I have to ask. What is it about the Voodoo 5?

[Mloot]

I am new to pc gaming and I have to wonder why there seems to be this "mystique" regarding the Voodoo card that I just don't understand. Is it a nostalgia thing? Like knowing you could own a 2002 Mustang Cobra (Saleen, even) but passing it up for a 1966 Mustang coupe or '68 Shelby? Even knowing that in every physical sense, the 2002 'Stang (insert modern vid card here) is far superior to the old timer (Voodoo 5), but the old timer has a charisma and charm that the new products just don't possess? Am I close? Is it one of those things you just had to experience to understand?

Man, I love waxing metaphoric

 

[CubicZirconia]

Is it a nostalgia thing?

Either that or a lack of funds to buy a better card. I suppose some people just dont want to let go though.

 

[Mloot]

I could understand lack of funds, but from reading the forums for awhile now, it seems as if alot of people are more attached to their Voodoo's than others are about their cards, almost bordering on downright affection.

 

[Megatomic]

Well, if they owned the card when it was the newest card out there then they experienced what the Radeon 9700 Pro users are experiencing now only with GOOD drivers. The Voodoo 5 5500 was the Cadillac card of it's day. Hell, when the Voodoo 5 was king I was still loving my Voodoo3 3000 AGP. They were outstanding cards. I do miss 3dfx, but I am enjoying my GF4 Ti 4200 now.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Mloot
I am new to pc gaming and I have to wonder why there seems to be this "mystique" regarding the Voodoo card that I just don't understand. Is it a nostalgia thing? Like knowing you could own a 2002 Mustang Cobra (Saleen, even) but passing it up for a 1966 Mustang coupe or '68 Shelby? Even knowing that in every physical sense, the 2002 'Stang (insert modern vid card here) is far superior to the old timer (Voodoo 5), but the old timer has a charisma and charm that the new products just don't possess? Am I close? Is it one of those things you just had to experience to understand?

Man, I love waxing metaphoric

Hehe, yea, I'm one of those guys you're talking about. It's mostly do to the fact that it was the last vidcard from what is argueably the most significant vidcard manufacturer ever(for 3d). Many of us were floored by Voodoos and Voodoo2s and looked forward to the Voodoo5/6 as yet another major step forward. Add to that rock solid drivers and 3dfx vidcards stand apart from all others. Besides, when the Voodoo5 5500 came out, those who bought it raved about FSAA, while others dismissed it as insignificant. Nowadays everyone has it, and raves about it.


sniff sniff

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yeah these cards were hugely expensive at the time so buying in to one was a very big undertaking indeed, 3dfx had almost single handedly pushed the industry along more than any new RAM or CPU could ever hope to do. However the rot had already started to set in to 3dfx, perhaps like Amiga (nostalgia nostalgia) they thought they could sit near the top of the heap without really working at it enough. IIRC when Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 were released the GeForce cards (nVidia who?) were actually superior in the 3D dept, an area 3dfx had owned since the Voodoo2. Of course Voodoo5 had better drivers, better AA, better image quality ... but the company went under so that was that. Voodoo5 despite being very old can still cut it with some modern games, it isn't hugely behind a GF2GTS/GF4MX420/Rad7500 but V5's biggest downside is its lack of true T&L and offical drivers, WinME/2000/XP weren't even dreamt about back then. Also 3dfx were trying to get everybody over to their own API 'Glide' over DirX and certainly OpenGL ... needless to say they failed, Glide is dead and the OpenGL support of 3dfx cards is often sub-par.

A lot of people swore everlasting allegiance to 3dfx and happily paid over the odds for their hw, mostly nostalgia but also never wanting to let go.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: SeekingTao
Well, if they owned the card when it was the newest card out there then they experienced what the Radeon 9700 Pro users are experiencing now only with GOOD drivers. The Voodoo 5 5500 was the Cadillac card of it's day. Hell, when the Voodoo 5 was king I was still loving my Voodoo3 3000 AGP. They were outstanding cards. I do miss 3dfx, but I am enjoying my GF4 Ti 4200 now.

It died because Q3 supported T&L and the Voodoo cards didn't. And the performance suffered because of it. Not to mention 3dfx stuck to the multi chip designs and T-Buffer stuff that never was supported by any game. Motion Blur, depth of field, These were just 2 of the techniques that 3dfx tried to get games to support, but nothing did.

