3dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP Graphics Accelerator

Fast and furious, 3dfx's Voodoo3 3000 card gives you blazing 3-D for the latest and most demanding games. If you're a hard-core gamer in search of the fastest 3-D action, then you'll want to get your hands on this gem of a graphics card.

The Voodoo3 3000's extensive feature set includes 3dfx's patented single pass, single cycle multi-texturing, dual 32-bit texture rendering pipeline, alpha blending, single pass, single-cycle bump mapping, gouraud shading, DVD hardware assist, 128-bit 2-D accelerator and--if that isn't enough for you--a TV/S-Video-out connector. With a core clock rate of 166 MHz and 350-MHz RAMDAC, this card offers impressive 3-D performance.

Installing the Voodoo3 3000 was a snap as the manual walks you step by step through the process. We tested the Voodoo3 3000 on a 333-MHz Celeron system with DirectX 6.1 at a resolution of 800 x 600. The card managed an impressive 58 frames per second in our Quake II time demo--very near 3dfx's claim of 60 frames per second.

We would love to see 3dfx support 32-bit color at some point in the future, especially since Quake III will support true-color textures. Additionally, 3dfx's Voodoo cards only support a 256 x 256 texture size, which will experience a decrease in image quality once game manufacturers begin supporting 2,048 x 2,048 texture sizes. However, 3dfx's advantage at this point lies in its proprietary Glide API (application program interface) and its clout within the 3-D graphics card arena--two good reasons why Voodoo3 3000 is a number one choice for those seeking the most intense gaming experience.

Pros:

Superb image quality
Impressive frame rate
Extensive game support
Glide API support

Cons:

No 32-bit output
Maximum memory of 16 MB
Limited by 256 x 256 texture size

Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
First of all, voodoo3 products (all models) are both 2d and 3d cards. 2d is for stuff like displaying windows and your desktop and stuff like that. You notice 2d performance when you're scrolling down a window and the scroll bar is moving in blocks instead of smoothly like it should. Also, 2d is used in games that rely on your computer to make frames or pictures. Quake is an example of a game that uses 2d mode. The v3-3k is excelent in this area, although game performance is highly dependant on your processor speed in 2d. 3d is used in games (e.g. quake2, quake3, unreal tournament). If a game says "openGL" "Direct3D" or "glide" on the side of the box, it uses 3d and will work with v3's. You notice 3d performance when your games don't move smoothly. If a windmill on the screen moves like a clock ticking, that's bad. If it moves smoothly, that's good. The v3-3k is currenly the best 3d card on the market. I say best because even though there's a v3-3500 that's definitely faster, sometime in 2000 3dfx is going to come out with voodoo4's which will dwarf the voodoo3's in performance and support 32 bit color. According to amazon.com review guidelines, I'm not supposed to mention prices here, but let me tell you: they're gonna be cheap! :)