You're right, there isn't much difference between the designs. Technically, the one with the reference plane is better, but in the case of the V2 it doesn't matter, the SLI interface is already dumbed down in the driver to work with the shitty cable.

I'll upload some better pictures with the gold logo 😀

As for the old logo, does anybody have that in some vector format?

sdz wrote on 2022-07-13, 00:58:

You're right, there isn't much difference between the designs. Technically, the one with the reference plane is better, but in the case of the V2 it doesn't matter, the SLI interface is already dumbed down in the driver to work with the shitty cable.

I'll upload some better pictures with the gold logo 😀

As for the old logo, does anybody have that in some vector format?

seems to be the most ground/distance between the traces with the last one I uploaded, so maybe better EMI with that one than a single plane, but if you disagree, you may be right. in any case I bet these designs are better than a cable.

Now that I understand about the gold logo it totally makese sense and I'm kinda considering it instead of what I came up with 🤣, that would look realllllllly sharp.

Maybe these looks better:

Not the best photos, the gold looks a bit tarnished, but it doesn't look that way in real life. Maybe I'll replace these with some proper pictures if can find my camera battery charger.

yes, very nice. to make the gold logo work like that I would have to reverse most of my changes. which brings me to wonder, maybe I should just talk with you about your spares? 😀 pm me?

I can send you some, free of charge, but I don't know when I'll get to the post office..

Guess that answers my question about the efficacy of importing eagle projects into kicad

(it sucks)

I guess I'll throw one in the pile too.. 🤣. I tried to make the 3-dimensional logo in silkscreen. Turned out ok, 🤣. I made it a 4-layer board too, so all the traces are hidden inside and the outer layers are as clean as possible.

https://github.com/wiretap-retro/3DFX-SLI-Bridge

That logo turned out better than mine when I tried.

Might host it here also incase link ever goes dead.

You could Convert the silkscreen to solder mask and make it gold :p

wiretap wrote on 2022-09-19, 17:08:

I guess I'll throw one in the pile too.. 🤣. I tried to make the 3-dimensional logo in silkscreen. Turned out ok, 🤣. I made it a 4-layer board too, so all the traces are hidden inside and the outer layers are as clean as possible.

https://github.com/wiretap-retro/3DFX-SLI-Bridge

unknown.png

Maybe it will look more 3D Dimensional if soldermask is removed in some portions too.

Assembled and tested mine this morning. Works great. 😀

sweet!

Has anyone been able to find the connectors for this Voodoo2 SLI board which aren't in the $6/each range? The connector noted previously, 9134-4500PL, which is sold out, cost $6 USD each. Otherwise, cheapest I can find is 803-87-034-10-001101 , at $3.5 each, but they aren't ideal. Thanks!

Would it be possible to make a board that uses a dissected floppy cable? You know, with the top part removed, revealing the pins.

I think you'd have to alter the holes on the PCB for it to work with a cable end. I could be wrong, but going off my pictorial memory, I think the width of those two cable pinchers/clamps are too wide.

feipoa wrote on 2022-11-08, 04:15:

I think you'd have to alter the holes on the PCB for it to work with a cable end. I could be wrong, but going off my pictorial memory, I think the width of those two cable pinchers/clamps are too wide.

there would also be nothing physically holding it together - the IDC contacts will pull right out the back with little resistance when the connector is disassembled

^ good to know.

I anticipated needing to change the footprint but the unsecure pins, I didn’t recall.

wiretap wrote on 2022-10-06, 16:41:

Assembled and tested mine this morning. Works great. 😀

PXL_20221006_135037721.jpg

oh well, we should make it 3 color, by strapping off some solder mask.
It will look insane!

The Connector is avaible on aliexpress.
But you have to wait few weeks to get it cheap.

Why make it 4 Layer ? just place all connections on the bottom side ?

I made it 4 layer for signal shielding. Don't think it is necessary, but it also gives a clean top and bottom with no visible traces. The price difference for a board this small is negligible.

Agree, multiple layers can make for a cleaner board and signal if set up right. Indeed, 4 layer cost isn’t bad. I managed to get nice ground propagation on that 2 layer I made though. By alternating paths top and bottom

Add two more layers for ground plane and you can do all sorts of cool logo stuff without traces cluttering it all up.

So exactly as wiretap said.

Btw, wiretap, if you find the motivation, I’d be curious about how you did the internal layers. I won’t be in front of a computer for a while to open it up. Able to snap a screenshot?

π.0
I have made some improvements. big traces, massive ground plane, 4 layer, and sick logo! suggest ordering in 1.6mm PCB thickness with gold finger enabled, and the process that keeps the gold from getting covered with solder. This should have better signal integrity than previous design and oem cable. ordering without gold settings will give solder colored "3D" logo. Which is fine, if you want that.

matze79 good idea with the solder mask. believe it or not, that was edited by hand...... 😳
Credit to wiretap for the unedited logo.

If I understand it, this bridge is actually passing analog video signals, which makes anything we can do to beef up signal integrity a good thing.