below this is G1nX collection.
Obsidian SB50-2200 Engineering sample

below this is Osckhar collection.
Obsidian SB50-2200 Engineering sample

1.1.2 Obsidian SB50-2220 green version Engineering sample
Soon after I showed the green version of obsidian sb50-2200, Gary, who is called the "king of voodoo video cards" by collectors, soon found a cooler one, the only green Obsidian sb50-2220 with Amethyst daughter card.

Obsidian SB50-2220 Engineering sample

The green Obsidian sb50-2200 is the earliest and least known voodoo card of 3dfx. There are only four cards in the world, all of which are shown here.
Collectors with this card are ranked ahead in "Top 100Computer Hardware Collection ".http://www.yjfy.com/Top100/Top100.htm
Gary and Osckhar are the strongest collectors based on Voodoo graphics cards, and me and G1nX are the strongest collectors based on graphics cards.
It can be seen that having this card does require some collection of good luck. Of course, there are some particularly low-key, more powerful collectors also have another chance.
Because engineering samples are much smaller than formal products, and many are unheard of, unseen treasures, collection is extremely difficult, so heavyweight hardware collectors have a lot of engineering samples.
My "feast" series of articles focus on the root of computer hardware, and the root of computer hardware is engineering samples. I believe you have tasted the unique taste. I would like to thank you for your collection of photos.

1.2 Obsidian black version Engineering sample
Obsidian black version Engineering sample picture is only available on the 3dfx website.This version is later than the green version, and the good luck charms on the card is very conspicuous.Like the green version, it has a square crystal oscillator‘s four empty welding feet.There is a resistor array at the bottom of display memory,It is similar to the later version, between them.It may be a FAB No. between 600-0003 and 600-0012.Maybe this version has made the most powerful model of obsidian sb50-4440.

1.3 Obsidian 02 version
There are many opinions on whether Obsidian 02 version has engineering samples,In particular, some of the early Obsidian 02 graphics cards were also used on arcades,As a result, it is generally believed that there is no engineering sample in this version, even the qualification sample is not recognized.
Obsidian version 02 began to paste the ASSY No. label,It indicates that the Obsidian 02 version has officially entered the product phase from the prototype phase, and the Obsidian 02 version is the retail board type.
Orchid Righteous 3D passed FCCID certification on July 24, 1996, and did not retail until October 3,And some of the chips used in retail video cards are still engineering samples,As a result, Voodoo chip has problems such as low YIELD RATE and insufficient capacity.3dfx still takes a long time to test and adjust.So there's still Engineering sample or Qualification Sample. in the early Obsidian 02 version graphics cards.The official version of the voodoo chipset number 500-0004-02 and 500-0003-03,Early chips that are not numbered like this are actually engineering sample-level chips.
There are only three PCB dates found in Obsidian version 02,9624/9625/9628weeks.Engineering sample or qualification sample exists in Obsidian with PCB date of 9624 / 9625 weeks.
Due to the limited information available, it is suspected that the first batch of PCB is dated 9624 weeks. This batch of cards have engineering samples.However, only one Obsidian sb50-2200 video card with PCB date of 9624 weeks is found, which is not an engineering sample, as shown in the figure below.The reason may be that the board of obsidian 02 is mature and reliable, and no need to adjust. The remaining few early PCB boards are used in the later production of video card.The TMU chip of the Obsidian sb50-2200 in the figure below uses a rare 500-0004-01 engineering sample, and its residual value is fully utilized due to its function.
Obsidian SB50-2200

More Obsidian graphics cards with PCB date of 9625 weeks,Using an early chipset or with a "µ test" sticker may be a qualification sample or customer sample, or even an engineering sample. "μ test" seems to be suitable for PC testing, and the tested Obsidian graphics cards are obviously not used for retail. Just like the following package of obsidian sb50-4220 video card with PCB date of 9625 weeks, can you say it is a formal product?
Obsidian SB50-4220 Qualification Sample

PCB date is 9628 weeks of video card is the official product, the largest number. Most of them are equipped with ASSY No. "650 -???? -??" and "USA" stickers.

Obsidian SB50-2200

The Obsidian video card is the same as the common voodoo video card when the Amethyst sub card is not installed. It has a 4 / 6 / 8MB version. After the sub card is connected, it is similar to the voodoo 2 video card and has two SLI cards. This is the most amazing part of the Obsidian video card. Let's slowly uncover the mystery of the Obsidian video card.

1.3.1 Obsidian SB50-2200
The sb50-2200 model is interpreted as follows:
SB50： single card, double card is 100 DB.
2200: the first digit is 2MB of video memory equipped with the FBI chip, up to 4MB at most; the second digit is 2MB of video memory equipped with the TMU chip, up to 4MB at most; the third digit is the video memory equipped with the TMU chip on the Amethyst daughter card, 0 represents that there is no Amethyst daughter card, with the Amethyst card, the video memory can be 2MB or 4MB; the fourth digit is 0, it is rumored that there is a daughter card that can support the third TMU chip, It's never been there.
Obsidian sb50-2200 is an entry-level Obsidian video card with the largest number. See the figure above for the official version
In the figure below, the objective sb50-2200 is a qualification sample. This version of the qualification sample is a little more.

