Voodoo3 3500C AGP + TV-Out 16MB ! 3dfx labeled these also with 3dfx VSA-100 stickers to trick the crowd.
That card looks like this:
Top:
Rear:
Look carefully and you see no traces at all and that the graphics chips are from a Voodoo3 3500, the number 3500 is on them, this indicates them as Voodoo3 3500 graphics chips
One of my best contacts and friends within the 3dfx community is Omega_Supreme, he has 7 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 Engineering Samples, also the 2x2 Comdex 1999 Voodoo5 6000, which he renovated back to the Comdex 1999 style with the 3dfx VSA-100stickers,here his result:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/48992-2/2x2_angle.jpg)
That looks cool or whatta! :yahoo: :jump: :sparta:
3dfx already had an idea for the Voodoo Volts, or say the external power supply to power these Quad chip monsters.
As you can see the Comdex 1999 2x2 Demo card has a place for an external Molex connector just above it's D-Sub connector :) The exact same solution 3dfx gave them Voodoo3 1000 AGP 8MB Voodoo Volts Power Circuit Boards.
But since they already had plans for a 4x-1 model they created a Voodoo Volts with a 4 pinned power plug, and some Previewers also made a photo of the 2x2 card with the new Voodoo Volts:
So as the new year came , 3dfx wanted to make a working Voodoo5 6000, this made them create and make a design with a 4x1 layout, only disadvantage is that the PCB size needed would be 30.5cm or say full size, the same size as a Radeon HD 7990 and 6990 or the Geforce 7900 GX2 for those that know what I mean :) It was massive especially for it's time, although none of these Rev.A0 0700's saw daylight, they were purely for study, research and 3dfx really had lots of tinkering to do, their core/mem speed was also only 100Mhz for safety reasons.
the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB was born, and these did function but had massive FSAA issues on various motherboards and the graphics chips did not allow faster clocks than 125 Mhz.
The Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A0 0700 looks like this:
Top:
Rear:
Omega_Supreme also made a reunion shot of the Comdex 2x2 and the Rev.A0 0700, also to show the size difference:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/48988-2/2x2_0700.jpg)
Even that the 2x2 model would of been possible in theory, it was far too complex for it's time and the cost would also be far too high as more PCB layers would of been needed and not only that more parts also, they didn't have any better layout than the 4x1 so they stuck to this design to the very last revision. The Rev.A0 0700 used a Late 4 Pinned Voodoo Volts which gave the card 120 Watts of power.
The Revision that fixed many issues also speed wise was the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A1 1500, which was this card:
Top:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/14494-2/3dfx+Voodoo+5+6000+AGP+RevA1+1500+Front.jpg)
Rear:
The Rev.A1 1500 ran cores/mem from 143Mhz to 167Mhz, these were lots faster and more stable than the Rev.A0 0700's, but still they had issues operating with some VIA based chipsets like the famous VIA Apollo Pro 133A for example, their Intel PCI-PCI Bridge chips caused issues, thus a change was needed to fix this, that would mean a new revision.
Here one of two Rev.A1 1500's Omega_Supreme has:
The Rev.A1 1500 used also a 4 pinned late Voodoo Volts, these gave the cards 80 watts of power.
3dfx then made the Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A2 2600, this one was the first of it's kind to have a different PCI-PCI Bridge Chip, which was made by HiNT, the PLX PCI-E Bridge chips seen on many Radeon X2 & GeForce GX2 designs has a very similar function.
The Rev.A2 2600 ran @ cores/mem 167Mhz, some could run 183Mhz, but 167 was always the chosen default speed, for all the Voodoo5 6000's, 183Mhz was the goal speed for the product's release, shamefully the Voodoo5 6000 never reached that stage, we all hoped for that heh.
Here the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A2 2600 scans:
Top:
Rear:
Here Omega_Supreme's Rev.A2 2600;
Top:
Rear:
This is also my favourite Voodoo5 6000 made, since it was the first that could run stable without crashing, not all of them ran stable but a few did, the PCI-Rework which Hank applied to a few cards in 2002 was the fix to all worries, but back in week 26 of 2000 this fix did not even exist, they were still struggling to get it stable with all FSAA modes, this was still a main problem to work on, also higher clock speeds like the goal speed of 183 Mhz did not function on all cards, as where 167Mhz ran fine, they would need a new revision to make higher clock speeds stable, well they thought this anyways, so they went for a new revision. The Rev.A2 also used the same Voodoo Volts as the Rev.A1 1500's, but they only needed 60 watts to function.
Here a Rev.A2 2600 with a Voodoo Volts attached:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6242-3/v56k_Rev_A2_2600_with_external_PSU.jpg)
And here two nice detailed pics of SK1's Rev.A2 2600:
Top:
Rear:
This new revision was named 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A3 3400, these also had different backplates, the part we called the mounting bracket , backplate is also the official naming for it.
