A few frames faster than the fastest V2...
Written: Sep 26 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: GREAT value compared to everything except the GeForceMX
Cons: Limited Lifespan--v5 might be a better choice for 800Mhz or faster PC's
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| psykosis_fc's Full Review: 3dfx Voodoo3 3500, (16 MB) AGP Video Card |
I finally succumbed to an upgrade madness--a new motherboard (Asus P3V4X), processor (celeron2 566) and Vid card v3 3500tv. This setup is replacing my old setup--dual overclocked 466's on a Tyan mobo with a #9 128/Quantum3d Obsidian200SB combo. The Obsidian lasted me almost 3 years--it was the fastest v2 solution that I know of. For those of you who don't know about Quantum3d, they are an offshoot of 3dfx created to enter the retail production market as well as become a major supplying partner to the Intel OpenArcade project. The Obsidian200sb was essentially 2 v2 2000's on one massive card with an extra PixelFX and TexelFX processor with a few extra Mb's of RAM thrown in for good measure. Downside was that chip density on the card and the daughter card that comprised the second v2 card mad it very difficult to cool effectively and subsequently overclock. Since my shiny new celly2 easily overclocked past the magic 1G mark without it, it sadly had to go.
I installed the 3500tv with a little apprehension--I wouldn't get any higher resolution or any real new features compared to the Obsidian. I was also slightly worried that my FPS might go down, after all how could a video card that was only slightly larger than a sound card even hope to be in the same ballpark as a vid card that carried the Quantum3d name and was the size of a Compaq RAID controller? My fears started to abate a little when I ran through the install...what a relief from the V2 days! The detection and driver install was relatively painless priceedure. In less time than it took to get a fresh beer, er malted barley carbonated beverage, I had HalfLife:Counterstrike loaded and ready to do some FPS benchmarks--my new card was a whopping 14FPS *faster* than the Obsidian. How can this be?!?? I quickly loaded NFS:Porsche and ran a couple of races. *Noticeably* smoother than the Obsidian at 1024. Uh, but wait. I had previously thought that I would still be limited to 1024*768 resolution--NFS now presented me with the option to go as high at 1600*1200----what?!?? How can this be? Too good te be true? Hhhmm. I loaded up the MadOnion and proceeded to flog it at 1024....4816! Helluva score to be sure, but was it because of the new AppolloPro chipset, the overclocked celly2 or the v3? I broke out an older machine--an HP VectraVL with a P][266 and 64Mb of ram with Win95b loaded and installed both the V3 and the Obsidian. I'd throw a bunch of numbers in here, but frankly it's really not necessary--the v3 just about flogged the Obsidian in every test. <sigh> The king has been dethroned. We'll not talk about the even faster v5 5500 I just got 2 weeks ago....
TV/Radio Tuner: One of the major selling points of this card (over a v3 2000, which was *much* cheaper), was the TV tuner. I've got a 21" sony monitor that frankly has a much nicer picture than my 63" Mitsubishi when playing DVD's at a really high resolution. My bedroom is fairly small, so it's quite viewable. My thinking was that I already had a cable modem in the room, why not split the signal and have high-res TV as well? Didn't quite work out that way. First of all, the picture was really, really washed out--about the same as you'd get with a pair of rabbit ear antenna's on a regular TV. Lots of snow and bright horizontal scan lines. I was thinking that may the splitter or the cable was at fault and providing a poopy connection, so I stretched it into where the TV is and hooked it up--picture was perfect. <shrug> I only paid $130 for the 3500tv, so I guess I can't expect it to have the same quality as a $3000 TV. Other than that it worked flawlessly and performs exactly as I wanted outside of the picture quality issue. I didn't play with any screen captures, or with the A/V input/output "puck" as I didn't really have a need or desire to.
Bottom line: If you've had a Voodoo in the past and are looking to upgrade, get the 3500tv. Even if you don't have a need for the TV tuner, the 3500 has the highest core clock speed and the fastest RAM of the series--with active cooling, the card will easily run at 220Mhz. This card is running around $130 at the moment, and compared to the cost of a GeForce GTS or v5 5500 is *MUCH* more cost effective. The only thing that's in the 3500's league as far as cost effectiveness is the new GeForceMX. Personally, I think Voodoo looks a little better than GeForce, but it's an apples vs. oranges, ford vs. chevy type of decision.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
psykosis_fc
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Member: Jeff
Location: Pasadena, CA
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 22 members
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