Well, with all of the hype over the Voodoo 3 cards now being usable on Macs now, it was only a matter of time before we started talking about coolers for them. Since there is no way to currently overclock the Voodoo 3 over its stock 143 MHz (and according to Ken Dyke at 3Dfx, no real advantage if you did) it might seem a bit like overkill to add a cooler. And it probably is, but there is one thing that any computer enthusiast will never complain about: a computer that runs too cool. If you have an overclocked G3, a 7200 RPM or higher hard drive and a new (hot) video card, it is not a bad idea to look into adding a fan to the inside of your computer. I am a little paranoid, so I have 3 extra fans. One for the Hard drive, one for the processor and one on the Voodoo 3. So lets figure out how to safely add a cooler to your Voodoo 3.

First call up TennMax to get a Stealth Voodoo 3 cooler for about $24. Not a bad deal, but the installation on the Voodoo 3 2000 is a little harder than their instruction would lead you to believe. Since the heat sink on the 2000 series card is glued to the chip, you need to extract the heat sink very carefully. (We can't be responsible if you damage your card attempting this.) I must admit that I was a little bit nervous about this step, as it would not take a very big error to do something bad to your card. A PC using friend (who donated the cooler that I used) damaged his card during this step so go slowly and be patient in removing the heat sink. [Note: If the heatsink is hot the adhesive bond may be easier to shear.-Mike]

The easiest way to remove the heat sink is to take a small screwdriver, like a jeweler's tool, or a plastic stick and gently pry the heat sink off. Don’t try to lever it off in one motion. Move the screwdriver around to different areas of the heat sink and pry until you hear the glue start to crack. After doing this in 3 or 4 areas, the heat sink will fall off and reveal the Voodoo 3 chip. Some people have recommended twisting the heat sink off, I think there is more risk of damage by doing that than carefully using a screwdriver or other instrument. If there is any excess adhesive, clean it off carefully with a small amount of alcohol or a small piece of plastic. Don’t use a metal screwdriver for this as you may gouge the chip and that would be bad. If you are lucky, most of the adhesive will remain attached to the heat sink.

Now take your Stealth cooler and line it up over the chip. Even though an adhesive attaches the heat sink, there are two holes in the board that you will use to hold the cooler in place with two pins.

  

Line up the pins to the holes on the board and push them through. There are two pins that you push in that lock the first pins in place. Make sure that the power wires are exiting the fan opposite the PCI slot side of the cooler.

Reinstall the card and connect the power connector to your internal power supply. Now you are ready to go.

Do I feel better with the cooler in place? You bet. There is one thing that will definitely cause problems for you in the long term: heat. So if there is anything that I can do to dissipate the heat away from critical components, then I will do it. With today’s computers the internal hard drives, graphics cards and processors are running hotter than before. Heat will shorten the lifespan of some components over time (especially hard drives) and $24 is not too expensive for a little bit of protection. Should you do it? If you are worried about removing the heat sink (which will void your warranty I believe) then don’t do it. Otherwise, it can’t hurt to add the cooler.

Let me know what you think: paranoid or just being safe? Randall

Got a Voodoo2 instead? - then check out our review of the Stealth Voodoo2 Cooler.