The power regulation area was changed, since a smaller Voodoo Volts was used which only gave the card 60 watts instead of 120 and 80 watts
Here the scans of the Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A3 3400:
Top:
Rear:
3fx applied these cards with Capacitors C15 and C17 to stabilize the card at higher speeds beyond the 167Mhz Cores/mem, some even reached 191Mhz, most could run @ 183Mhz but for very short periods of time, it seemed that the VSA-100 graphics chips hit a limitation speed wall of 180Mhz to 183Mhz for short periods of time, but their most stable speed was still 167Mhz., so to finalize this 3dfx needed to make an other new revision.
Here Omega Supreme's Rev.A3 3400;
The Rev.A3 3400 is a true gem to have, these are the most wanted of the HiNT based cards , they are also amongst the rarest of all Voodoo5 6000's to obtain. I am glad my friend has a very neat version of this card. Many thanks to Omega_Supreme for helping me with the pics and info I needed to complete my research. the Rev.A3 3400 used the all new single pined late Voodoo Volts which delivered the card a neat 60 watts, here Omega Supreme testing his Rev.A3 3400 with it's external PSU, the Late Voodoo Volts:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/29447-2/IMG_9254.JPG)
Due to the card's long size, he had to use a mini saw in his case to mod it so the card would fit haha :lol: :lol: :lol:
So to finalize the Voodoo5 6000 for a Pre-Production Prototype they made the Final Revision and named it
3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A 3700, here the scans of this card:
Top:
Rear:
This card finalized the cores/mem speed of 167Mhz, it was stable and it made sure that the card would not crash at this speed, the only problem it faced was like with all the others, all the FSAA modes could make it crash, FSAA x2 was a mode that could make this card crash but also FSAA x4, as for FSAA x8 this mostly always worked.
Here the card which I had:
Top:
Rear:
3dfx decided to make one more revision, a card with a 12 layer PCB and capacitors C15 & C17 reapplied, with this card they wanted too give it a final go, to make the Voodoo5 6000 stable at 167 and 183Mhz with all FSAA modes, they hoped that the Rev>3700 was their fix to all issues, well at least the motherboard issues was solved since the Rev.A3 3400, that was a good leap forward, but every revision they had to make cost them loads f money, and each new revision also meant a new delay, the Rampage was supposed to come after the Voodoo2, Voodoo3, 5 and later Voodoo4 was made to close the waiting gaps.. this too cost them lots of money and this is how they bled themselves to their doom.
Here my Rev.A 3700 in my test setup:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/28031-2/Sveta+The+V6K+System+a.jpg)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/28061-2/V6K+in+sys+g.jpg)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/28055-2/V6K+in+sys+e.jpg)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/28058-2/V6K+in+sys+f.jpg)
Specs:
AMD AthlonXP 2700+ Thoroughbred-B @ 2167Mhz
3x 512MB PC-2700 CL2 @ DDR-333Mhz
EPoX EP-8K3A+ Ver 1.1 With VIA Apollo KT333 Chipset
3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A 3700
Intel Pro 100S Server Ethernet Adapter
ASUS 5 Port USB 2.0 PCI Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
EIZO FlexScan T662-T 20"CRT 1600 x 1200 x32 @ 85 Herz
Enermax Modu 520+ 525Watt PSU
AddTronics 6896A Entry Level Server Tower
Windows 2000 Professional USA + Service Pack 4
AmigaMerlin 3.1 R11
The system wasn't that of a clean build, since I mainly used t for testing as for cable management I never heard about that back then haha :lol: :grin:
So to give the Voodoo5 6000 program a final shot, they made their last revision for the card, hereby hoping to try aim get 183Mhz working stable, like 167Mhz did. they named this card 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A 3900, the Rev.A 3900 most 3dfx experts and enthusiasts like me call them, only a handful were made and only two are in existence, they both are functional as well, my friend Omega_Supreme of course has one, he also made a really nice scan of it's rear side, the top side is just a high quality photo, so here they come:
Top:
Rear:
The Rev.A 3900 like Rev.A3 3400 & Rev.A 3700 all used the same Voodoo Volts, they all had a power output of 60 watts, in 2002 when Hank Semenec applied the PCI Rework, he was able to fix the issue 3dfx was facing, with this fix all FSAA modes worked on many motherboards but even so, there are still a limited amount of motherboards that supports the Voodoo5 6000, you can check them out here:
http://dtaskforce.forumot...vga-cards-research#616Just under them world owner lists.
