3DFX offers support, sort of....

[Shadow ÒÓ]

As printed in Maximum PC magazine

There's good news and bad news. The good news is that defunct 3DFX has agreed to offer hardware and tech supportfor its products until early next year. The bad news is that the company has not made a decision about weather it will offer further drivers for the cards. Without current and updated drivers, a graphics card is pretty much toast. Former employees of 3DFX released a beta driver at Http://www.x3dfx.com and x3dfx says the release will be the last.

Again, the Dog strongly recommends tht you avoid 3DFX products, unless you're fully aware that you're buying a product that may have a very short life.

To me, this is great news.......IF there was never to be a new driver released, a voodoo would still be good for a year.....and as cheap as they are, it's well worth it. Also be aware that the folks at reactorcritical.com like to tinker around with drivers and have released some VERY good ones.

 

[voodoolove]

kool thats sorta put me mind at rest!!!!lol im really thinkin of gettin a V5 but wasnt sure too much bout the driver side of things.... i had no dout about the card itself, coming from 3dfx!!!!! wot card do u have and pc spec????

 

[Shadow ÒÓ]

P III 933
VooDoo 5500 (which I'm VERY happy with)
256 megs of cas 2.........blah blah blah blah.

Currently nothing is OC'd as I blew up a mobo accidentally and waiting for funds to get the black pearl.

 

[SP]

"Under Deconstruction
We are presently in sensitive negotiations and have decided to temporarily take the x-3dfx site down."

So, much for support from www.x3dfx.com. Sounds like they may have gotten a call or letter from the company that now owns the rights to the intellectual property telling them to cease and desist in their efforts. The source code used to create the drivers is probably now the property of Nvidia. If you're Nvidia what do you do? Do you waste time and money continuing to support the development of drivers for a outdated and dead card that your former competiter produced or do you just halt development and support so that all the Voodoo users can just buy a newer and better card from you.

Also, I think that article may be a bit dated. So, when they say 3DFX will continue to support their products through the early part of next year the "next year" they are likely refering to is 2001, which is of course already upon us.

 

[asmodean]

On the GF side of opinions, Voodoo is overpriced compared to the power it delivers. And lacking T&L. Otherwise, a great card. I had a Voodoo 2, so I know.

 

[Shadow ÒÓ]

SP (Apr 26, 2001 12:32 a.m.):
"Under Deconstruction
We are presently in sensitive negotiations and have decided to temporarily take the x-3dfx site down."

So, much for support from www.x3dfx.com. Sounds like they may have gotten a call or letter from the company that now owns the rights to the intellectual property telling them to cease and desist in their efforts. The source code used to create the drivers is probably now the property of Nvidia. If you're Nvidia what do you do? Do you waste time and money continuing to support the development of drivers for a outdated and dead card that your former competiter produced or do you just halt development and support so that all the Voodoo users can just buy a newer and better card from you.

Also, I think that article may be a bit dated. So, when they say 3DFX will continue to support their products through the early part of next year the "next year" they are likely refering to is 2001, which is of course already upon us.

Funny you should say 3DFX is dead considering NVidia is incorperating it's technology in an upcomming generation of video cards. Wonder why they'd use a dead technology?

The article was from the May 2001 issue of Maximum PC's magazine.

We are presently in sensitive negotiations and have decided to temporarily take the x-3dfx site down.

Why would they negotiate if there wasn't some interest in supporting the "dead" card.

We didn't expect the phenomenal interest that this site has generated

now that's just plain silly! No one is interested in "dead" technology!

Watch this space for future developments from our new company

is there going to be a ceremony for the deceased? What exactly are we "watching" for?

As far as being over priced, the 5500 is under $100 now and I can't say enough times how happy I am with mine nor am I willing to say I'm sorry I paid over $200 for it. I keep hearing examples of poor preformance, but usually it's the 2000 cards that are being the benchmarks. If you guys wanna argue 3DMark........sure you have the higher marks with several other cards. If you wanna argue quality vs price, I have yet to see the quality I see come from a sub $100 card from any other card.

 

[voodoolove]

Shadow ÒÓ (Apr 25, 2001 05:12 p.m.):
P III 933
VooDoo 5500 (which I'm VERY happy with)
256 megs of cas 2.........blah blah blah blah.

