3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Version

  • Hello to all,

    I'm always looking for improvements to apply to our beloved 3Dfx and this time I decided to focus on dissipation.

    In the last Mods I have used Zalman heatsinks which have given excellent results.

    The aesthetics of 3Dfx improved but did not come close to the current cooling systems installed on video cards.

    The result I wanted was like this:

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    I have often researched dual GPU solutions on the web but none of them fit the size of a V5 5500.

    During these searches I found Arctic heatsinks that could adapt to the dissipation of the VSA-100 GPU, this is the Accelero Mono Plus:

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    Due to the Heatpipes that hinder the coupling of two heatsinks, the dissipating surface dedicated to the GPU and the fixing system of the fans on the heatsink, I have given up using this model.

    My attention has shifted to the Arctic Accelero L2 Plus:

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    The structure of the aluminum radiator and the surface dedicated to the dissipation of the GPU were ideal for the project I wanted to carry out.

    So, I crossed my fingers and bought two Arctic Accelero L2 Plus.

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    Heat Sink Coupling:

    The first thing I had to do was to pair the two radiators.

    After checking the wheelbase of the two VSA-100s of the V5 5500, I coupled the two radiators to obtain the wheelbase I needed and I marked the excess parts to be cut:

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    I preferred to cut only one radiator to leave the other intact.

    Dissipating Surface:

    As you can see from the photos, the surface dedicated to the dissipation of the GPU was rough.

    To optimize the contact and dissipation of the VSA-100, I lightly sanded the heatsink:

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    The result obtained is ideal for dissipating the VSA-100 chip.

    Heatsink fixing:

    For fixing the heat sinks on the V5 5500 I wanted to use the holes provided on the heat sink bracket.

    Unfortunately the wheelbase did not match the holes of the V5 5500.

    I decided to create two new 3 mm diameter holes to fix the heatsinks on the V5 5500:

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    Quick Fixing:

    For quick fixing and disassembly I purchased snap clips and installed them on the radiator brackets:

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    Bracket cutting v1.0:

    After checking the installation of the radiator brackets, I modified the VSA-100 n°2 bracket because it was hindered by the capacitors near the VSA chip and by the original 3Dfx fan connection:

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    Bracket cutting v2.0 LINK:

    Bracket pre-assembly:

    After checking the assembly on the V5 5500 did I mount the brackets:

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    Fan Mod:

    I chose the Arctic Accelero L2 Plus also because the fixing system of the fans on the radiator was ideal for my project.

    It allowed me to slide the fan freely on the radiator because it had only one fixing point.

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    To obtain this result and to couple the fans, I cut them on one side flush with the radiator.

    Ram heatsinks:

    The Arctic Accelero L2 Plus is sold with two kits of 8 heatsinks for the ram chips of the video card.

    A thermal conductive glue is provided for fixing the ram heatsinks.

    We lovers of the 3Dfx world know what it means to detach the heat sinks attached to the chip with thermo conductive glue ... I hate it ... :mauer:

    I prefer to use thermo-conductive double-sided tape.

    Before installing the GPU heatsinks, I installed all the ram heatsinks with the thermo conductive double-sided tape:

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    Installation of GPU Heatsinks and Fans:

    I prepared the two VSA-100s with Arctic MX-4 thermal grease and installed the GPU heatsink:

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    I installed the fans on the heatsink:

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    I fixed the fan cables (v1.0) with double-sided tape:

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    Fan power supply v1.0:

    The fans of the Accelero L2 Plus have a connector identical to the original one of the V5 5500.

    Unfortunately for 2000Rpm the necessary voltage is 12V 0.12A, while the voodoo provides a power supply of 5v 0.13A (data taken from the original fans).

    Also with the Arctic Accelero L2 Plus, a Mollex adapter is provided with two power connectors for the fans, one 7v and one 12v

    To power the fans with 12v and take advantage of 2000Rpm, I modified this adapter making both connectors 12V.

