3Dfx spells out new Voodoo

The graphics giant will bid to remain the graphics processor maker of choice for serious gamers with the PCI/AGP Voodoo 2, and will ask real addicts to install two of the cards for optimum performance. However, it will be April before the cards ship, at about $250-300 per card.

The firm, which has sold over one million Voodoo-based cards already, comes from an arcade games background and 3Dfx spokesmen said that the Voodoo 2 is designed using advanced arcade technology such as parallel rendering and dual texture units. Claimed performance is ten times faster than a Nintendo 64 and eight times faster than a Sony Playstation. Quake will run at 100 frames per second, the firm added.

The Voodoo 2 is optimised for Pentium II and Pentium Pro but 3Dfx says that significant performance gains will also be possible on an older machine such as a 75MHz Pentium.

The firm also believes that the Voodoo 2 could act as a jemmy into the mainstream graphics card market.

"We believe that Voodoo 2 re-establishes 3Dfx as the undisputed performance leader in the game enthusiast market, a cornerstone of our strategy for penetrating the mainstream graphics market," said Greg Ballard, president and CEO, in a prepared statement.