Voodoo 3: Fightin' the Good Fight!
A Bit Feature Limited Maybe, But Slow It Ain't
That's the lead in for the Computer Gaming World's review of the Voodoo3-3000 AGP in the July issue. It's a fairly even-handed review (by Loyd Case, their technical guru) and they give it 4 out of 5 stars. Here's an excerpt:
".......the high clock speed (166 Mhz) makes for some serious 3D performance -- as 3D GameGauge numbers show, Voodoo3 is no slouch in this department. So in a single AGP slot, you have Voodoo2 SLI performance , pretty decent 2D (Windows) performance, and the ability to run Glide games very, very fast. OpenGL and Direct3D games also perform well with Voodoo3."
(bottom of page shows a comparison of the Voodoo3-3000 and a Hercules Dynamite TNT, which it thoroughly spanks by 30 to 70% greater frame rate at 800 x 600 resolution.... Quake and Quake II numbers are at the 70% end of the scale....)
"When you open up the package, the first thing you see is the heat sink, which looks to be roughly the size of Manhatten, and covers more real estate than just the chip. The software bundle is quite good, too: full versions of Unreal and Need For Speed III, a coupon for Unreal Tournament, and an extended demo version of Descent III. Finally, there's 3dfx Tools, which puts a lot of control into the hands of the users (and has a slick user interface)."
"But there are limitations. There's no options for 32-bit rendering and there's no memory configuration larger than 16 MB. In addition, Voodoo3 can't do AGP texturing. This was apparent in the 3D Winbench 99 test, in which Voodoo3 couldn't run at a resolution of 1600x1200x16. The Hercules Dynamite TNT, also with 16MB of RAM, could run at that resolution -- albeit slowly. It's possible that the 3000 could have run 3D Winbench at 1600x1200 if it had 32MB of RAM, but it doesn't."
"So Voodoo3 is fast, but the competition, in the form of nVidia's TNT2 and Matrox's G400 Max, among others, will give Voodoo3 a run for it's money. 3dfx has no real alternative to the feature set of its competitors; all it currently has is Voodoo3 -- its version of a stripped down Dodge Charger with a 440 cubic inch engine. Still, the technology, though older than the competition, gives up nothing in raw performance."
" Thirty-two-bit rendering won't start to become a big deal until Quake III:Arena ships later this year, and that game will likely be followed by other titles that need 32-bit rendering capability. But 16 bit output still looks good in current games, and for these games Voodoo3 definitely delivers."
Oh, and they also mention that they will have a review of the Voodoo3-3500 in next months issue (August issue, but mailed to subscribers beginning of July). I guess that means they must have a 3500 in their pudgy little hands as we speak.... lucky bastards! :P |
