3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 PCI

The Celeron 433 system was included in this review to show what the performance of the Voodoo5 5500 PCI is like on a typical lower-end system that my require a PCI video solution. Upon first glance, it seems that the Voodoo3 3000 is the fastest card in this type of system, and in fact at 16bit color it is. All the way through the range, up through 1024x768, the Voodoo3 3000 seems to be the best card for use in 16-bit color. Since the system is severely CPU limited when in Quake III, as shown by the almost nonexistent performance drop throughout the resolutions, the age of the Voodoo3 3000 works in its advantage. Better drivers seem to have offloaded some of the pressure that the CPU faces in intensive gaming situations, making the Voodoo3 3000 decrease the amount of CPU bottleneck experienced. In addition, the Voodoo3 3000 can only use 256x256 textures, while the other cards can use up to 2048x2048 textures. Although this fact decreases image quality, it does decrease the amount of work that the CPU must do.

If you are concerned with playing games in 32-bit color, the choice is clear: the Voodoo5 5500. If 32-bit color is not as important, it seems that the Voodoo3 3000 is the best card for the money when at lower resolutions in Quake III Arena.