3dfx Voodoo3

The Voodoo3 2000 is the entry-level 3dfx Voodoo3 accelerator, which should shortly be hitting the store shelves. One thing that needs to be made clear is that there is no difference between the core of a Voodoo3 2000 and the high-end 3500 model, the only differentiating factor is that the 3500 can be clocked at a higher frequency (possibly a better yield on the silicon itself) than the 2000, and is therefore clocked at that frequency and sold as a 3500. The original Voodoo3 2000, announced at Fall Comdex '98 was supposed to be clocked at 125MHz, however doing so would place it at a point where it would be just as fast, if not a little slower than a Voodoo2 SLI, meaning 3dfx would have a mob of angry supporters on their hands, instead 3dfx bumped the specification up to 143MHz for the 2000 model.

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The Voodoo3 2000 is the only Voodoo3 that will be available as both a PCI and an AGP solution, the performance difference between a Voodoo3 2000 PCI and a 2000 AGP will be negligible, with the AGP version being a tad faster due to the implementation of the AGP 2X specification's greater transfer rates. As previously mentioned, the AGP Voodoo3 won't take advantage of AGP texturing, therefore you shouldn't be pulling your hair out if you don't have an AGP motherboard and are stuck with a Voodoo3 2000 PCI as your only option.

The 2000 uses the same 2D core that is present in all of the other Voodoo3 models, and features a 300MHz integrated RAMDAC. 3dfx wanted to distance themselves as greatly as possible from the mistakes with their Voodoo Rush that tainted the public's view of 3dfx's ability to make an integrated 2D/3D product, therefore the 2D output of the 2000 is top notch, aided by the 300MHz RAMDAC.

The Voodoo3 2000 should begin retailing at around the $130 mark, however you can expect to find sources that will be selling the cards for at least a little less than that.