Look at this graphics card artifact. No, it’s not a visual artifact. This is a major piece of graphics card history, the Voodoo 5 6000 and is for sale on eBay. This is the last graphics card from his 3dfx Interactive, which once famously dominated the graphics industry. Sadly, the company collapsed before this GPU hit the market, and very few cards were produced as prototypes.
This exact listing is for the Voodoo 6 6000 Revision 3700A, making it the last one built before the entire prototyping project was completely finished. This also means it is one of the few Voodoo models. many of squashed bugs. It’s built on a 250nm process, a far cry from the 7nm process node predominantly used in today’s best graphics cards. (opens in new tab).
Cards currently on sale $13,200 (opens in new tab) (via swe rockers (opens in new tab)), but that number is steadily increasing every day. You have 5 days left to list, so expect to make a small profit by the end of the auction. After all, it is a very popular prize for collectors.
âI have come to the conclusion that this card is not my holy grail and that there are other pieces in my vintage hardware collection that mean more to me and will always mean more to me.â The seller writes
âThis card has been considered the ultimate holy grail for most if not all 3DFX enthusiasts/collectors. I want to give it to you.â I would like to give this card to someone who will cherish it for years to come and preserve the history and significance of this card in the 3D world. â
The Voodoo series of GPUs is one of the most influential graphics cards in PC gaming history. (opens in new tab)Today’s graphics card makers may only be recognized by Nvidia and AMD (and Intel to a large extent), but we went back to the late 90’s to make the first truly decent graphics accelerator cards. It was 3dfx that emerged out of the primitive PC exodus. Its most impressive work is Voodoo.
Ask any 90’s PC gamer what their favorite graphics card is and they’ll probably say Voodoo or Voodoo2. Some may like Nvidia Riva cards and his GeForce 256, the “world’s first GPU,” but Voodoo cards hold a special place in the minds of PC gamers of the era.
Everything was fine for 3dfx, but it wasn’t. Heavy competition from GeForce and Radeon (made by ATI, not AMD at the time) put a lot of pressure on 3dfx. Unfortunately, it was on the brink of collapse when the answer to Nvidia and his ATI cards came, simply because no product offered an alternative to the fast-paced and rapidly growing market. rice field.
3dfx at the time was Included in Nvidia (opens in new tab), A final blow that can never be undone. The company gave his Nvidia patents, brand names, and inventory of products. That means Nvidia is all but gone and his Nvidia efforts to compete with ATI have stepped up. Then AMD’s acquisition of ATI in 2006 kicked off a race between his two horses that has become familiar for decades in the world of graphics cards. Intel has also been in the game since last year, making it his three-headed race against Nvidia.
Perhaps in another universe 3dfx has taken hold and PC gamers are used to buying the latest $1,200 Voodoo 20K instead of GeForce. Unfortunately, the closest I’ve come is this $13,000+ Voodoo 5 6000, which sadly is more out of my price range than the GeForce RTX 4090. (opens in new tab).
Actually, there is another way to Nirvana in Voodoo 5.The modder decided he had had enough and decided to create his own Voodoo 5 6000 clone (opens in new tab) years ago. They created a fully functional model of the card, BIOS and everything.
