The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →From Voodoo3 through Voodoo5, 3Dfx moved from a separate 3D accelerator toward single-card 2D/3D graphics, then bet on combining multiple graphics chips to keep pace with faster rivals. That transition brought new capabilities and striking hardware, but also exposed the costs of 3Dfx’s manufacturing strategy, complex designs, and slower product cadence. This second chapter in 3Dfx’s graphics-card history follows the retail products, OEM variants, and surviving development boards from 1998 to 2000.
From Voodoo2 to Voodoo3: a different kind of graphics card
The first volume of this series covers the original Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo Rush, and Voodoo2. Voodoo3 marks a change in approach: rather than relying on a separate 2D adapter alongside a 3D accelerator, it combined 2D and 3D functions on one board. It retained a dual-texture-unit design related to Voodoo2, but the integrated-card format made 3Dfx’s product more directly comparable with all-in-one competitors.
3Dfx announced Voodoo3 at COMDEX on November 16, 1998. The announcement came as the company was changing how it went to market. On December 14, 1998, 3Dfx announced its acquisition of STB Systems, a graphics-board manufacturer. The move offered greater control over board design, branding, and manufacturing. It also meant 3Dfx increasingly competed as a finished-card vendor rather than supplying chips to a broad field of board partners. The timeline and strategic context are discussed in the Vol. 2 historical account and the earlier series installment.
The Voodoo3 family
Voodoo3 appeared in several tiers, with differences in clocks, memory, interfaces, and video features. The following is a guide to the product families, not a claim that every card bearing a model name used an identical board configuration.
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| Family | Reported configuration and features | Availability and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Voodoo3 2000 | Reported in 8 MB and 16 MB versions, with PCI and AGP boards. The historical account gives 125 MHz in early announcement material and 143 MHz for later retail descriptions. | Formal announcement or release is dated February 12, 1999 in the account; April 7, 1999 is also given as a release date. Listed price: $129.99, as reported by that account. |
| Voodoo3 3000 | Reported as a 16 MB family, with PCI and AGP variants. Early material cites 183 MHz, while later retail descriptions cite 166 MHz. Some versions offered TV or S-Video output. | February 12 and April 7, 1999 are both given as milestones. Listed price: $179.99, as reported by the account. |
| Voodoo3 3500 and 3500TV | The 3500 is associated with a 183 MHz figure in the account. The 3500TV added tuner and video features and an external A/V Control Pod; NTSC and PAL variants existed. | The 3500TV is dated July 30, 1999 and listed at $249 in the account. Exact retail specifications and tuner assignments should be treated as source-reported. |
The different clock figures should not be collapsed into a single definitive specification: early announcement numbers and later retail descriptions do not agree. Board revisions and regional or model variations may account for some differences, but the available collector-oriented account does not establish a complete reconciliation. Likewise, a model name alone does not determine memory chips, cooling, outputs, or PCB layout. Its Voodoo3 chronology and board notes are valuable, but exact specifications are best checked against documentation for the particular board.
OEM and board-partner variations
Voodoo3 boards were not limited to cards sold under 3Dfx’s own label. The collection catalog records OEM and third-party examples associated with Gateway, Compaq, Dell, ASUS, PowerColor, and VillageTronic. These products show that the Voodoo3 chip family circulated through several channels even as 3Dfx moved toward tighter control of its own boards. The catalog’s photographs and board-level identifications are available at the collection site.
3500TV and the multimedia push
The Voodoo3 3500TV was more than a graphics card with a display connector: its external A/V Control Pod was part of a package intended for television tuning and video input and output. That distinction matters when comparing it with simpler cards offering TV output alone. The account identifies Philips tuner hardware in NTSC versions and Samsung hardware in PAL versions, but that assignment is source-reported rather than independently established here. Later VoodooTV 100 PCI, VoodooTV 200, and VoodooTV-FM products further illustrate 3Dfx’s effort to extend its reach from game acceleration into home multimedia.
Velocity 100, Voodoo3 1000, and cut-down designs
In July 1999, 3Dfx announced the Velocity branding for lower-cost products derived from Voodoo3. The Velocity 100 and Voodoo3 1000 examples described in the historical account include boards with 8 MB of SGRAM, a clock around 143 MHz, and one texture-management unit rather than two. A Gateway special-edition Voodoo3 1000 is also described.