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
Yeah these cards were hugely expensive at the time so buying in to one was a very big undertaking indeed, 3dfx had almost single handedly pushed the industry along more than any new RAM or CPU could ever hope to do. However the rot had already started to set in to 3dfx, perhaps like Amiga (nostalgia nostalgia) they thought they could sit near the top of the heap without really working at it enough. IIRC when Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 were released the GeForce cards (nVidia who?) were actually superior in the 3D dept, an area 3dfx had owned since the Voodoo2. Of course Voodoo5 had better drivers, better AA, better image quality ... but the company went under so that was that. Voodoo5 despite being very old can still cut it with some modern games, it isn't hugely behind a GF2GTS/GF4MX420/Rad7500 but V5's biggest downside is its lack of true T&L and offical drivers, WinME/2000/XP weren't even dreamt about back then. Also 3dfx were trying to get everybody over to their own API 'Glide' over DirX and certainly OpenGL ... needless to say they failed, Glide is dead and the OpenGL support of 3dfx cards is often sub-par.

A lot of people swore everlasting allegiance to 3dfx and happily paid over the odds for their hw, mostly nostalgia but also never wanting to let go.

I must be one of those nostalgia guys. Yes I owned an Amiga, and yes I still own my Voodoo 5 5500. It works great for what I do which is mainly surfing the net lately. But I'm gonna go out and buy No One Lives Forever 2 in a couple days. We'll see how well she performs. Still works great for the original NOLF, MOH:AA, RTCW, and BG2. I completed all of those games which means they were all playable on my V5/Duron 800 system. Not too shabby for a seemingly obsolete system.
One of these days I'll get a Radeon 8500LE and a TBird 1.2Ghz, but that requires money which is something I don't have much of anymore since I got married...

 

[Toxic]

Me, not nostalgic. I used to have 2 Voodoo 2's in the system, linked together with that cable. In a nutshell, 3dfx had a great product, and let the competitors pass them buy. It's not easy being on top - ask Nvidia. When the V2's became obsolete, I moved on. I wasn't impressed with the later cards since others were doing similar stuff at a cheaper price point.

To me it's all hardware. When it's old or obsolete, it's time to get something else that can do that job. I don't carry an emotional commitment to my hardware. (Usually, anyway. LOL)

Having said that, I love the old NeXTStations, and am always on the lookout for one I can scavage from to get a working cube. (Then again, it's more about the NeXT OS, that it is the hardware). [Yes, I know they made it for Intel machines too, but that's not the point].

 

[Mockmaw]

I had a voodoo5, without a doubt the best hardware purchase I've ever made.. don't get me wrong, I've since moved to better and faster cards now. I can say though, that that card had the stablest driver pack that I have _ever_ seen, and I never had a hardware conflict with it, ever. I really wish 3dfx hadn't been sucked into Nvidia.. I think they had a lot of good ideas, and I liked their design philosophy. Oh well.

Lastly, for the record, it is the fastest card available (minus the v5 6000) for natively running GLide games.

 

[js1973]

I still have mine because it seems to be a perfect mate to my SS7 system. A modern card would be limited by the lack of processing power, and power requirements of newer cards might be more than what my old Tyan mobo could handle anyway. The V5 draws power from a 4pin connector straight from the power supply which I guess makes the AGP power requirements a non factor.

That and the image quality is superb.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: js1973
I still have mine because it seems to be a perfect mate to my SS7 system. A modern card would be limited by the lack of processing power, and power requirements of newer cards might be more than what my old Tyan mobo could handle anyway. The V5 draws power from a 4pin connector straight from the power supply which I guess makes the AGP power requirements a non factor.

That and the image quality is superb.

Actually, the Voodoo 5 is also limited by your current cpu. I went from a Duron 650@750---TBird 1.2--XP 1700+ and I noticed a significant improvement each tim with my Voodoo5.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yeah the V5 does have excellent image quality and its AA perf is pretty decent too! SS7 often does have probs with newer gfx cards so you are wise to stick to what you have. I agree with sandorski in that your CPU and mobo will still be holding the V5 back quite significantly. I went from a K6-III 450mhz to a Duron 700mhz keeping the same PC100 RAM and Voodoo Banshee (V2) and the diff was still VERY noticable.

