I now have this card in my collection  ;), which I believe I haven't seen anywhere else! I may have seen the card, but can't remember it.  I certainly have not seen the box! I would remember that!  ;D

It's boxed as a 'Voodoo2 PLUS' but has been badged with a 'Banshee' sticker by the company that built it, whom I cannot find or identify as there are no details, or signature marks anywhere in the entire contents!

It is a Banshee card, but a strange one at that! off-shaped and not the standard rectangle, and comes with a cute fan which unfortunately must connect to another power supply(like my hard drive).

A strange AGP layout (maybe an AGP 1x, or AGP Pro) also adds to the many questions.  I don't have a machine with an AGP slot that will support it at the moment, but I'll see what I can do about getting hold of one.  Here are some photos of the entire contents:

http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000978.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000982.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000983.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000986.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000989.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000992.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000995.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000998.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM000999.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM001000.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM001003.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM001008.JPG
http://www.jstorey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/v2/IM001009.JPG

Gainward Dragon 4000- Look at the top of the card, it has GW in the part number.

I have two of them, one with heatsink, one with fan. I think Gainward sold them to other companies for resale as well.

@Patience - Sorry about the photos, the camera is rubbish! Hi-res, but quality is poor! 1.3M Pixel camera. (I have to make do with taking this camera to the World Rally Championships :()  It's really difficcult to get a good in-detail shot! Sorry about that!  ::)

FCC ID: ICUVGA - GW816D
P/N: 9816 - 21

Number on back (possibly Serial): 81263510

About the AGP Connector :

It was normal, that some of the (electrically unused) Connectors were not implemented at all in some cases.

It makes the AGP Connector look a bit odd, but it remains a completely normal 2x AGP Card.

Ah! :D Thanks for the tip FalconFly. ;)

What would the end AGP connector do?

So I may have a machine to test it after all!  That will still be a while off yet though! Got plenty of Uni work to be catching up on, that needs to be done before going back next week! AAARGGH!  :-[ (that's what I'm trying to do as we speak!)

@gdonovan - It does look similar to the Gainward in some places.  It is also possible that Gainward did sell the card to other '4th party companies'.

This happened a lot in the UK, in the 3dfx era.  There were many Voodoo cards that were bought from computer discount shops (my local) that sold 4th party cards. Many were unbranded with a company logo, but still came retail boxed.  So it was a case of it being the same graphics card, but different documentation, driver software, game bundles, and different looking boxes. :)

Better for a box collector like myself, and what better than for a vendor to be on my doorstep!  ;D 8)

Confirmed mate! ;D

Your card is a Rev. 2 Dragon 4000... ;)

The only difference between yours and mine is that the R1 card had one of those 'green' dragon heatsinks that this range of cards is famous for. :D

You'll be glad to know that the R2 cards are a bit harder to come by though, congrats! 8)

I believe that the box may either be third party, or simply a re-badged V2 box from the original shop that sold it (it's sure NOT a gainward box to match the card!) ::)

wrote on 21.09.04 at 20:55:24:

I believe that the box may either be third party, or simply a re-badged V2 box from the original shop that sold it (it's sure NOT a gainward box to match the card!) ::)

It is the box that comes with the card, but is branded as a 4th party brand.  Gainward is already the 3rd party, who then sell the card onto ANOTHER company for them to distribute to customers.

It's a weird and unique one though, nonetheless.  ;)

@Patience has a good point mate! ???

If the Specs on the back of the box match a V2 - it's just a 'loose' V2 box. ::)

If they match a Banshee - it's just a '4th' party Banshee box. ;)

Oh and edit your last post, the 'quote' section is knackered... :P

I think the use of Voodoo2 Plus is to inhibit the use of Voodoo2 technology in the Banshee card.  This has been referenced to many times on Banshee boxes: e.g "Banshee uses Voodoo2 technology". I believe that is the use of the word Plus ;D

And yes, the stats on the back of the box represent Banshee benchmarks. ;)

So, a 4th Party and MIGHTY RARE collectable!  ;)

Nope.  :) Just standard 3dfx reference drivers, and again, nothing to link it to any company.

Strange indeed! :o

We control the horizontal... ;)
We control the vertical... :D
You have entered... ;D
The 3Dfx zone... :o
[cue spooky music] 8)

Seriously though, it'd be nice to I.D. the box... ???

Yeah, I know.

There were a lot of Voodoo cards released from a lot of my local stores in 4th party boxes.

I wonder if the 3rd party companies hold them to a legally binding contract, for them not to brand their name on their boxes, because they are really selling 3rd party products!  Maybe something like that.  Obviously the 4th party companies will get their revenue from the local PC shops that buy them to sell as stock.  :)