Currently nothing is OC'd as I blew up a mobo accidentally and waiting for funds to get the black pearl.

so do u fink i should get a V5 5500??? im really considerin it.... i personally dont give an arse what other peeps say bout 3dfx, there ACE u dont know how pleased i was wiv me V3 2000 pci (before it died.... im gunna cry....:-(...) so im not in the slightest bit worried about the card itself.. the only reason shes dead is coz i shocked it accedentally...damn!!!! so wot score do u get wiv ure V5 on 3dMark???? it would be much appreciated if u could gimmie a little info on the beast.. r u usin the original drivers?? or the latest d/loads??

 

[Shadow ÒÓ]

First of all.........the Language is DEFINITELY out. It will be an instant ban from this forum. I'd recommend you modify it.

I received your ICQ and will finish this conversation via icq.

 

[Nagorak]

Shadow, I'm sorry but 3DFX is dead. Sure their technology may be used in future NVIDIA cards, but you will never see another 3DFX card ever again. Driver support will also be stopped for 3DFX cards. Nvidia never made any money off selling those cards so they have no reason to continue supporting them.

I don't understand this blind loyalty some of you have toward a particular company. The latest generation of 3DFX cards (V4 and V5) were totally overpriced and totally underpowered. They could not compete with the offerings from Nvidia and ATI. And, because 3DFX targeted the gaming market specifically, they could not afford to lose the performance crown so badly.

That's why they went out of business, because their products could not compete even when they existed to support them. Why would you even consider buying one now that they aren't even around to release updated drivers?

 

[Nagorak]

Shadow ÒÓ (Apr 26, 2001 08:30 a.m.):
I have yet to see the quality I see come from a sub $100 card from any other card.

One word: RadeonLE.

And just cause you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. RadeonLE has better image quality, performance AND features and costs over $20 less than the, still overpriced, V5 5500.

 

[Shadow ÒÓ]

it's not blind loyalty. I'm comparing to cards I see daily.........Radeon and Nvidia alike. I'm tired of hearing the card is dead just because 3DFX doesn't exist anymore. It's still a great card with great preformance, however yes, if no further drivers are made, it'll not last forever. I will say one thing, I'll bet the quality will be comporable to GForce 3's card till it too is outdated.

I'm not going to argue benchmarks or fps, I'm going to argue what I can see on a .25 19" or a .22 21" monitor. Call it bad vision.........call it another satisfied customer.....call it what you will. I still recommend the 5500 for not only it's price, but for it's quality. (I think I already mentioned the quality part didn't I? hehe)

This post was not meant to try and convert anyone, but just to pass on possibly good news. I LIKE VOODOO! No need to come to my thread and slam a card I personally like!

Don't make me start talking about your mama's! =)

 

[voodoolove]

good call!! the quality and reliability of the voodoo range of cards is excellent if u ask me... fair enough there MAY not be any further driver support but that doesnt mean the card is going to stop working!!! it only means that it will not progress in performance thus a shorter life...

 

[Nagorak]

LOL, well, ok then. If you like your V5 5500 and it does everything you need it to, far be it from me to tell you that you are wrong. I'm glad you feel satisified with the card, it sure beats feeling ripped off. ;-)

 

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Nagorak (Apr 27, 2001 07:50 p.m.):
LOL, well, ok then. If you like your V5 5500 and it does everything you need it to, far be it from me to tell you that you are wrong. I'm glad you feel satisified with the card, it sure beats feeling ripped off. ;-)

Thanks Nagorak for the respect. I really don't like AMD but you'll never see me on the AMD board slammin their fans. =)

I think at this point, it's really a matter of opinion which is better........till we need drivers that don't exist, I "think" voodoo is. =)

 

[Mondo]

Omega will make drivers if he has beta testers(he wants people with lots of PC games if possible), hes already released a driver kit with V5's.

http://www.omegacorner.com/

Go here for more info, just email him.

 

[Shadow ÒÓ]

I really appreciate the link! I've downloaded the drivers he's offered and will run some benchmarks soon to give a "heads up" asap.