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Hmm, not sure if I agree  , it would have at least been a great gesture of good will if Nvidia had decided to pick up the tab for supporting 3dfx cards. At the very least they could have released the then latest driver source code and allowed the 3dfx community to fend for themselves. It's almost 3-1/2 years later now and if not for leaked code about what ? a year or so ago nothing.

I also believe that 3dfx was in such bad shape financialy that they would'nt risk the sale/acquisition over making driver support a legal condition of sale. Nvidia had them by the balls !

Something else I have alway's wondered about ?, 3dfx's Management could not have been very confident that Rampage was going to be the next "killer" card, or you would think that they somehow could have secured loans or credit (some how survived), until it could have been released. If it had or was close to taping out and there's a few prototypes, it could'nt have been to far away from a public release ?

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Why? They didn't pay for that, no sense throwing money after something you didn't agree on.

The support for the cards was squarely left in 3dfx's hands and they choose to abandon us. They say the higher ups in the company were well taken care of in the buy out, I doubt the rank and file 3dfx people were treated or felt the same way.

Based on how Nvidia has acted in the past and the fact members of the 3dfx board were well compensated it would not surprise me a bit if Nvidia had a few "inside" people on the 3dfx board.

People were paid off, pure and simple for 3dfx to fold, bonuses for everyone!

Examine my theory for flaws please.

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Have to protect their (purchased) software rights- Releasing the source opens up all sorts of fair use problems. Far far more simple and less headaches to not release and and let the former 3dfx end users to twist in the wind for good measure.

I'm surprised threatening letters from lawyers have not been issued in regards to the source code, but then again if they had after 4 years it would have just stired up a lot of anti-nvidia feelings.

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Or simply paid off the right people, again it was a smart move on their part. Why have the support issues for something you didn't sell and make a profit on?

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Rampage was only on the first revision silicon, for a point of reference I think the VSA-100 had three and still needed one more but was rushed out the door to make some sales.

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Was easy- They were flat broke and loosing money like mad, VSA-100 was late to market and getting spanked because of it, no solid product after VSA-100 (Rampage wasn't even up and running till 2 weeks before 3dfx threw in the towel)

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3dfx already tried all the banks, they were in trouble for some time and Nvidia is keeping the brand name alive... SLI anyone?

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Nah- Most people (not us!) just want a card that plays the game, what brand is on the card isn't an issue.

Most of ATI and Nvidia's sales are through OEM's, sold to people who could not care the least what is running the display for the web browsing.

They may have generated some goodwill by releasing the source code or offering support but they took the safe road for Nvidia and it cost them nothing

@gdonovan,

You'r 100% right, no arguments from me, this was just meant to be 3dfx's/our fate.

Just good to know there's a place left like this, were the company and the card's they made are appreciated and respected for their role in the pc 3d gaming revolution  8)

This is one of the last great 3dfx support/archive/discussion sites !

FalconFly, I salute you 

Hail 3dfx

lol...thanx for the answer 5500...but both of us are n00bs to 3dfx....weve been flying f16 Multirole Fighter by novalogic for 3-5 years...we heard about how Voodoo was, and how the game was made for glide etc...but never got a card..then one day he got one and thats the card he got...overclocking?...LMAO  man...Im a n00b with this stuff....and hes worse than me...now our whole squad has them. We buy em from ebay and just install them, get the right drivers and fly man...we dont know squat besides that......lol...any way to test the card first before buying those heatsinks?...I mean there only like 5 bucks each....but think its worth it?

If you wish to make a notable improvement to the Voodoo 5500 cooling, without spending lots of money- here is my suggestion.

Remove the stock heatsinks, clean the chips and heatsinks, replace them with a thin layer of thermal grease and four small dots of 24 hour epoxy (Araldite- 24 hour is much stronger than the 5 minute variety) in each corner to keep the heatsinks fixed.

Take both of the small fans, and file them in the nearest bin (or keep them for nostalgia) find an old 80mm case fan and fix this to a small strip of metal so that it can be attched to the case, angle the strip so that the fan blows air over both of the heatsinks.

Wire the fan to a molex connector +12 volt and ground (Yellow and black) and connect to your PSU.

Hey presto- much better cooling than standard, and much quieter too.

If you want to get real fancy, you can duct the fan using a cardboard shroud. Another mod would be to add a potentiometer to the fans power lead to control fan speed.

Passive heatsinks will work well enough- however caveat, you will need to ensure you have good airflow in your case.

It is the flow of air that carries the heat away, if you have stagnant air, eventually the whole case will heat up, and you may experience problems.

Cheapest and simplest way to improve airflow in a typical midi tower is to open up some slots in the top and bottom of the case, this allows the natural convection of heat- hot air rises!

Andy

Patience....I dont have any 3dfx tools that have anything that works in them...I have amigamerlin 2.5...the only 3dfx tool in the hub that works is screen resolution.

5500; I am not scared of anything bro...its a free card...nothing from nothing leave's snothing...lol..

I see also that the heatsinks have instructions...between theirs and your instruction I think I can manage....it will be up to the card to do the rest!..thanx fellas...

still cant take screen shots at all BTW even with the glide 3dfx box checked in advanced options of Hypersnap...and have tried every option in there too ;(