    Then I created a cable with two Mollexes, one passing Male / Female to always be installed on the V5 5500, the other to be connected directly to the modified fan adapter:

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    Fan power supply v2.0 LINK:

    However, we were missing something that definitively identified what this New Heatsink was created for:

    The 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Version v1.0:

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    The 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Version v2.0 LINK:

    The 3Dfx logo was designed and made available by the 3dfxzone.it user deflipe, thank you very much Friend! :thumbup:

    Totally Passive Cooling Version LINK:

    Work in Progress...:bonk:

    Temperature Test LINK:

    Work in Progress...:bonk:

    Overclock Test LINK:

    Work in Progress...:bonk:

    Fan Noise Test LINK:

    Work in Progress...:bonk:

    Benchmark Test LINK:

    Work in Progress...:bonk:

    Video & Test:

    Video that collects all the photos of this project:

    3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp Arctic Accelero L2 Plus

    In this Video we will see how to correctly assemble the new Modified Arctic component for cooling the VSA-100 GPU of the Voodoo5 5500 Agp:

    3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp and Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Assembly Tutorial


    Thanks to voodooalert.de for allowing me to publish this Thread. :thumbup:


    3DFX:
    Gone But Never Forgotten!

  • ...Work in Progress...;)



    Bracket Cutting v2.0:

    Later, I also modified the VSA-100 n°1 bracket because it was hampered by the attack of the original 3Dfx fan.

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    Fan power supply v2.0:

    The end result is truly satisfying, just as I originally designed it, but there is still room for improvement.

    For this reason I started working on the power supply of the fans and looking for a solution to "hide" it definitively.

    So, taking advantage of the adapters supplied with L'Arctic Accelero L2 Plus, I created a single 12v power cable which, in case of need, can become 7v.

    With the Mollex Male/Female connector I can change the voltage from 12v to 7v by simply moving the Pin from position 2 to position 4.

    This is the final result:

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    The 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Version v2.0:

    These are the images of the Final Version of the Voodoo5 5500 after the last modification of the heat sink brackets and the fan power supply.

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    Totally Passive Cooling Version:

    Given the amount of heat sinks and the various requests from users of the various 3Dfx communities, I decided to test the Voodoo5 5500 in a totally Passive cooling version.

    This is the final result:

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    Temperature Test:

    To verify the actual improvement acquired with the new Arctic heatsinks, I tested the Voodoo5 5500 with the following configurations:

    • V5 5500 Standard heatsinks

    • V5 5500 Zalman ZM-NB32K heatsinks

    • V5 5500 Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Fanless Passive Cooling heatsinks

    • V5 5500 Arctic Accelero L2 Plus 7v heatsinks Active Cooling

    • V5 5500 Arctic Accelero L2 Plus 12v heatsinks Active Cooling

    Each of these configurations has been tested in 4 different situations:

    • PC-ON 800x600 16Bit 60Hz

    • 3DMark99 Standard Benchmark

    • 3DMark99 Demo 800x600 16Bit 60Hz

    • Unreal Time Demo 1280x1024 16Bit 60Hz 77Fps

    To verify system stability, the tests lasted 90 minutes.

    The test hardware was installed in an open case, with no accessory cooling fans.

    Temperatures were measured, in 10-minute intervals, on the front and rear of the V5 5500.

    At the front of the V5 5500, a contact thermal probe was placed in the hottest point of the heat sink.

    For the measurements in the rear of the V5 5500, the thermal probe was placed in the center of the Vsa-100 which developed more heat.

    In addition to the contact thermal probe, I used an infrared thermal detector with laser pointer.

    I compared the temperatures detected, of both measurement systems, and I always reported the higher of the two thermal measurements.

    These are the test results, connected directly to linear graphs, which will allow you to check the individual test phases with a simple mouse click:

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    V5 5500 Standard Heatsinks
    Back Pcb:


    Front Pcb:

    V5 5500 Zalman ZM-NB32K heatsinks
    Back Pcb:


    Front Pcb:

    V5 5500 Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Fanless Passive Cooling Heatsinks
    Back Pcb:


    Front Pcb:

    V5 5500 Arctic Accelero L2 Plus 7v Heatsinks Active Cooling
    Back Pcb:


    Front Pcb:

    V5 5500 Arctic Accelero L2 Plus 12v Heatsinks Active Cooling
    Back Pcb:


    Front Pcb:

    The results obtained with the new Arctic Accelero L2 Plus heatsink are amazing.