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Those details are useful for distinguishing a cut-down design from a mainstream Voodoo3, but they do not prove the commercial status of every similar-looking board. Collectors compare BIOS versions, PCB dates, factory stickers, and markings such as “TEST,” “QC,” or “NOT FOR RESALE.” An engineering sample records a stage of development; a qualification sample indicates evaluation for production; a retail board is a product sold through normal channels. The labels are not interchangeable, and provenance matters.
Board archaeology: what surviving cards can and cannot prove
Photographs and physical markings make this period unusually rich for hardware historians. The Vol. 2 account discusses Voodoo3 PCB families 210-0364, 210-0366, 210-0369, 210-0371, and 210-0380; Voodoo4 evaluation-board families 210-0386 and 210-0389; Voodoo5 5500 AGP family 210-0413; and Voodoo5 5500 PCI family 210-0414. These identifiers should be read from clear photographs or documentation, not inferred from a card’s appearance alone.
A PCB date code can indicate a manufacturing week; layout revisions, BIOS versions, component placement, memory, heatsinks, output connectors, and AGP-slot hooks can reveal design changes. But a surviving sample proves that a particular configuration existed, not that it reached mass production or represented final specifications. Collector evidence is strongest when a board’s markings, provenance, and firmware agree.
Voodoo3 against TNT2: the competitive balance shifts
NVIDIA announced RIVA TNT2 on March 15, 1999, according to the historical account. Its author characterizes Voodoo3 performance as broadly comparable to TNT2 and says TNT2 Ultra could exceed Voodoo3 3500. That is not a universal benchmark result: performance varies with the game, API, resolution, color depth, drivers, and test system. The important historical point is that NVIDIA was no longer clearly trailing 3Dfx.
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Voodoo3’s emphasis on 16-bit rendering became a limitation as competitors made stronger 32-bit color support a selling point. Its feature evolution also looked less dramatic against NVIDIA’s rapid product cadence. At the same time, 3Dfx’s move toward selling its own boards created a business trade-off. Vertical integration could give the company tighter control of design and product identity; reducing chip supply to outside manufacturers risked narrowing the partner ecosystem. The account associates former partners including Diamond and Creative with a shift toward NVIDIA and ATI, but the causal explanation is an interpretation rather than a documented statement from each company.
VSA-100: 3Dfx’s multi-chip answer
VSA-100 powered the Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 generation. The historical account describes it as an evolution of Voodoo3 rather than a complete architectural break, and attributes 32-bit color, AGP texturing, a 24-bit Z-buffer, and multi-chip operation using scan-line interleaving to the design. It also reports a 250 nm process and nominal 166 MHz core and memory clocks in its Voodoo4 specifications. These technical details are useful orientation, but precise terminology and implementation should be checked against period technical documentation.
The product strategy scaled performance by putting more VSA-100 chips on a board rather than relying on an immediate manufacturing-process shrink. That meant more board complexity, power demand, and cooling needs. Multi-chip performance also depended on software and drivers coordinating work across the chips; the number of processors on a card alone did not guarantee equivalent gains in every application.
Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 product families
| Product | Design intent | Status and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Voodoo4 4500 AGP and PCI | One VSA-100 chip | Announced family; AGP and PCI versions are reported. |
| Voodoo5 5000 PCI | Multi-chip VSA-100 product | Announced family; the account lists it as PCI. |
| Voodoo5 5500 AGP | Two VSA-100 chips | Reached the market; large board and additional power requirements made installation more involved than a typical single-chip card. |
| Voodoo5 5500 PCI | Two VSA-100 chips | PCI version, including a Mac-specific product; firmware and driver compatibility are platform-dependent. |
| Voodoo5 6000 AGP | Four VSA-100 chips in the intended flagship configuration | Primarily an engineering-sample and collector object, not an ordinary retail product. The account gives a 128 MB specification for the intended board. |
3Dfx announced the family at COMDEX ’99 on November 15, 1999, according to the account. It reports public demonstrations of Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 boards at CeBIT in February 2000, and a Voodoo5 6000 demonstration at WinHEC on April 26, 2000. A demonstrated or announced product should not be confused with a shipping retail card, especially in the case of the 6000.
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Why the single-chip Voodoo4 came later
The Voodoo4 4500 followed the Voodoo5 5500 rather than leading the family to market. The account dates the Voodoo4 4500 to October 13, 2000, about four months after the Voodoo5 5500. One plausible reading is that 3Dfx needed the higher-end, two-chip product to confront GeForce2-class competition while its development schedule was already under pressure. That is a historical interpretation, not a definitive corporate explanation. By the time the simpler Voodoo4 arrived, the delay had weakened its position.
