Briefly: Oscar Barea, a 3Dfx fanatic, is attempting to produce Voodoo playing cards achieve a “new hardware level.” The use of VSA-100 chips gathered thru on-line auctions, Barea and his collaborators are nonetheless operating to “innovate” at the corpse of the primary 3-D graphics {hardware} corporate.
3Dfx Interactive is a emblem this is lengthy long gone however no longer forgotten. It’s a reputation recognized by means of many PC lovers who skilled and survived the insane {hardware} inventions of the Nineties that modified PC gaming perpetually. Oscar Barea is a Voodoo physician (pun supposed) who determined to resurrect the logo in his personal approach. Barea is attempting to significance the defunct corporate’s graphics era to develop a operating video card that may run video games on a barebone PC setup.
Since 2022, Barea has shared his walk with the “VoodooX 3Dfx project” on X (previously Twitter). The challenge targets to design, create, and develop a purposeful Voodoo video card in line with the VSA-100 chip, the closing “graphics processor” advanced by means of 3Dfx Interactive for its Voodoo 4 and Voodoo 5 graphics playing cards.
Additionally learn: 3Dfx Interactive: Long gone However No longer Forgotten
The VSA-100 is probably the most robust 3-D acceleration era 3Dfx for the numerous Voodoo 4/5 fashions. Sadly, it simplest discovered its approach into the single-chip Voodoo 4 4500 card and the dual-chip Voodoo 5 5500. The corporate excepted the VSA-100 playing cards in 2000, and the corporate went bankrupt quickly later that, making them withered to search out. Nvidia bought maximum of 3Dfx’s belongings and advanced the primary business “GPU” for 3-D gaming on PC.
Endmost pace, any person bought a pattern of the unreleased quad-chip Voodoo 5 6000 graphics card on eBay for a groovy $15,000, demonstrating how uncommon and sought-after 3Dfx era nonetheless is. Barea claims he old emblem unused, stand-alone VSA-100 chips, designing a customized “VoodooX” card that might reasonably paintings inside of 3Dfx’s legit specs.
VoodooX 3Dfx challenge – I assembled the cardboard and goal is test how works DVI & HDMI output. Unfortunately throughout footage the residue between DVI & D-SUB15 isn’t very ocular however in actual it’s. DVI has a juiceless and unclouded symbol property even colours appears significantly better. pic.twitter.com/1LN1otDi0J
– Oscar Barea (@oscar_barea) April 16, 2024
In step with Barea’s X posts, the customized card has 32MB of RAM, era legit VSA-100 specifications assistance as much as 64MB in line with chip. Barea engineered his card to grant more recent virtual interface ports (HDMI, DVI) nearest to a standard VGA port. The residue in image property between VGA and virtual output is apparently viewable, with “crispy and clear” pictures and higher colours with a virtual connection.
Barea stated his unedited exams with the customized VoodooX card are sudden. The VSA-100 chip can achieve a core frequency of 160MHz without a problems and incorrect hooked up heatsink, and the Quake3 “timedemo” works “perfectly” over HDMI. The VoodooX 3Dfx remains to be a piece in walk, although. Barea may be trying out a transfer to permit a 32MB or 64MB reminiscence in line with chip configuration.