winuser3162 wrote on 2024-05-10, 20:14:

do you recall anyone who purchased a voodoo card ( voodoo 3-4 or 5) during the time nvidia was beginning to take over the 3D market regret their decision not investing in an nvidia tnt, tnt2, geforce 256 or geforce 2 card?

I think you've have to look at the calendar as well... using launch dates from Wikipedia:
- Voodoo 2 - February 1998
- TNT - June 15, 1998
- TNT2 - March 1999
- Voodoo 3 - March/April 1999
- GeForce GTS - announced Aug. 31, 1999, released October 11, 1999
- GeForce 2 - mid-May, 2000
- Voodoo 5 - June 22, 2000

First, look at how insane it is that Nvidia was launching a new chip almost every six months. And with big improvements each time, too.

Second, I don't think anyone would have purchased a voodoo 5 card... that's the entire issue. The Voodoo 5 was late, the GeForce 2 had much better numbers, that's what people would have gotten. No regretting getting a V5 because you didn't buy one in the first place.

Third, many, many people had Voodoo 2s. If you had a one-year-old Voodoo 2 and somehow wanted to buy a new video card already, you'd probably just keep your Voodoo 2 and get the TNT2 or the GeForce. Why not?

Keep in mind this was the infancy of 3D-accelerated games. Pretty much all games had a passable option for CPU rendering. If you were lucky, you had a Voodoo 1/2.

It's funny given the legend status Voodoo has in the retro community (then again, dying in your prime is the best way to become a legend... which applies to video cards and APIs just as much as music or movie stars), but my recollection is that by 2000-2001, no one talked about Voodoo. It was GeForce this and GeForce that and is ATI Radeon going to catch up for more than a few weeks before the next GeForce regains the crown.

I clearly remember the launch of the first GeForce. That was a major leap in terms of performance compared to the others. And quite a memorable event in a life of a gamer and PC enthusiast too 😀

winuser3162 wrote on 2024-05-10, 20:14:

do you recall anyone who purchased a voodoo card ( voodoo 3-4 or 5) during the time nvidia was beginning to take over the 3D market regret their decision not investing in an nvidia tnt, tnt2, geforce 256 or geforce 2 card?

as i recall, i had an ati card, and the people i knew bought GF2's and 3's.

the boxes in CompUSA were amazing to behold. but if you read any of the magazines at the time, you knew to go team green.

VivienM wrote on 2024-05-10, 21:07:

I think you've have to look at the calendar as well... using launch dates from Wikipedia: - Voodoo 2 - February 1998 - TNT - Jun […]
Show full quote

winuser3162 wrote on 2024-05-10, 20:14:

do you recall anyone who purchased a voodoo card ( voodoo 3-4 or 5) during the time nvidia was beginning to take over the 3D market regret their decision not investing in an nvidia tnt, tnt2, geforce 256 or geforce 2 card?

I think you've have to look at the calendar as well... using launch dates from Wikipedia:
- Voodoo 2 - February 1998
- TNT - June 15, 1998
- TNT2 - March 1999
- Voodoo 3 - March/April 1999
- GeForce GTS - announced Aug. 31, 1999, released October 11, 1999
- GeForce 2 - mid-May, 2000
- Voodoo 5 - June 22, 2000

First, look at how insane it is that Nvidia was launching a new chip almost every six months. And with big improvements each time, too.

Second, I don't think anyone would have purchased a voodoo 5 card... that's the entire issue. The Voodoo 5 was late, the GeForce 2 had much better numbers, that's what people would have gotten. No regretting getting a V5 because you didn't buy one in the first place.

Third, many, many people had Voodoo 2s. If you had a one-year-old Voodoo 2 and somehow wanted to buy a new video card already, you'd probably just keep your Voodoo 2 and get the TNT2 or the GeForce. Why not?

Keep in mind this was the infancy of 3D-accelerated games. Pretty much all games had a passable option for CPU rendering. If you were lucky, you had a Voodoo 1/2.

It's funny given the legend status Voodoo has in the retro community (then again, dying in your prime is the best way to become a legend... which applies to video cards and APIs just as much as music or movie stars), but my recollection is that by 2000-2001, no one talked about Voodoo. It was GeForce this and GeForce that and is ATI Radeon going to catch up for more than a few weeks before the next GeForce regains the crown.

i always laugh in my head when i see prices for voodoo 5 cards exceed 600 dollars,. i couldn't imagine spending that amount of money on a card that was a not only a major MAJOR flop but inferior to that of a much cheaper card that came out earlier. (geforce 2) I dont understand the insane prices and collectibility around the voodoo 5 despite it just being generally hard to find and the fact that its 3dFX. Out of all the voodoo cards, the voodoo 5 is not only the least credible but unfortunately the most expensive out of all of them. ill always love 3DFX but the hype around the voodoo 5 is just out of control in my opinion. the card was bound to die, let it be dead.

there was always a dedicated fanbase. the cards always commanded a premium on ebay. but the recent resurgence is just baffling.

luckybob wrote on 2024-05-11, 14:03:

there was always a dedicated fanbase. the cards always commanded a premium on ebay. but the recent resurgence is just baffling.

I can understand the PCI models getting a resurgence as they are fairly useful, the AGP models though .. Id rather have a nice Geforce 256 DDR over AGP Voodoo 5, unless its a early socket 7 AGP system with a VIA chipset at which point Ill take the Voodoo 5 as it doesn't use any AGP features and is exceptionally compatible with buggy AGP implementations because of that. I cant recommend a Voodoo 3 here as that has issues with some AGP slots and power delivery.

winuser3162 wrote on 2024-05-10, 20:14:

luckybob wrote on 2024-04-19, 23:56:

I mean... I wouldn't call it a "good" reason. It's 100% rose tinted goggles and weapons grade copium. […]
Show full quote

I mean... I wouldn't call it a "good" reason. It's 100% rose tinted goggles and weapons grade copium.

Credit where it's due, V1 & V2 were blazing stars of awesome. Then the company just shit the bed for a myriad of reasons.

The V4 & V5 were junk compared to the competition. The GeForce 256 ate voodoo for lunch, and the GF2 deflowering 3dfx's mother.

I lived through this in high-school, nobody gave 2 shits about 3dfx once nvidia released their cards. You either have the highest fps in the current popular games, or you were nobody. Something that has not changed.

do you recall anyone who purchased a voodoo card ( voodoo 3-4 or 5) during the time nvidia was beginning to take over the 3D market regret their decision not investing in an nvidia tnt, tnt2, geforce 256 or geforce 2 card?

I bought a parhelia that was very cheap and regretted it because I could no longer dual boot Windows 98se/2k and use anything other than generic VGA drivers