    The Fanless Passive Cooling configuration has a higher dissipation than the configuration with the standard heatsinks of the V5 5500.

    Zalman heatsinks, which have done their job very well all this time, cannot compete against the Accelero L2 Plus

    The Accelero L2 Plus 7v. Active Cooling holds high temperatures very well and, in some cases, compares well with the 12v version Active Cooling.

    The Accelero L2 Plus 12v. Active Cooling, also given the very low noise, wins the comparison in all tests.


    Overclock Test:

    I tested the 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp with the new heatsinks and the overclocking performance gain of the VSA-100 GPU in Sli and 6/7 Mhz compared to the overclock obtained with the Zalman previously installed.

    And for our VSA-100 6 / 7Mhz more they are a really nice boost.

    All this without accessory fans that convey the air to the V5 5500.


    Fan Noise Test:

    The current fan noise is 29dBA at 2000Rpm.

    Compared to the original fans it is really a great leap in quality.



    Benchmark Test:

    Soon I will test the V5 5500 and post the new results and hope for a new Record ...;)


    Do you really need the fans? Can you take a picture of the card in passive-only configuration?

    Chosen_One

    Nooo friend, do I have to dismantle the fans again? =O... I hate you ...:adsh:

    I'm a fool, if I had photographed him before ... damn!:mauer:

    Now I take the fans apart, take an overall picture and add it to the thread ...;) :)

  • Good work My friend :thumbup:

    The Voodoo would look much cleaner without fans :) like choosen_one said.

    I think your coolingsystem could also build for Voodoo2?

    Thanks Marlon,

    without the fans it is much cleaner ... but I like those fans so much ...

    Which voodoo2 would you like to install it on?

  • Yes i think this work passiv with seperat fans in case...

    Here my build with selfmade CNC coolers: Sämtliche 3dfx PCs von VoodooAlert vorgestellt!

    Deletet

    You created some really good custom heatsinks ...:thumbup:

    I'm sure my voodoo would work even without fans ... but as I said before, I love those two fans ...:love:

  • Maybe you will now hit 24000points in 3dmark99:)

    I could hardly reach 20K without vmod...

    ... maybe it will be a little more than 24k ...8o

    For the 20k on an original agp 2x motherboard at the moment I have nothing, as soon as I can do some tests we will see the results ...;)

  • Your Results will be very Interessting :thumbup:

    So 3Dmark01 too. :)

    But i dont know if 01 really takes advantages of SLI.

    A oced 5500 is equal to a 6000.

    And a V3 @ 225 hit 3200 points, so a normal 5500 does.

    surely ...:thumbup:

    The benchmarks 3dmark 99/2000/2001se with standard setup and we also try 1024x768 16, 800x600 16 and 640x480 16 ...;)

  • This could work :thumbup:

    But to Be honest v1,v2,rush and Banshee arent good for oc.

    Avenger is all about 8)

    No for overclocking

    I would use it for cooling the v2 chips because I noticed that they heat up a lot during testing and gaming ...;)

    Chosen_One Deletet Marlon

    Update:

    Link to --> Totally Passive Cooling Version:

  • Update to v2.0 the section:

    Bracket cutting

    Fan power supply

    Updated also the Photo section with 3Dfx by deflipe Logo with the final version of the 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 Agp Arctic Accelero L2 Plus Version v2.0.;)

    Prepared the Test Temperature, Overclock, Fan Noise, Benchmark section for entering the results . ;)

    General Refresh First Post and Third Post. :)


    Enjoy the reading...;)

  • Very nice Ciacara :)

    back in the days a proffesional friend of mine designed a aluminium heatsink, that was added directly on the card & over VSAs.

    it was mill and tested, but the card become really heavy and need extras fixations.

    i have the drawing somewhere, if you need it.