VOGONS


Creative 3D Blaster VLB price

Topic actions

First post, by vetz

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I found a source for this card, the price is high and too much for me. I know it is a rare card and hard to set a price on when not sold publicly, but do these cards really go for above 100 dollars? Is that even realistic at all?

Last edited by vetz on 2012-11-18, 23:04. Edited 1 time in total.

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 1 of 88, by Putas

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Yes, cards this rare were being sold on ebay for so much.

Reply 3 of 88, by Anonymous Coward

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I haven't seen one recently. But I saw them plenty of times in the past, some of which went for peanuts. I never had any interest the card. Should have picked a few up for investment.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 4 of 88, by vetz

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I don't think this card should worry that much higher price than the Diamond Edge 3D tbh (which I would put at tops 40-50 dollars for a 3400), a competitive card that came out at the same time in December 1995. It is in my eyes a price that says: "I don't want to sell it unless someone offers a ridiculous high price". Can add this is not an auction or craigslist, but a personal inquiry.

Last edited by vetz on 2012-11-18, 23:05. Edited 1 time in total.

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 5 of 88, by Putas

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Paid $108 for bare 3400XL recently. Edge 3D were relatively plenty and nowadays only collectors look after such hardware, so it is all about how rare the card is. I wish for better prices, but there are less and less offers as time goes by.

Reply 6 of 88, by vetz

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

108$! You must really have wanted that card.

I've seen a couple of Diamond Edge cards this year, so far the prices have been:

1x 2200 2MB - 20 euro (I won the auction on this one)
1x 2120 1MB with 1MB memory upgrade - Starting bid of 45 euro (dunno how much or if it sold at all.)
1x 3400 4MB- 78 dollars (withdrawn from Ebay. I guess this is the card you got Putas, as the stated international shipping is 30 dollars)
1x 3240 2MB - Sold for 30 euro (I bid on this one, but since I had just recently gotten my 2200 I wasn't that keen on getting another 2MB 3240. Even though it would be fun to test the performance difference between the 2000 and 3000 series. Maybe we can work out a benchmark comparison Putas?)

There is even a brand new boxed copy of a 2200 for sale in Japan for rougly 60 dollars, but the seller won't ship internationally 🙁

So not counting your 3400, I hope you can see where I got my estimate that was mentioned in the earlier post. But yeah, the Diamond Edge is more available. Probably because it was PCI and people kept the card as a backup or put it into an older computer when they upgraded. The Blaster's VLB bus which was almost outdated when released might have worked against it when it comes to how many cards that has survived to this day.

Last edited by vetz on 2012-11-09, 22:13. Edited 1 time in total.

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 7 of 88, by elfuego

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I dont really get it... Why would anyone pay so much for such a useless card? Please, do not compare Voodoo 5 5500 or 6000 with such crap - V5 still has a great value - its *the* best possible Glide card ever produced, and it will run almost every single Glide game perfectly (the old ones even with FSAA 4x or 8x which makes the output quality even better then the first voodoos).

But this... I read just a tiny bit about this card but it seems that it supports 0 (zero) games and just as many applications. If anyone is willing to spit out $500 for a piece of PCB with some random chips for display purposes (since its useless otherwise), I'll provide you one for a lot less 😜

Reply 8 of 88, by vetz

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

It's part of history, the 3D revolution that changed everything. So if you're a collector I guess you gotta catch em all 😉 (Pokemon reference there 🤣)

Though on the practical side of it, the Creative 3D Blaster VLB is pretty much useless when it comes to gaming. The available CGL games are listed in my games list, but out of these only Actua Soccer, Battle Arena Toshinden, Battlerace, Euro 96, Fatal Racing (doubtful), Flight Unlimited, Rebel Moon and Nascar Racing are realistic games you can play on it. I have excluded Hi-Octane and Margic Carpet Plus as these bundled versions is almost impossible to get hold of (the rest is pretty easy). Screamer 2 and Rally (last supported CGL games) I've also excluded as I have serious doubt that these two games will run well on a 486. The main problem being that you are limited to a system with a VLB bus. The card doesn't give any visual improvements and with only performance increase to show for it having a computer with a quicker Pentium CPU will do the same trick. Paying 500 dollars (which is way too high even if you look at it from a collectors point of view) to play a few extra games on a 486 is pretty steep. I personally and I guess along with several other collectors would be contempt if someone would do a really thorough test of the card with benchmark comparisons, maybe some videos and screenshots of the supported games. Just to give a better understanding on how bad/good this card actually was. The reviews from the time it came out give vague descriptions.

To turn it around the Diamond Edge 3D has more going for it seen from a modern perspective, but even that is a curiousity. To get visual improvements in 3D accelerated games you need to move into the second generation of cards from 3DFX, ATI, PowerVR, S3 Virge, etc etc

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 9 of 88, by Putas

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Gaming Glint has it's small library. There is different use value for a gamer and for a collector, or guys like me, who like to shed some more light on hardware little is know of. I know Voodoo5 does not make me feel so excited like rare card from first generation, independently of compatibility.

Reply 11 of 88, by F2bnp

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Buying a Voodoo 5 6000 for 1.500$ (more or less) is equally crazy.
You can always use wrappers, that's my mentality 😜

Reply 12 of 88, by elfuego

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
vetz wrote:
Putas wrote:

guys like me, who like to shed some more light on hardware little is know of.

Yeah, I feel the same, it's not that important to just collect it, but to explore it and share my finds.

This I understand and I totally agree. But such an experience is not worth more then $10-50. Let alone 3-digit sums 😠

F2bnp wrote:

Buying a Voodoo 5 6000 for 1.500$ (more or less) is equally crazy.
You can always use wrappers, that's my mentality 😜

Or get an close-enough replacement for $30 in form of V5 5500 😊

Reply 13 of 88, by sliderider

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

It is a rare card, but won't do anything for games compatibility. it uses the original iteration of the GLinT chip and isn't compatible with DirectX or OpenGL. You might be able to use it for scientific applications, CAD/CAM, and other apps that require 3D capability but to spend $500 just to say you have one if you aren't going to be able to use it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Reply 14 of 88, by [TGA3DX] Tim

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hi guys, not sure if anyone is interested, but thought I'd post it here anyway.

My Creative 3D Blaster VLB is for sale. Details in the listing.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt … em=110983679817

Decent starting bid due to sentimental value, rare too. Happy bidding.

Reply 15 of 88, by [TGA3DX] Tim

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Forgot to mention, listing is live on Saturday 9:00 GMT

Reply 16 of 88, by [TGA3DX] Tim

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Listing is live now. 😀

Reply 17 of 88, by dirkmirk

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Very nice, If I did'nt have a wife to worry about I would bid on that.

Reply 18 of 88, by [TGA3DX] Tim

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I've got one, that's why I'm selling! (Joking)

Reply 19 of 88, by Putas

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Was there ever memory expansion module available?