Voodoo 3 Nostalgia - PICTURES!

Great thread! I have a working Voodoo3 3000 in my closet. Some days I am tempted it get it out so I can play Tribes using glide.

Speaking of Tribes you can download it free here
 
Met-AL said:
How come video cards have to cost so much nowdays when back then, you could get top of the line for around $200?
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I hear you, man. Remember computer shows? In 1999, I bought a Diamond TNT2 Ultra, the fastest GPU chip out at the time (well, the Voodoo 3 could beat it in some benchmarks), for $100 and put together a top-of-the-line (Pentium III 500MHz, Sound Blaster Live!, 128MB PC100 SDRAM) gaming PC for $1,000. I also bought a 17" Sony Trinitron flat-screen CRT for $500...ha, ha, ha. Still, it was amazing that you could build what would be a $2,000 to $4,000 system back then for $1,000.

I just did a quick check on eBay and found GeForce2 GTS/Ultra and GeForce3 video cards for, like, $20 after shipping (some of them have "Buy it now!" for $10). This is great. I think a "new" build is in order...
 
Roman79 said:
Great thread! I have a working Voodoo3 3000 in my closet. Some days I am tempted it get it out so I can play Tribes using glide.

Speaking of Tribes you can download it free here
Click to expand...
I'll be sure to toss it on my rig and run it and post some screenies :)
 
Ah yes... but my memories are bitter sweet. I really believed in 3Dfx. Loved their products, owned each iteration of their cards - was blown away by SLI with Voodoo 2's. Loved their products and decided to invest in what I thought was the coolest damn tech company for PC's on the planet at the time.... I invested about $75K into their stock. When they folded, I think I got back about $350. Yep, I got burned bad. The early days still hold a fond nostalgia for me... but it's a bit tarnished by the way 3Dfx management ran the company into the ground. :(
 
Xonitex said:
I hear you, man. Remember computer shows? In 1999, I bought a Diamond TNT2 Ultra, the fastest GPU chip out at the time (well, the Voodoo 3 could beat it in some benchmarks), for $100 and put together a top-of-the-line (Pentium III 500MHz, Sound Blaster Live!, 128MB PC100 SDRAM) gaming PC for $1,000. I also bought a 17" Sony Trinitron flat-screen CRT for $500...ha, ha, ha. Still, it was amazing that you could build what would be a $2,000 to $4,000 system back then for $1,000.

I just did a quick check on eBay and found GeForce2 GTS/Ultra and GeForce3 video cards for, like, $20 after shipping (some of them have "Buy it now!" for $10). This is great. I think a "new" build is in order...
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Originally Posted by Met-AL How come video cards have to cost so much nowdays when back then, you could get top of the line for around $200?
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$200 was a lot of money for me back in those days.
 
From what I recall I think I paid around $600+ for my V2 Sli in like 97. It was like $300+ a card. It is so funny to think about now. G200 AGP 16Mb with V2 SLi clocked at like 102Mhz and my 300a SL2WM (OMF you should see the lap I did on it..I just looked at it and cracked up..I need to post pix) clocked at a HARD (H was not around then or were just starting up, it was so long ago..everyone was at place called AGN, if I recall right) 464Mhz (or 450..sure it was 464, though) on my Abit Bh6 and the MX200 3D pumping the sounds! :p ..and OMG...I could run shit at 1024!!! I do recall being so jealous of the X-24, though. :D
Still have my 300a and V2 set up...will never part with em'. :)
 
Wow, brings back warm memories of 256x256 textures.

Of course, I was enjoying Quake III's textures at full 512x512 resolution on my G400 MAX.

Boy, did we settle for half-assed solutions back in the day :D
 
I built a box with my Voodoo3 2000 a little while ago. My buddy had his old crashway (Gateway) desktop case. I think it was originally a 200mmx. He changed out the motherboard years ago, though, so it's got a Celery 333mhz in it. I took out the bigfoot HDD drive that was in there and upgraded it to a spare 10GB 5400RPM WD I had laying around.

The old board/win98 didn't want to play nice with my Soundblaster PCI512 so I used the SBLive my buddy left in it. The box has some kind of fancy faceplate CDROM that I didn't try messing with - it would require hacking up a good optical drive, which I don't have spare, so the CDROM is probably like a 24x or a 32x.

Win98 isn't as bad as I remembered, although the find new hardware/installing drivers process is annoying.

I haven't had a lot of time to play it, though. Between the Nintendo Wii and Civ4 they eat all my small amount of gaming time these days.

The games I want to power up on it are Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2, Master of Magic, etc. :D
 
Ahh, the good ole days of the Glide API. How I miss it so! Every game that supported it looked so amazing back then, just think what 3DFX would be like if they were still around. :(
 
saturnine2 said:
Ahh, the good ole days of the Glide API. How I miss it so! Every game that supported it looked so amazing back then, just think what 3DFX would be like if they were still around. :(
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50 Cores between 5 processors lol.
 
Me seeing Unreal for the first time with software rendering:
"Hmm.. not a bad game."

Me seeing Unreal for the first time with a brand new Voodoo1:
:eek: (jaw hit floor, almost fell out of chair, etc.)

*NOTHING* since that day has blown my mind as significantly as watching the opening flyby at 640x480 with Glide. I mean nothing.

I went through a Voodoo2 and a Voodoo3 as well, and had a very brief time with a Voodoo4 (PC-illiterate friend of mine got it in a PC he didn't plan to game on so I swapped it with a Matrox and he never knew the difference).