Some reviews for you:

AnAndTech Voodoo4 review (inc V5, GF2MX, GF2GTS & Radeon SDR/DDR)
AnAndTech Voodoo5 review (inc GF1, GF2MX, GF2GTS, TNT2, V3, V4 & Rage)
TomsHW Radeon reviews (inc GF2MX, GF2GTS, GF1 & V5)
Tech Report Voodoo5 review (inc GF2GTS, GF1, TNT2)

 

[spanky]

it's a nostalgia thing. if 3dfx were still around and pumping out new cards, no one would give a rats ass about the voodoo5.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I still got my Voodoo5
bought it when they first came out for 300 bucks
their box's and website and everything were cool
us UT players always liked 3dfx cards and glide too

 

[Soulkeeper]

here is my upgrade path:

rage128 16mb
voodoo5 5500 64mb
geforce2 gts 32mb
radeon 7500 (in my laptop)


I have since fryed my gf2, given my rage 128 to someone, and my system with the voodoo5 in it needs a cpu

I plan to get a GF4 ti4200 128mb card next when i get a cpu for the other system

i'll prob never get rid of my voodoo5 it's hard to part with something that cost 300 bucks and still runs just as good as it did when you first bought it heh

 

[Cabana]

I paid $270 for my Voodoo5 when they came out and just upgraded a couple weeks ago. That was over two years with it...by the end it was pathetically slow so I don't really see the attraction. I did trade it for about $70 though, not bad!

 

[Gandalf90125]

For Diablo II, nothing beats a Voodoo5. Nothing.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: Mloot
I am new to pc gaming and I have to wonder why there seems to be this "mystique" regarding the Voodoo card that I just don't understand. Is it a nostalgia thing? Like knowing you could own a 2002 Mustang Cobra (Saleen, even) but passing it up for a 1966 Mustang coupe or '68 Shelby? Even knowing that in every physical sense, the 2002 'Stang (insert modern vid card here) is far superior to the old timer (Voodoo 5), but the old timer has a charisma and charm that the new products just don't possess? Am I close? Is it one of those things you just had to experience to understand?

Man, I love waxing metaphoric

Hehe, yea, I'm one of those guys you're talking about. It's mostly do to the fact that it was the last vidcard from what is argueably the most significant vidcard manufacturer ever(for 3d). Many of us were floored by Voodoos and Voodoo2s and looked forward to the Voodoo5/6 as yet another major step forward. Add to that rock solid drivers and 3dfx vidcards stand apart from all others. Besides, when the Voodoo5 5500 came out, those who bought it raved about FSAA, while others dismissed it as insignificant. Nowadays everyone has it, and raves about it.


sniff sniff

I have it, but I don't rave about it, I still think it's useless for everything bot really old games that won't work in higher resolutions than 640x480

 

[Moishe]

I still use mine. I've never been a fanboy, but after paying $265 for this card on pre-order I've used and abused this card, and it still works, and I'll always be able to say i've had ZERO problems with it. I've never seen such a stable card/driver set, and the image quality is excellent.
I still play UT and Tactical Ops mostly, but it even played UT2k3 just fine @ 640x480.
my reason for not upgrading is purely funding.

In short:

The Voodoo5 was the easiest upgrade and the most well spent money that I believe I've ever spent on my computer.

Funny, my 4x scsi CDR Drive is still in use after around 4.5 years... that was a good buy too. $200 and I'm still burning weekly. Gone thru piles of CDs.

 

[Deeko]

It died because Q3 supported T&L and the Voodoo cards didn't. And the performance suffered because of it. Not to mention 3dfx stuck to the multi chip designs and T-Buffer stuff that never was supported by any game. Motion Blur, depth of field, These were just 2 of the techniques that 3dfx tried to get games to support, but nothing did.

Q3 only partially supported T&L.

I'm an old 3dfx buff, as long-time readers of the video forum may remember. Back then, no one cared about 3dfx, it was me and like 3 other guys fighting off hordes of GTS fanatics. However, since their demise, 3dfx fans seem to be coming out of the woodwork.

 

[AdamK47]

FSAA

 

[Cabana]

FSAA

That's one of the reasons I decided to buy it at the time. No other card had FSAA built in and it looked oh-so pretty. It had those other effects like motion blur and depth of field, but I don't think they ever got used. Any card that requirs you plug it in to the power supply is definitely hardcore!

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd<br
It died because Q3 supported T&L and the Voodoo cards didn't. And the performance suffered because of it. Not to mention 3dfx stuck to the multi chip designs and T-Buffer stuff that never was supported by any game. Motion Blur, depth of field, These were just 2 of the techniques that 3dfx tried to get games to support, but nothing did.

true, one game killed a whole empire.