Recap: 3Dfx was a pioneer in private pc graphics. The San Jose-based firm obtained its begin within the mid-90s making {hardware} for arcade machines earlier than turning its consideration to private computer systems and plotting a brand new course for PC video games with its highly effective Voodoo chipsets.
The rise was swift and transient. The primary 3Dfx Voodoo playing cards arrived in late 1996 and simply 5 years later, Nvidia scooped up many of the agency’s property. In consequence, a number of of 3Dfx’s late-stage choices by no means made it to market together with the legendary Voodoo 5 6000.
It’s rumored that solely round 1,000 examples of the Voodoo 5 6000 have been produced for testing functions. They sometimes pop up on third-party marketplaces or by means of different collectors channels, though that is changing into a rarer prevalence as time passes.
When you’ve been trying so as to add this grail to your assortment, now often is the time to take action. An lively public sale over on eBay from a good vendor for a reworked Voodoo 5 6000 has slightly over six days remaining as of this writing and has already garnered a ton of consideration.
In response to the merchandise description, the cardboard has been reworked by former 3Dfx engineer Hank Semenec and is totally secure at 8X FSAA. This instance is alleged to be one of many later stage 6K prototypes and thus, most of the bugs current in earlier playing cards have been ironed out earlier than this one was created.
A Stroll Down Reminiscence Lane: Greatest 3Dfx Glide Video games
The Voodoo 5 6000 stays a visible marvel to at the present time as a consequence of its sheer dimension. The hulking card packs 4 VSA-100 processors (every with its personal cooler) and 128MB of complete reminiscence.
Proudly owning this piece of historical past will not come low-cost. As of writing, the public sale has amassed practically 60 bids with the present excessive bid set at $12,600.
The winner could have a tricky determination to make: danger all of it and put the cardboard to make use of because it was supposed, or just admire it sitting on a shelf? What would you do?