Obsidian SB50-2200 Qualification Sample

1.3.2 Obsidian SB50-2400
The official version of the video card below does not have a back view. The FBI chip is equipped with 2MB of video memory, and the TMU chip is equipped with 4MB of video memory, a total of 6MB.

Obsidian SB50-2400

1.3.3 Obsidian SB50-4200
The number of this version is small. The FBI chip of the Obsidian sb50-4200 main card is equipped with 4MB video memory, and the TMU chip is equipped with 2MB video memory, a total of 6MB.

Obsidian SB50-4200

（From amibay.com）

This is the Qualification sample.

Obsidian SB50-4200 Qualification Sample

1.3.4 Obsidian SB50-4400
In the figure below, the FBI chip of the Obsidian sb50-4400 video card is equipped with 4MB video memory, and the TMU chip is equipped with 4MB video memory, a total of 8MB. This version may be all official products, as shown in the figure below. No pictures were found for the qualification sample version.

Obsidian SB50-4400

1.4 Amethyst daughtercard
Amethyst daughtercard has added a TMU chip, which is simply to make voodoo into voodoo 2, so the number of obsidians equipped with Amethyst daughtercard is very small. After all, 3dfx will continue to sell voodoo 2!
1.4.1 600-0003-01 2MB Engineering sample
This version only has 2MB video memory, which is engineering sample and only one piece.

Amethyst 50-0020 Engineering sample & Obsidian SB50-2200 ES

1.4.2 600-0014-01 2/4MB
Amethyst daughtercard used to print fccid number and FCC certification mark, and later used black tape to mask fccid number and FCC certification mark. 3dfx also pastes FCC certification mark on each Obsidian video card, and engineering samples are no exception. This led to the identification of the Obsidian graphics card as engineering sample and qualification sample being misled by the FCC certification mark. Because according to common sense, all FCC certified video cards are official products, and both the Obsidian video card and the Amethyst daughtercard have this FCC certification mark. Through the query of fccid: mh2amepro001, it is found that this ID number does not exist at all, and 3dfx has not passed the ID certification of FCC. Only 3dfx was queried to obtain the grant code of MH2 on April 14, 1998.
The next 2MB video memory version of Amethyst daughtercard printed with fccid number is qualification sample. The main card is Obsidian sb50-4200. When you install the Amethyst daughtercard, it is Obsidian sb50-4220.

Amethyst 50-0020 Qualification sample & Obsidian SB50-4200 Qualification sample

The following is a 2MB Amethyst daughtercard with the fccid number covered with black tape. The one equipped with Amethyst daughtercard is Obsidian sb50-4220.

Amethyst 50-0020 & Obsidian SB50-4200

(From tdfx.de)

Here is the Amethyst daughtercard of 4MB video memory.

Amethyst 50-0040

Installed on the Obsidian SB50-4400 graphics card will become the Obsidian SB50-4440 graphics card, which is not much different from the 12MB Voodoo2 graphics card.

Obsidian SB50-4440

1.5 Obsidian 01 version Engineering sample

The Obsidian 01 version is placed behind the Obsidian 02 version because this version only found 2 pieces, only found in the Obsidian 100DB-4440 engineering sample kit collected by Gary.

1.5.1 Obsidian SB50-2440 01 version Engineering sample

Obsidian SB50-2440 main card FAB No. 600-0013-01, PCB date 9619 weeks.

Compared with Obsidian graphics cards in versions 01 and 02, the main change is that version 02 adds a P1 interface and strengthens the SLI circuit on the back.

Obsidian SB50-2440(Obsidian 100DB-4440) Engineering sample

(This picture from 3dfx.cz may be the seller's picture, more than the buyer Gary's picture on the back.)

1.5.2 Obsidian 100DB-4440 Engineering sample

In theory, all Obsidian graphics cards can be connected by SLI, because they all reserve SLI interfaces. The first Obsidian SLI object I can see is Gary's Obsidian 100DB-4440 Engineering sample, which is connected by two Obsidian SB50-2440 01 version Engineering sample graphics card SLI.

Obsidian 100DB-4440 Engineering sample

From the figure below, you can see that the original design of the Obsidian 01 version of the graphics card does not fully support SLI. Additional components and adjustments to the SLI circuit are required. The problem encountered by this engineering sample is that the Obsidian 02 version of the graphics card only strengthens the back SLI circuit part. It was not until the Obsidian pro graphics card specially designed for SLI that the front SLI circuit was perfected and the SLI connection was well achieved.

Obsidian 01 version of the graphics card also produced SLI line during the same period, and Obsidian SB50 02 version of the same period of 9624 week SLI line is exactly the same, but the date is different.

SLI ribbon cable

1.6 Obsidian PRO

Obsidian PRO is an Obsidian graphics card specially adjusted for SLI connection, taking into account the cost considerations, there are two major improvements, one is to improve the front SLI connection circuit, and the other is to remove most of the resistor array the front memory and other parts.

1.6.1 Obsidian PRO

Obsidian PRO graphics card FAB No.600-0013-05, PCB date is 9651 weeks, it can be seen that the completion of this SLI function is difficult, and it took six months to complete.

The special version of SLI connection is divided into the main card and the auxiliary card. The Obsidian PRO SB50-2400 main card is as follows:

Obsidian PRO SB50-2400 Qualification sample