I'm slowly building my 3dfx collection and am using a Voodoo3 in one of my boxes but recently I've started to worry that I'll end up killing the cards (let's face it they aren't THAT new) and will have to go get another one in the ever-shrinking market.

Now, some of this is probably paranoia, but is extra cooling optimal on the Voodoo3? Does it prolong life or is the standard factory heatsink sufficient?

Thanks!

If you are not overclocking the card the factory heatsink is just fine. If you do see a heat problem you might want to remove the heatsink, clean off the old thremal compound and reinstall the heatsink with fresh thremal compound.

V3 gets kinda hot with stock heatsink, i prefer to add a fan to cool things down.

QuoteOriginally posted by r21vo

V3 gets kinda hot with stock heatsink, i prefer to add a fan to cool things down.

Any particular HSF you like? I figure Arctic Cooling thermal compound would be sufficient.

actually thermal compound doesn't make a big difference in cooling things down (unlike active cooling), around 2-5C i guess, so you can use any of them. I guess some low speed fan would do the job perfectly. Maybe 12V fan at 7v or 5v, depends on type.

thermal compound makes a huge difference if you do it WRONG like most people do.  they cake it on like its going out of style, and this just insulates the metal from the chips.  a VERY thin layer between the heatsink and the part will do wonders.  I know, because I did some fairly extensive work on thermal compounds and heatsinks a few years back for work.

And if you THINK you're putting it on thinly enough, WRONG.  just the most thinnest (is that a word even?) layer possible is all that's needed.

ok, everything makes a huge difference if you do it wrong

Usually when i apply thermal compound i check out how slick is surface of heatsink and apply appropriate amount. How much? I think thermal compound should be only enough to fill empty spaces between both surfaces which normally are filled with oxygen, which we all know has bad thermal conductivity.

You've hit it on the barrel head, r21vo!  also, some of the newer IC's, especially voltage regulators and Fets and IGBT's are completely coated in a plastic that conforms to the heatsink it is attached to when it warms up and the bonus is it doesn't need any electrical isolation pads that will get in the way of the heat transfer in most cases.