I remember going to the mall and buying a Voodoo5 5500 for $299 at Electronics Boutique just because I wanted one at that exact moment and I wasn't going to wait and save $50 by ordering it online. The thing was an absolute beast. I don't remember what happened to that card, I think I sold it to someone I used to work with.
 
Owned a Voodoo Banshee, Voodoo2, and a Voodoo5 5500 (PCI). Still have the Voodoo5, not sure where the other two went.
 
I popped my hardware acceleration cherry with Quake 2. I had been running in software for a couple months when my roommate brought home his friend's extra Voodoo 1. He put it in my machine and I started up the game with openGL turned on. I was completely blown away from the first moment I loaded a level. I was only able to keep that card a week or two, and when I had to give it back I didn't like Quake 2 so much anymore. I bought my own Diamond Monster Voodoo 1 4MB that summer (1998) for about $150 Canadian. At first I bought a 12MB Voodoo2 but it was so much money and I needed a printer and scanner as well.
 
Pics don't seem to show up, not sure if it's me or the forum.

I owned a Voodoo 4 4500 with 32MB of RAM. Had that baby in an old Compaq 350MHz AMD CPU with 256MB PC-100 RAM. I would sit and play Quake 2 and Deus Ex ALL the time. Only stopped using that card because I couldn't get GTA3 or Morrowind to run on it(damned DX8.1). Glide was pimp imho, miss it greatly!!!
 
ya can't go back. jsut hold on to that warm and fuzzy feeling and crank up the 8800 that is my stance. :)
 
RayDaddy said:
ya can't go back. jsut hold on to that warm and fuzzy feeling and crank up the 8800 that is my stance. :)
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But you can get dang close, i spent about 150$ getting my retro rig back in operation (specs in sig) and don't have enough desk space to play it that way i'd like to, so it doesn't get much time spent on it, i have alot of old games still i'd like to install on it.

I got ultimate doom, unreal, ROTT, HL1, carmageddon 1/splat pack, carmageddon 2, carmageddon 3, redneck rampage, quake, quake 2, quake 3, rocket jockey, shadow warriow, killing time, twisted metal 2 and many more, good old memories. Its still worth every penny IMO.

I still have parts to build some older rigs too that just need like 2d card, hdd's memory, got a K6-2 450mhz system with a TNT1 16mb and a voodoo 1 4mb that i could get going, as well as a 1.13ghz Taulatin that would need a mian card but have a 3rd voodoo 2 12mb i could toss in it.

Hmmm, games i'm still looking for are shogo, shadowman, redline (the fps one). Oh the memories of PC gaming!
 
I've changed hosts since I made that post, but I updated the links.
 
Roman79 said:
Great thread! I have a working Voodoo3 3000 in my closet. Some days I am tempted it get it out so I can play Tribes using glide.

Speaking of Tribes you can download it free here
Click to expand...

Tribes was the #1 reason why my P1 233mhz had a voodoo3 graphics card. It used to have an ATI 1mb shared onboard graphic chip, but that wasn't good enough for me.
I still remember begging my parent to lay down $120 dollars for the card.
Voodoo 3 was porn.
 
I still have two old boxes piled somewhere with alot of this old hardware--i bet they still power up too! Now I have to go find them...They were both screamers in their day.


P233
ati mach64 pci 4mb(i think) for 2d
voodoo 2 1000 12(?)mb sli for 3d
3gb hdd
96mb ram

PIII 750@930
Asus P3B 440bx
Voodoo3 3500 pci

I'm not sure about the models exactly, it's been years since I have even thought about them. Looks like I will set em up and take some pics.
 
Yup, back home we have a dell (P3 I think) that has a voodoo3 in it. I remember begging for that card lol. Brings back the memories. Tribes is an amazing game, I guess playing it on the voodoo3 wouldve been the first time playing that game. I played that game for like 4 years straight, when I first got it, I played like 6+ hours a day! jetpacks/vehicles FTW! Truely an amazing game, still holds a place in my heart, even though I've moved on.
 
After reading this I have the urge to put together a Windows98SE machine. I have a Voodoo3 2000 and an Aureal Vortex SQ2500 laying around.
 
3dfx.I loved their products. I really wish they were still around to duke it out in the DX10 generation. My first 3d card was a Voodoo1. Next was a Voodoo3.
 
I took my rig to a LAN party (before I even knew it what a LAN party was... my uncle said it was a computer gamers group,) and my specs at the time were a Cyrix PR-133 @ 90 MHZ, Trident 8900 for graphics and some other odds and ends. It was a beast till I arrived and saw what ACTUAL pc gaming could look like. I was in heaven and knew I'd never own another console EVER. LOL.

I felt quite good after holding my own in the corridors @ 20 FPS in software... but every time I saw a window or large open area I'd see 4-5 FPS in quake 2.

I new I had to upgrade after that LAN and seeing what was possible. I dropped $400 on a K6/2 350 and a Voodoo Banshee. Got it home, set up and....

Oh My GAWD!!!!!

I thought I head God's voice in my head saying "Welcome my child." Nothing has ever touched me as deeply in the computer gaming scene since.
 
I miss those days, they were the golden age of gaming. I had:

Diamond Monster 3d (Voodoo1)
Generic Voodoo 2
Voodoo3 2000 PCI
Voodoo3 3000 AGP
2 x Voodoo5 5500

Many hours logged on Jedi Knight, X-wing alliance (the AA was awesome on the 5500!) Descent3, Unreal and UT!

I'm gonna a build another sys to just to run these....
 
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