PCI Rework Background
Background- The V5-6000 has a fundamental flaw in the board design; When the PCB was laid out, the internal routing for the PCI bus traces were run against the VSA-100 2.9 V core voltage plane. The PCI bus refers to the internal network that the VSA-100 chips and HiNT chip passes data back and forth. The PCI traces do not have reliable signal return, it is like transmitting signal on a single wire without a ground reference. The most noted issue was board instability when running in anti-aliasing modes, the noise on the bus would cause crashes and lockups. One attempted fix was to lower the VSA-100 speeds from 183 mhz to 166 mhz, unfortunately this still did not address the issue and the problem remained . The "PCI rework" as it is known is a fix by ex-3dfx engineer Hank Semenec to bring stability to the V6K so it can function in all modes. The rework applies to PCB versions 210-0391-001-A and 210-0391-001-A3, it also might work on other revisions but has not been tested. The fix was not suitable for production use as it disables a circuit that compensates for process shift in the VSA-100 silicon from production lot to production lot. It changes the PCI clock alignment with respect to control and data signals from the HiNT bridge to VSA-100's, it gives more setup time for the signals. The actual hardware changes involve adding 4.7k resistors at locations RR540, R589, R717, R714 and changing the 22ohm resistors to 0 ohm resistors at the following locations – R734, R743, R735, R745. Hank indicated it took him about 60 hours of time over a 3 month period to come up with the fix and walks a fine line between working and not. Hank indicated another shift in the PCI clock as small as 1 nano-second would render the board non-functional. The Three different Voodoo Volts looked like this:
To give you all idea on how long the Voodoo5 6000 was, here an old photo of a Voodoo5 6000 AGP 128MB Rev.A 3700 with a NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti-4600:
And here I made one with an EVGA e-GeForce 7900 GTX Duo, EVGA's 7900 GX2 Super Clocked Ediiton in basics:
Top:
Rear:
Also I ran lots of games with it just to see how nice it's FSAA and image quality was, and still it's the most beautiful I ever seen, it's hard to bring in as jpegs, but you will get an idea at the least :)
Here the system info tab in the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 driver Control panel:
Here the SLI & FSAA x8 setting tab in the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 driver Control panel:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/28067-2/V6K+sys+info+b.jpg)
Single Chip disabled SLI, Fastest performance is Quad SLI without FSAA, the FSAA setings are always done when Quad SLI is enabled
![](https://forums.evga.com/upfiles/smiley/001_smile.gif)
Unreal Tournament Game of The Year Edition 1999 @ 1280 x 1024 x in 16Bit Glide + Super Sampled Rotated Grid FSAA x8:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/16767-2/UT+1999+1280+1024+x16+FSAA+x8+b.jpg)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/16773-2/UT+1999+1280+1024+x16+FSAA+x8+d.jpg)
UT GOTYE 1999 @ 1600 x 1200 x16 in Glide + Super Sampled Rotated Grid FSAA x4:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/16785-2/UT+1999+1600+x+1200+x16+FSAA+x4+c.jpg)
And some games I ran just to see if they would work with a little help of MesaFX Opengl32.dll 6.2.0.2 A Linux OpenGL binary we used so we could emulate certain missing aspects via the CPU.
This is how I got Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy running for example:
Freelancer @ 1024 x 768 x32 + FSAA x4:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/16793-2/Freelancer+1024+x+768+x32+FSAA+x4+a.png)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/16802-2/Freelancer+1024+x+768+x32+FSAA+x4+d.png)
Call of Duty United Offensive 1.51 @ 1600 x1200 x32 no FSAA High Details:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6855-2/Call_Of_Duty_United_Offensive_1_51_max_details_V6K_1.jpg)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6858-2/Call_Of_Duty_United_Offensive_1_51_max_details_V6K_2.jpg)
And I ran Descent 3 ver 1.4 without the need of Mesa FX, without FSAA though, just wanted to see how smooth it would run on the 6000 @ 1600 x 1200 x16 and yeah man it ran like a dream
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6852-2/Descent3_1_5_Beta_on_V6K_Target_Destroyed.jpg)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6849-2/Descent3_1_5_Beta_on_V6K_Outside.jpg)
Anyways that is roughly all I know about the Voodoo5 6000 program and what I learned from having one myself, shamefully I had to let go of mine due to money issues and I still miss my pride everyday.
But now that i am collecting 3dfx VGA cards again, hopefully my Voodoo5 6000 will return to me one day, there is always hope they say
If you want a more technical detailed document of the Voodoo5 6000, you can take a read of this:
http://www.thedodgegarage.com/3dfx/v6k_faq.htm I too took part of providing information for that Voodoo5 6000 FAQ Page as Obi-Wan Kenobi hehe, Gold Leader is just an other name I use on many hardware websites.
