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About Quantum3D cards (Read 327 times)
P200
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Viva Chile Mierda!!!

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About Quantum3D cards
20.07.03 at 23:24:58
 
Hey Procerus!  Smiley

Can you talk me about the Quantum3D cards, and the difference between them and the "standard" 3Dfx card?  ???

Thanks vey much!  Cheesy
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procerus
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Voodoo2 Monomaniac

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Re: About Quantum3D cards
Reply #1 - 21.07.03 at 22:46:36
 
Quantum3D were made up of a group of people who split off from 3dfx just after the Voodoo 1 came out.  They created the first Voodoo SLI card out of these which was called the Obsidian 100SB.

...

They've subsequently produced a variety of unique designs based around 3dfx chipset.  Whereas most companies were happy to licence the "reference" design from 3dfx, which is a safe route since it ensures maximum hardware and driver compatibility, Quantum3D were more adventurous.

They made an AGP Voodoo2 design for example which, in its day, made perfect sense since the Voodoo2 was the fastest 3D card of the time.

They also produced single board Voodoo2 SLI cards.  The consumer version of this was the Obsidian2 X-24.  This had a daughtercard which led to some overheating issues unless you fitted a fan blowing along the length of the card (indeed the final version from Quantum3D came fitted with one).

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The professional version of the single board Voodoo2 SLI was the Obsidian2 200SBi which, not having the daughterboard is about a foot long.

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This card was amazingly assembled in clusters of four producing 8 way Voodoo2 SLI!  This was called the Heavy Metal Mercury and was used in military and industrial simulators.  It's anti-aliasing capabilities were far ahead of its time.  Indeed it was sneakily used by 3Dfx at a computer show to demonstrate the anti-aliasing capabilities of the Voodoo 5 5000 before the silicon had been finalised for it!

...

Quantum3D lost interest in the gaming/consumer end of the market possibly due to the support issues generated by overheating X-24s.  Which is a shame since many of us love their characteristic black PCBs and are happy to fit the necessary fans.  Wink

They went on to make cards with four and eight way SLI VSA 100 chipsets (Voodoo4 and 5 chips) with the name Aalchemy.  These were and are used for professional applications.

...

More lately they have used nVidia chips.

That's a hurricane tour.  patience can probably provide you with a complete list of the cards and their specs.  Hope this has been some help.
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P200
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Viva Chile Mierda!!!

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Re: About Quantum3D cards
Reply #2 - 22.07.03 at 03:17:35
 
Thank you Procerus!  Wink

First: That "Heavy Metal Mercury" was simply AMAZING  Shocked Shocked Shocked  (it shows the power of Voodoo2!  Grin)

Second: Then why WE can`t use the Quantum3D drivers with ours V2?

Third: You`re so lucky!! Tongue you have a Quantum3D Obsidian 200 SBi!!  Smiley  (I`ve tried to buy one, but i didn`t found anywhere!) I have 2 V2 in SLI "normals"

Fourth: Who is the owner of that "HMM"  He is REALLY luckily!  Smiley

Fifth: Thanks ! Cheesy
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procerus
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Voodoo2 Monomaniac

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Re: About Quantum3D cards
Reply #3 - 22.07.03 at 14:03:50
 
A pleasure P200  Wink

1/  Yes a Mercury rig is an impressive looking item.  But in real terms it's a bit limited. 1024x1024x16 maximum resolution and colour depth.  Enough heat generated to make it a good toaster.  Drivers only for Windows NT.  Some people have got them running Quake but that's about the limit for gaming.  I'd still love to own one though.  8)

2/  You could try using Quantum3D's drivers (Obsidian2 S-12/X-24 version) but I'd be very careful and do a full system back up first.  I've never tried Quantum3D drivers with another manufacturer's card.  I suspect they would refuse to install due to an incorrect PCI vendor ID.

As I said elsewhere, the last 3Dfx drivers are more recent and more compatible.  I've used both and found the 3Dfx drivers better on both my X-24 and my 200SBi (mainly because the Quantum3D driver won't work with WickedGL and I'm a Metabyte fanboy too).

3/  A 200SBi is functionally identical to a pair of Voodoo2s in SLI.  There are no real advantages (unless you want the TV out or are desperate to save a PCI slot).  I just like the look of the thing and love Voodoo2s enough to collect them.  Grin

4/  That Mercury was sold on eBay by the same person I bought my 200SBi from.  Don't know who's got it now.  I couldn't afford it.  Sad
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98lite with
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of free conventional memory in full DOS mode using QEMM 9.0 (or 628K with UMBPCI.SYS providing real mode for FastVid) with SmartDrive, CD-ROM, CuteMouse, sound support and UniRefresh all loaded high.
 
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3Dfx_tweaker
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Re: About Quantum3D cards
Reply #4 - 02.12.04 at 18:16:37
 
They made a dual board Voodoo graphics when the first Voodoo graphics wasn' t even released. And Q3d wass stil 3dfx Wink.
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