Wave Issue 9038 4/8/99 Article 1-03

***3dfx Voodoo3 Goes Retail and Test Results Released
(April 7)

3dfx Interactive announced the availability of its Voodoo3 2000
and 3000 boards. The Voodoo3 boards will be available this month
in stores worldwide.

The Voodoo3 3000 ships with a selection of 3D titles: a special
edition of Interplay’s Descent 3, a free upgrade coupon for
Unreal Tournament from GT Interactive and Epic Games, the
complete version of Unreal, and Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed
III specially optimized for 3dfx.

STB commissioned testing by ZDTAG on the Voodoo3 and other cards.
The cards tested and 3D WinMark scores were:

Voodoo3 3000 923
Voodoo3 2000 836
ATI Rage Fury 32MB; ATI Rage 128 615
Diamond Viper V550 16MB; NVidia TNT 737
STB BlackMagic 3D 12MB Voodoo2 481
Hercules Terminator Beast 8MB; S3 Savage 3D 334

The corresponding Quake II frame rates at 16 bits were

Voodoo3 3000 78.9
Voodoo3 2000 67.8
ATI Rage Fury 32MB; ATI Rage 128 42.3
Diamond Viper V550 16MB; NVidia TNT 38.4
STB BlackMagic 3D 12MB Voodoo2 59.8
Hercules Terminator Beast 8MB; S3 Savage 3D 21.8

The testing system was based on:

Windows 98
Intel Pentium III running at 500 MHz
128MB SDRAM
512KB
Intel EB, PCI-based
Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0
1024x768
16-bit

The pricing is $129.99 (suggested US retail price), for the
143MHz Voodoo3 2000 AGP and PCI boards. For $179.99 (suggested US
retail price) the 166MHz Voodoo3 3000 AGP board is available.
Availability of the Voodoo3 3500, with a suggested US retail
price of $249.99, will be announced later this year.

www.3dfx.com