Fans of old PC components certainly remember 3dfx and its iconic line of GPUs very well. For those who go further and still have a Voodoo 2 in operation, here’s a warning: it must be time to change the capacitors on your board.
3dfx Voodoo 2 was released in 1998, so it’s no surprise that a component would need maintenance as it approaches its 30th anniversary. What is even more interesting was the method used by the Bits und Bolts channel to find the defective capacitors in your GPU.
The project began when two channels on the channel began to display artifacts and glitches in retro games, even crashing after a few minutes of gameplay. The Bits und Bolts host managed to fix the problem, but then realized that the power delivery to the board was wrong, causing the risk of further degradation of the component or ruining it again.
The video then shows the process of hunting for defective capacitors and the difficulty of finding the correct ones to replace. That’s where Bits und Bolts recommends a technique that enthusiasts didn’t know about: the pyroelectric effect.
Channel recommends method for “preventive maintenance” on Voodoo 2 boards
Briefly explained, pyroelectricity is the property of some materials that temporarily generate an electrical potential when they are heated. And this was the solution found to find the defective capacitors in Voodoo 2 in the video. In fact “the” defective capacitor, because in the end it was just one.
Bits und Bolts explains that he didn’t know about pyroelectricity, but managed to define a method using the property anyway. He simply heated each capacitor in his 3dfx Voodoo 2 in a localized manner until he found a pattern in their behavior, and then just replaced the component that deviated from the rule.
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Capacitors on old boards end up failing, as do many other components. That’s why the video recommends using the technique shown as part of preventative maintenance, which is the time to do on the few Voodoo 2s that may still be working out there.
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Source: https://www.adrenaline.com.br/hardware/risco-em-pcs-retro-3dfx-voodoo-2-apresenta-problema-critico-em-capacitores-apos-decadas-de-uso/