Voodoo5 5500 shipments and the reported recall
Shipment dates for the Voodoo5 5500 are not consistent in the collector account. It identifies June 22, 2000 as a shipment date, while also citing a report that cards shipped May 5, were recalled May 25 over possible power-supply problems, and shipped again June 9. Treat that recall sequence as reported collector history, not settled fact: the account does not provide an official recall notice or enough contemporary documentation to resolve the dates.
A malfunctioning surviving card does not establish a general reliability problem. A fault can reflect the individual board’s condition, a power supply, aging components, modification, or repair history. The Voodoo5’s size, power needs, cooling, and multi-chip complexity are real practical considerations, but a single collector’s experience cannot be generalized to all cards.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Macintosh cards: PCI is not the whole compatibility story
3Dfx’s first Mac-platform products included the Voodoo4 4500 PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI. The account dates their announcement to April 2000 and says the Mac Voodoo5 5500 PCI became available August 10, 2000. A Mac PCI card is not automatically interchangeable with a PC PCI card: ROM, drivers, display initialization, connectors, and operating-system support all matter. The VOGONS continuation discusses the Mac products, while the collection catalog provides board-level examples.
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Why this generation mattered to 3Dfx’s decline
Voodoo3 showed 3Dfx adapting to the expectation that a graphics card handle both desktop display and 3D acceleration. Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 then pursued higher performance through VSA-100 multi-chip designs, with Voodoo5’s anti-aliasing and processing power as part of the appeal. But the same approach brought larger, more demanding boards and more engineering and driver complexity.
Those product choices landed in a market where NVIDIA refreshed quickly and GeForce2-class competition made timing crucial. 3Dfx’s STB strategy offered control over complete products but risked alienating manufacturers that had once built cards around its chips. Delays and complexity compounded those pressures; they did not make the company’s eventual outcome inevitable, but they help explain why technically distinctive hardware was not enough to preserve its position.
Timeline: announcements and reported retail milestones
| Date | Milestone | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| November 16, 1998 | Voodoo3 announced at COMDEX ’98 | Announcement date reported by the historical account. |
| December 14, 1998 | 3Dfx announced its acquisition of STB Systems | Corporate announcement reported by the account. |
| February 12, 1999 | Voodoo3 2000 and 3000 formal release or announcement | The account uses this as a milestone, but also supplies a later release date. |
| March 15, 1999 | NVIDIA announced TNT2 | Date reported by the account. |
| April 7, 1999 | Voodoo3 2000 and 3000 release date; listed prices $129.99 and $179.99 | Prices and date are account-reported; announcement, availability, and actual shipment may differ. |
| July 1999 | Velocity branding announced | Lower-cost Voodoo3-derived line. |
| July 30, 1999 | Voodoo3 3500TV release date; listed at $249 | Date and price reported by the account. |
| November 15, 1999 | Voodoo4/Voodoo5 family announced at COMDEX ’99 | Announcement, not proof that every listed SKU shipped. |
| February 2000 | Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 demonstrated at CeBIT | Public demonstration as reported by the account. |
| April 26, 2000 | Voodoo5 6000 demonstrated at WinHEC | Demonstration of the flagship design, not retail release. |
| August 10, 2000 | Mac Voodoo5 5500 PCI reportedly available | Availability date reported by the account. |
| October 13, 2000 | Voodoo4 4500 release date | Date reported by the account; it followed the Voodoo5 5500. |
Identifying and preserving a surviving card
- Record the exact model label, bus interface, memory markings, connectors, PCB number, and visible date codes.
- Photograph stickers, factory markings, BIOS information, and both sides of the board before changing or cleaning it.
- Separate evidence of a development sample from evidence of retail sale; a “TEST” or “NOT FOR RESALE” marking is a clue, not complete provenance.
- Do not assume a card is original because its PCB number matches a known family. Replacement fans, brackets, components, repairs, and BIOS changes can alter a board.
- Before powering on decades-old hardware, inspect for damage and use a suitable, stable power supply. Old components or prior repairs can make a once-functional board unsafe or unreliable.
For a visual catalog of surviving boards and variants, see the collection-oriented Voodoo3-to-Voodoo5 catalog. The original forum history and its VOGONS mirror preserve additional discussion and collector observations.
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