Did these things ever exist? (Falcon Northwest and Alienware configs from 1999) \ VOGONS

Did these things ever exist? (Falcon Northwest and Alienware configs from 1999)

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First post, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2018-11-14, 17:46

EdmondDantes Offline

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So I was reading the August 1999 issue of PC Gamer (US version, not sure if there's even different region versions for this magazine). On page 135 there are a pair of articles regarding then-upcoming offerings from Alienware and Falcon Northwest.

Apparently, Falcon Northwest was planning a comp called the "Talon" which would come with a Voodoo 3 2000... built into the motherboard.

And Alienware was going to use something called Wicked3D which would allow something similar to SLI, but for basically any video card (the article specifically mentions a configuration involving a Riva TNT2 and two Voodoo 3 2000s. And yes, I double-checked... it specifically said Voodoo 3 2000s). The writer apparently watched a demonstration and found the config was able to run Quake II at 1600x1200 at a regular rate of 61fps.

Okay, question.

Did either of these things ever actually get released? Because I'm shocked I never heard of them, if so. Especially the motherboard with the built-in Voodoo graphics. It seems like retro enthusiasts would be all over these things.

Reply 1 of 4, by dionb

Posted on 2018-11-14, 19:39

dionb Offline

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Voodoo3 on the motherboard? Yep.

Two boards known:
- MSI MS-6168 (used by Packard Bell, but also sold retail), i440ZX (rev1)/BX (rev2) uATX with a V3 2000 with 8MB SGRAM
- Atrend ATC-6254M, i440BX ATX with V3 2000 with 16MB SGRAM

As for TNT2 and 2x V3 2000... that sounds like someone getting mixed up with either a V2 SLI or a V5 setup.

Reply 2 of 4, by Koltoroc

Posted on 2018-11-14, 20:11

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I wouldn't be surprised if there were attempts of "hybrid SLI" at that time. The idea came back around 2009 in form of the lucid hydra. It wasn't great, compatibility was poor and never could keep the promises. The newest "attempt" is on the API level with DirectX 12 (Explicit Multi GPU) and there is pretty much no support for that idea this time either.

Reply 3 of 4, by leileilol

Posted on 2018-11-15, 03:19

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Falcon Northwest also had a bit of a relationship with Quantum3d at the time as well. Their late 1997 Mach V P233 had one of their dual Voodoo Graphics cards (inflating the price much along with the twin scsi drives, of course). Wouldn't be surprised if they slipped in one of their weird frankenvoodoos for the gaming press winner points.

long live PCem

Reply 4 of 4, by EdmondDantes

Posted on 2018-11-20, 19:06

EdmondDantes Offline

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dionb wrote:
As for TNT2 and 2x V3 2000... that sounds like someone getting mixed up with either a V2 SLI or a V5 setup.

No, they compared it to SLI and claimed this thing (called--or made by a company called--Wicked3D) allowed it to work with pretty much any graphics card.

I just googled Wicked3D... found a Gamespot article from the year 2000 saying they shut their doors, so I guess that answers that question. The PC Gamer writer (sorry I'm having comp trouble or I would've scanned the article) must've seen some proof-of-concept technology or something.

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