To be added to my Wold V6K Lists I will need some small info from your card(s) so hereby this quick guide that will show you how to identify your Revision and PCB date of your Voodoo5 6000 video card(s) :)
To find the Revision on your card you'll have to seek the Rev location which is mostly on the topside's tails end which sits above the 2000 3DFX INTERACTIVE inprint; just above the TIVE part of that phrase over here:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6731-2/DSC00857.jpg)
Which looks like this enlarged:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/29673-1/Rev_A+top+side.JPG)
This counts for all cards.
The Revision can also be found on the rear of the cards some near the 3dfx logo near the backplate and some others on the rearside of the tail's end. All revisions are placed behind a card PCB number, with a Rev.A 3700 for example the Rev is located here:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/6751-2/DSC00867.jpg)
Which looks like this enlarged:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/29671-1/Rev_A+rear+view.JPG)
The "A" is the Revision of the card which reads that this is a Rev.A ;)
The Revision on a Rev.A0 0700 is found elsewhere just on the rear side of the card's tail's end and it's printed in dark green, so you'll need a sharp eye to spot this
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/30513-2/Rev_A0+0700+back.jpg)
This is what you must seek :) very big scan photo!
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38580-1/A0_revision.jpg)
The same counts for the Rev.A1 1500 cards, only their revision is printed in light olive green so it's easier to spot.
which can be seen here:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/14491-2/3dfx+Voodoo+5+6000+AGP+RevA1+1500+Back.jpg)
For all the cards that are Rev.A2 2600 to Rev.A 3900 the Revision is placed near the backplate as shown with the Rev.A 3700 :)
here an example with a Rev.A2 2600 from Omega_Supreme:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/33803-2/Toms+Rev_A2+2600+Back.jpg)
As you can see the Revision is A2 on this one which is placed behind it's PCB part number.
As for the PCB dates this is a different issue, a PCB date on a Voodoo5 6000 is placed in a separate order first the week date number then the year date number.
As for that Rev.A2 2600 it's PCB date is located on the rear side of it's tail's end as you can see it reads 2600 week 26 of the year 2000.
This counts also for the Rev.A1 1500 and the Rev.A0 0700 , only this last mentioned card has it printed in white, which can be seen here:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/30513-2/Rev_A0+0700+back.jpg)
It's very small but readable and looks like this as shown on gdonovan's blank PCB'ed Rev.A0 0700:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/16156-1/0700_v6k_1.jpg)
As for the Rev.A3 3400, Rev.A 3700 and Rev.A 3900 the PCB date is placed near the backplate, the 3400 is the only one where the PCB date is located slightly closer to the backplate like so:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/29486-2/a3_back1.jpg)
It's just under the Pc2A 94V-0 white inprint, Which reads 3400 week 34 of the year 2000. :)
And for the Rev.A 3900 it's located here very big scan photo!:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/28534-2/VooDoo5_6000_3900_back.jpg)
For the Rev.A 3700 it's located here:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/4301-2/rev3700_back.jpg)
Which looks like this in an enlarged format:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/29668-1/3700.JPG)
Well today was very interesting, as I did some research on the Rev,A0 0700, Rev.A1 1500 and Rev.A2 2600 cards,I found out that these also have a U509 and that them Intel boards the Rev.A0 0700 and Rev.A1 1500 have not only a U509 but also a U508!!
I can show you also ;)
Look closely:
here the rear side of Omega's Rev.A2 2600 right :)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/33803-2/Toms+Rev_A2+2600+Back.jpg)
Here is where I found it's U509, I circled it!:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38588-1/U509+Rev_A2+2600.jpg)
The Rev.A0 0700 and Rev.A1 1500 are more intersting these have not only a U509 chip ... but also a U508 chip!!!!
Look here!!!
Omega's Rev.A0 0700
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/30513-2/Rev_A0+0700+back.jpg)
Here I circled U508 and U509 on Omega's Rev.A0 0700:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38590-2/U508+_amp_+U509+Rev_A0+0700.JPG)
Here a Scan of a Rev.A1 1500:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/14491-2/3dfx+Voodoo+5+6000+AGP+RevA1+1500+Back.jpg)
Here I circled U508 and U509 on that scanned Rev.A1 1500 8)
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38586-1/U508+_amp_+U509+Rev_A1+1500.jpg)
Since the rear layout of the Rev.A3 3400, Rev.A 3700 and Rev.A 3900 are identical, here I show you where U509 on these three can be located:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/29486-2/a3_back1.jpg)
It's that long narrow chip just left from the 3dfx logo.
Here the H 509 of the Rev.A3 3400:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38594-1/Rev_A3+3400+U509.jpg)
Here the U509 of the Rev.A 3700:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38592-1/Rev_A+3700+U509.jpg)
Here the U509 of the Rev.A 3900:
![](http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/38596-1/Rev_A+3900+U509.jpg)
And there you have the Voodoo5 6000 Research I did and know hows of all the different revisions made :)