The Light Has Faded
Written: Aug 21 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very Few Bugs. Was, Great.
Cons: No New Drivers. Outdated. Clashes With Heavy Computers.
The Bottom Line: When I first bought my computer with the 3Dfx Voodoo3 I was amazed to see what I got for my money but now, it's a mere shadowed card.
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| Rufster's Full Review: 3Dfx Voodoo3 3000 |
I'm not an electronics professional or anything but I'm sure that you will find some pretty good information packed in this review. This card does deserve a 5 star rating but since they have been bought out there are no new drivers and it can't handle new computer hardware.
My Story
My computer was activated in April 2000 with a 600MHZ Intel Celeron Processor, 64RAM, and a 3Dfx Voodoo3. It was the first time when I got the taste of actually playing games with a graphics card. I chose the Voodoo3 because I knew I could rely on it and my brother had bought one and I was very impressed.
I was playing good old Quake2 at the time and I noticed less grainy graphics plus the lighting was very sweet. When you shot the rocket launcher it would emit light after the rocket just like a real one would and it would also brighten up the whole map when it hit an object.
After Quake2 there was Unreal Tournament that came free with my brother's retail bought Voodoo3 (I bought mine with my computer). Wow, the game was sure something crisp and delicious for a gamer. It also ran smoothly on a 450 Pentium II 96RAM. I played Unreal Tournament for some time but it wasn't that great anymore with my piddly 64RAM so I quit.
Finally Half-Life was created and I'm still playing the game today. I have played for countless hours and have tested and compared what my graphics card can do and what it would look like without a graphics card. I must say that it still looks great to this day and when I play Counter-Strike there is no smoke bomb lag. Compared to my friend's computer (no graphics card) the graphics are not as blurry and smooth. My friend and I also map together which is also a way to test out what the Voodoo3 can do. Also each texture doesn't have visual pixels to the naked eye and I love it.
I have also played other games such as Rainbow Six Rogue Spear, Jedi Knight Dark Forces II, and some of the really old games. Rainbow Six Rogue Spear comes up great just like Half-Life did on my computer. I thought what could be better than a Voodoo3, and then it happened. Here is the bad part of the story.
I'm sure everyone knows that the company creating the popular GeForce cards bought out the company creating the also popular Voodoo cards. Well, it happened and GeForce graphic cards are the new big cheese. This means that my little old Voodoo3 will not have anymore new drivers created for it, which is bad news. This means no updates or anything which broke my heart.
I also found out something else bad with the Voodoo3 when my brother got his new 1000MHZ AMD with 256RAM. He kept his graphic card mostly because of the money and nothing new was out at the time. He now notices things that he blames on a reaction with his AMD and his Voodoo3. There is no proof that it's his Processor but that is about the only big change made from his older computer. These things are white dots that pop up on a few games for no reason. These games are Half-Life and Rainbow Six Rogue Spear. On Half-Life white dots are throw around a menu when it does its closing process and on Rainbow Six Rogue Spear the white dots would create themselves by the cursor on the menus. He is now planning to upgrade to a GeForce3 when he has the money, leaving me in the dark with the only Voodoo3 for miles.
The Good
I will now explain the good that the Voodoo3 has in a review form. If you check out the Pros section of my Epinion you will notice I have put Very Few Bugs. That is exactly right, I haven't found any bugs with the Voodoo3 yet (I don't consider white dots forming as a bug). The reason I put Very Few is because there is bugs with everything. I also put Was, Great in the Pros section. It was the greatest graphic card out there a long time ago but now it lines up with the cards that you haven't heard of. What is going to happen is that the Voodoo3 won't support the new games and it will turn up useless. Take Max Payne for example, PC Gamer requires a graphic card that is way better than the Voodoo3 when they usually don't. The Voodoo3 will still support Half-Life for years to come so I'm still in good shape but what am I going to do when there is no more Half-Life?
The Bad
The bad about the Voodoo3 is a lot so be patient reading my explanation of the Cons section. Take another look at my Cons section and first you will notice No New Drivers. There are no more and the 3dfx Voodoo3 can not be updated not no way not no how. This means that it could not work with new games in the future and just plain suck. The Voodoo3 is also outdated which means that it is old. The Voodoo3 came out a couple of years ago and is really behind the times. Finally there is Clashes With Heavy Computers, what I mean by that is my brother's Voodoo3 problem with Half-Life and Rainbow Six Rogue Spear. Those problems aren't that big of deal but still are just out there to bug you.
As for more information on the Voodoo3 Cons I would like to say this. I don't recommend the Voodoo3 anymore. I would have about a year ago but not now and the reason is simply this. Since the company has went out of business and it is just so outdated I don't recommend you getting it at all. If you want a real cheap graphic card look somewhere else, I'm sure you can find good deals on Ebay or Half.com.
The Bottom Line
Please look elsewhere when looking for a graphics card. If you already have one, well, welcome to the crowd! I rated this product a three because it is still up in there and can pump out the good graphics, why it didn't score higher is because it won't be able to pump out those great graphics much longer. Thanks for reading.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150
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Epinions.com ID:
Rufster
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Member: Michael Ruf
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Reviews written: 129
Trusted by: 23 members
About Me:
A 20 year old who loves computers and hates homework!
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