3dfx Archive - Best retro rig?

silikone

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Best retro rig?
05.05.11 at 22:58:09

Hey! I'm eager to get into 3dfx gaming. Back in the days, I was too young to comprehend the hardware in my computer (had my dad to do the stuff), so I don't know if I have ever owned a voodoo card.
I'm curious to know what voodoo card would do best for a Windows 9x computer for playing games like Quake 1-3, Half-Life, and Unreal (and of course DOS games, emulating on Win 7 sucks).
First of all, should I use voodoo 2 or 3? Voodoo 3 is obviously better, but since most games were designed at the voodoo 2 times, I sometimes wonder if it's a better choice. Also, what are all the different versions of the specific chips? On the voodoo 2, there are a whole bunch of different brands like Creative (3D Blaster). Do they differ in performance and features? The voodoo 3 also has some variations. Is there a Voodoo 3 better than the 3500?
I've also heard about a special Voodoo brand called Obsidian/Quantum3D which should perform very good. How good are they compared to the standard cards?

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NitroX infinity

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Re: Best retro rig?
Reply #1 - 05.05.11 at 23:07:38

Voodoo3 is the way to go for a beginner (of retro-gaming); less complicated than with a Voodoo2.

I don't think there is much difference between the Voodoo2 cards of various brands.

The cards from Quantum3D have the same performance as equal cards from other brands. The only difference is that Q3D usually sold their cards in the high-end business market (professional simulators like flight and shipping simulators). This caused Q3D to make some rarer cards like the Obsidian2 X-24 which is just a Voodoo2 in SLI but instead of two seperate cards, the X-24 uses one PCB (with a daughterboard).

Yes, there are Voodoo3's that are better than the 3500 but they are rare and hard to find. If you do find one, other collectors will also have found it (most times) and a bidding-frenzy will follow. Causing the price to sky-rocket.

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« Last Edit: 05.05.11 at 23:08:31 by NitroX infinity »

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ultima God Member Offline Always searching Posts: 876 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #2 - 06.05.11 at 07:39:06 a voodoo3 better then the 3500?? ya mean the prototypes with faster ram and higher default clock speeds?? Those are nigh impossible to find, and like ya said, you'd pay a steep price for them usually. Or you could be one of those lucky guys that finds one off market where the seller doesn't really know what he's selling.
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silikone YaBB Newbies Offline recent 3dfx enthusiast Posts: 6	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #3 - 06.05.11 at 08:27:40 So I guess I should go for a common voodoo 3. One thing though, the pictures I have seen of the 3500 appear to have unusual outputs instead of a VGA output. One is a TV, and the other looks a bit like DVI, can anyone confirm?
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NitroX infinity YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1936 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #4 - 06.05.11 at 12:33:01 The two round ones are inputs for TV. On the big one that looks like a DVI connector you hook up a blue pod. You hook up your monitor to the pod. @ultima; yes, I am talking about the 200MHz prototypes and the Falcon Northwest cards.
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goriath

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Re: Best retro rig?
Reply #5 - 06.05.11 at 13:15:21

silikone wrote on 06.05.11 at 08:27:40:

So I guess I should go for a common voodoo 3. One thing though, the pictures I have seen of the 3500 appear to have unusual outputs instead of a VGA output. One is a TV, and the other looks a bit like DVI, can anyone confirm?

If you are going for a Voodoo3 setup, the best choice is the Voodoo3 3500 as already said; 183MHz for both chip and memory. But if you don't think to use the extended multimedia capabilities of the blue pod (and you NEED the pod in order to use the card, due the fact the 3500 hasn't standard D-Sub15 output), the Compaq Voodoo3 3500 is the way to go.

Compaq V3 3500 looks like a standard V3 card, but it has same performance of a regular 3500 Wink

Voodoo3 3500 AGP for Compaq computers: http://tweakers.net/ext/f/tj4MVUXdQ6pUCafmEW7Ao39S/full.jpg
(Pic from NitroX infinity's website; hope He don't feel bad)

It's fast and easy to use.

Sometimes you can find regular V3 3000 that are equipped with fast memory (5.5ns instead 5ns), so they can be easily overclocked at 183MHz, just like the 3500. But these cards are the PCI version.

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ultima God Member Offline Always searching Posts: 876 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #6 - 06.05.11 at 13:21:55 I have a voodoo3 3000 at home, I'll have a look at the details and let you know, so if you are in need of one.....
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NitroX infinity YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1936 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #7 - 06.05.11 at 13:51:48 @goriath; no problem
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silikone

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Re: Best retro rig?
Reply #8 - 06.05.11 at 14:38:58

goriath wrote on 06.05.11 at 13:15:21:

silikone wrote on 06.05.11 at 08:27:40:

So I guess I should go for a common voodoo 3. One thing though, the pictures I have seen of the 3500 appear to have unusual outputs instead of a VGA output. One is a TV, and the other looks a bit like DVI, can anyone confirm?

If you are going for a Voodoo3 setup, the best choice is the Voodoo3 3500 as already said; 183MHz for both chip and memory. But if you don't think to use the extended multimedia capabilities of the blue pod (and you NEED the pod in order to use the card, due the fact the 3500 hasn't standard D-Sub15 output), the Compaq Voodoo3 3500 is the way to go.

Compaq V3 3500 looks like a standard V3 card, but it has same performance of a regular 3500 Wink

Voodoo3 3500 AGP for Compaq computers: http://tweakers.net/ext/f/tj4MVUXdQ6pUCafmEW7Ao39S/full.jpg
(Pic from NitroX infinity's website; hope He don't feel bad)

It's fast and easy to use.

Sometimes you can find regular V3 3000 that are equipped with fast memory (5.5ns instead 5ns), so they can be easily overclocked at 183MHz, just like the 3500. But these cards are the PCI version.

So does this pod have a D-sub output? Perhaps there are some images of all the content included in the package.

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NitroX infinity YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1936 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #9 - 06.05.11 at 14:59:51 Yes, the pod has a d-sub connector to which you hook up your monitor. It's actually on the cable instead of the pod; http://3dfx.t35.com/templates/card.php?dbid=v3&corpid=3dfx#l http://tweakers.net/ext/f/4Ur5lPIWkfDlObt2v3g6mrzf/full.jpg
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Maf Full Member Offline I Love YaBB 2! Posts: 106	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #10 - 06.05.11 at 19:43:54 Well, go PRO and get yourself a Voodoo 5 5500. It's around 50 bucks / euros, so it's doable. Much more fun than with a plain Voodoo 3.
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silikone

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Re: Best retro rig?
Reply #11 - 06.05.11 at 22:32:07

Thanks for the info, anything else I should consider pairing with a Voodoo? Like a specific motherboard and processor.
Maf wrote on 06.05.11 at 19:43:54:

Well, go PRO and get yourself a Voodoo 5 5500. It's around 50 bucks / euros, so it's doable. Much more fun than with a plain Voodoo 3.

I personally don't think the Voodoo 5 feels retro enough, since it was the earlier years 3dfx had prosperity.

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NitroX infinity YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1936 The Netherlands Gender:	Re: Best retro rig? Reply #12 - 06.05.11 at 22:34:16 Just make sure that if you use an AGP Voodoo3, the motherboard supports AGP2x at 3.3Volts.
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