View Full Version : 3dfx loose and Nvidia Win.....


Black_Ned
17-11-2000, 05:19:PM
3dfx article
posted November 15, 2000 at 12:06 PM MDT by Dan "Pakman" E - Discuss on Forums

The Register has an article on 3dfx pulling the plug on card production. It predicts that they will soon be bought out by another company :

With NVIDIA now dominating the desktop PC graphics chip market and with its sights firmly set on beating market leader ATI in the notebook space, too, 3dfx is in for a very tough ride, and the company knows it: "It's going to take time," Nayan Patel, divisional marketing manager of desktop graphics, told CNN. "It's not going to be a quick fix."

And, we suspect, not quick enough to prevent 3dfx being bought up. With its share price at a low hovering around the $4 mark, it's technology and brandname makes it a tempting purchase, particularly once it's shot of all its board factories.

Indeed, when a company gets this desperate, reaches such a low ebb, not many observers will even be willing to bet on it still being around in three years' time. Expect ATI, NVIDIA or a Via-style Taiwanese semiconductor conglomerate to whip out its checkbook real soon.


3dfx stops making video cards
posted November 14, 2000 at 3:43 PM MDT by Dan "Pakman" E - Discuss on Forums

CNN has news that 3dfx has abandoned it's hopes of manufacturing video cards, and that they will make an about face move back to being a chip supplier to other companies. After spending a wad of dough on STB, they will now have to sell the Mexican plants. Now, after having blown off all their past companies whom once made 3dfx cards, and steering them toward NVIDIA solutions, they'll have a lot of work to do in order to make it back to where they once where. I would have to give 3dfx an "F" for management. Can you say "Dog paddling to keep your head above the water"? :

Two years after striking out in a new direction, graphics-chip maker 3dfx is going back to its roots in an attempt to regain the company's dwindling strength in an increasingly tight market.

The company plans to close its Juarez, Mexico, card manufacturing plant and remove itself from the business of building the graphics cards that reside in desktop PCs. This is an abrupt switch from the December 1998 takeover of STB Systems, which 3dfx heralded as a move that would put them in charge of their own destiny. Instead, that move -- combined with numerous production delays and supply problems -- has removed the company from its once-dominant position in the industry.

"We're trying to be more fiscally responsible," said Lisa Grubb, a spokesperson for the company. "Basically, we're reinventing ourselves."


GeForce2 wins PC Magizine award
posted November 14, 2000 at 2:25 PM MDT by Dan "Pakman" E - Discuss on Forums

PC Magazine has bestowed the NVIDIA GeForce2 with it's award for Technical Excellence. It's no surprise that NVIDIA is lapping up all the accolades with this product. While I was at Comdex, I asked quite a few people from NVIDIA if the NV20 was going to be released soon since DirectX 8 was final. What I got was a range of answers from a sly smile with the answer "very soon" to "next spring" :

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2000--NVIDIA(TM) Corporation today announced it has earned the PC Magazine ``2000 Award for Technical Excellence'' in the Components category.


The award, chosen by PC Magazine staff and editors, recognizes NVIDIA's GeForce2(TM) family of GPUs as a breakthrough product and technology that sets the pace for the graphics industry and serves as a benchmark for innovation. The award was made in Las Vegas on Monday, November 13, 2000, at the COMDEX '00 global information technology industry trade show....

SpArtA Rotterdam
17-11-2000, 10:34:PM
Well, good for you!

kingcasey
17-11-2000, 10:37:PM
Well I listened to all the hyperbole about Diamond Vipers w/Nvidia chips wiping the floor with Voodoo 3 and foolishly believed it.I for one won't buy another Nvidia card unless I was sure its performance matches the hype.

Black_Ned
18-11-2000, 03:04:AM
Kingcasey, if there are no more 3dfx cards hitting the markets, the support will surely fade away...the Nvidia cards are excellent, especially the new breed, i have used the viper v550 and the viper v770, i am currently using a generic TNT 2 card x 32 megs and i cant honestly find any problems with it, and the Gforce cards are now the best general video cards available...from what i have seen and , the TNT architecture is compatable with with every thing that i have used, where the 3dfx cards have slowly been loosing developer support for a couple of years now.....Ned.... http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

kingcasey
18-11-2000, 08:25:AM
Yes blackNed, maybe the Diamond Viper V770 Ultra was a dud, but I got such a poor frame-rate with Fifa 2000 and tore my hair out trying different drivers, setups whatever...Once replaced with Voodoo 3 3000 it was like 'chalk and cheese'.I think I'll wait until Voodoo5 drops considerably in price rather than take another punt on NVidia for the forseeable future, that's my opinion.

Black_Ned
18-11-2000, 02:06:PM
Well, if you have had major problems with your viper, i can fully understand your distrust in them, but as a said , i have always found them to be ok....and if you are running ok on the Voodoo 3-3000 you will stick to it for sure, i have never seen the voodoo 3's in operation so i can't make any comments on them...i have 2 x 8 meg voodoo 2's online that run ok, but i prefer the TNT card for Fifa 2001, due to it supporting 1600 x 1200 resolution against the voodoo 2's <SLI> 1024 x 768...Ned...

David Beckham
18-11-2000, 02:52:PM
Well sadly, I think it's ineviteable that 3DFX is going to go out of business very soon.

I remember my first ever 3d card, a Monster vooodoo and back then they were head and shoulders above anything else, since then I got the Voodoo 3 2000 ( great card for the price) and now the Voodoo 5 for the backwards compatibilty and ability to use FSAA on ALL games, the FSAA is a gift from the gods, you won't belive how good things look with it on, its not jaggies that are the main problem, its shimmering, and both of these are eliminated with it.

I like 3dfx but i really don't care what happens to them, as the XBOX is the way forward as regards gaming in the near future and I can't see anyone buying future graphics cards anyway when you can get an XBOX for less than the cost of most of these cards nowadays.

The GeForce 2 ulta that has just come out is a staggering £400, twice the price of the Dreamcast console and a third more than a Ps2.

Looks like Nvidia getting the Xbox deal is the greatest coo they could have ever dreamed of.

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All the best,

Becks

Black_Ned
18-11-2000, 05:16:PM
Here is a URL for any of you who are interested in the latest info about the Xbox..
http://www.xboxupdate.com/

[This message has been edited by Black_Ned (edited 11-18-2000).]