Voodoo graphic cards still around?

[DragonNOA1]

Maybe it's just me but it seems like every site I goto I hear about Voodoo cards being compared to Nvidia cards. How Voodoo is awesome and even outperforms nvidia's graphic cards. Didn't voodoo go out of business awhile ago? Am I missing something or are Voodoo cards the best there ever was, and ever will be? I just don't understand...

[mike breck]

3DFX Voodoo cards were the best in their day and developed an almost cult following.

However, the Voodoos continued to offer only 16 bit colour whereas NVidia developed 32 bit colour in the TNT's and then the Geoforce series.

That unfortunately was a bad decision by 3DFX and was one of the main reasons that led to their demise. Many people could put up with slower speeds in comparison to NVidia cards but not 16 bit colour. Everyone wanted 32 bit colour.

As we all know the graphics card market is a tough one. I wouldn't be suprised if in a few years time we are all bemoaning the demise of NVidia or ATI as a new kid appears on the block.

[DragonNOA1]

thanks mike, it still seems that many people swear by the voodoo line of cards and it is weird how many times i have heard people talk about them recently. thanks again.

[Xayd]

They're not quite obsolete yet, even.

Nintendo 64 ROMs commonly use Glide as a renderer.

Unreal-engine based games (UT, Deus Ex, Rune, etc.) still use Glide as well.

People who still play stuff like this will probably have their voodoo cards for some time to come. Hell, I still have my Voodoo5 and slap it in occasionally when I play UT for more than one day in a row .

[Tiretool]

One of the most important factors that led to 3DFX's eternal celestial dirt nap was their unwillingness to sell their graphics chips to companies so that the companies could build their own cards. 3DFX only allowed a limited few to do this. For the most part, they manufactured their own cards, limiting themselves and giving nVidia a strong foothold in the graphics card community. (nVidia sold their chipsets to many graphics card makers, and gained a ton of market share).

In retrospect, without 3DFX, today's robust graphics might just be wishful thinking...

[DragonNOA1]

hey Xayd,
Do you still use your voodoo 5 because you get better frame rates with it then other cards that use D3D? just wondering...