3dfx Voodoo 3 16-Bit Color Quality

The 3dfx Voodoo 3 is a very popular Retro PC Gaming graphics card! It supports the Glide API and has great compatibility with old games. Unfortunately it doesn't support 32-Bit color and this was fiercely debated back in the day. However the 3dfx Voodoo 3 has a special output filter that aparantly improves the image quality of 16-Bit color games. In this video we will investigate the issue with slowed down and zoomed in game footage!

Resources about the 3dfx Voodoo 3 output filter:

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[MarcoGPUtuber]

Watching Phil improves my gaming colour quality!

[Darxide]

The Voodoo3 3000. I've never bought a video card I was more thoroughly satisfied with. Back when top-of-the-line gaming hardware was affordable. I still remember popping this in and booting up Quake 2 in Glide mode for the first time. It's the closest I ever got to a religious experience.

[wyattkane]

Just wanted to say thanks for your videos. I really enjoy them. Nostalgic, informative and just fun. So thanks!! ❤️❤️

[SneakiestDuke]

Always i can't wait for your videos about voodoo cards :)

[JimProfit]

Some musings:
-When it comes down to it, the Voodoo 3/4/5 are the top choices for any 16-bit only title (outside of those that only run on more exotic APIs) because of these box filter options.
-The V5 would do all of that plus anti-aliasing, and in those older titles that are 16-bit only, I would assume at a fairly high resolution. Overall making it the best 9x card, on top of supporting Glide/DX/OGL, 32-bit colors, table fog and paletized textures, and despite being barely as powerful as a Geforce).
-I wonder if the above would also applies to those few DOS glide games, testing various Voodoo cards with those games and figure out how good they can be made to look would make for awesome content.
-Speaking of which, it is nice to see a new "Classic Phil" video like that, cheers man ;)

[michaelluong]

Thanks for another great video, Phil!

[antonhei]

Just in time before trying my first Voodoo experience with a PCI Voodoo 3 3000 16MB. Thanks again Phil, great job! 👽

[PixelPipes]

You found some good examples of the differences, and it is pretty surprising how noticeable it is. On my (admittedly inferior) setup I never noticed it quite this much.

[michaelthompson]

Voodoo GPUs …. These were the good old days 🤯🤤🤤! I remember having the Voodoo 2 on my pc growing up🥰😇👍. I would love to see 3DFX - Voodoo make a for real comeback to the market 🥰🥰

[sburton]

I remember buying a 16 mb 3Dfx Voodoo 3 from a Walmart supercenter back in June of 1999.

[davkdavk]

I Remember going from a Voodoo Banshee to TNT2 Ultra in 32 bit and was amazed by how much better say, the smoke effects in Forsaken were, or the HUD digits in Quake 3 had a smooth gradient, instead of more obvious changes in colour. Spent a lot of time comparing things back in the day

[ethan]

I'm using a Voodoo 3 on my pentium 2 350 with FIC VB-601 motherboard. I've had a really good experience with Homeworld, Re-Volt and Quake 2. I think Homeworld is the standout for me, I've been happily playing that for many hours with this card. Re-Volt and Quake 2 run fine, but I think they look better on the Asus TNT2 card I have, looks that way to my eye anyway. Thanks for the great content Phil!

[RetroScorp]

Adding to that fierce debates, many many magazines didn't recognize that the filter wasn't showing on their screenshots because most screenshot tools took the picture before it passed the filter.
In my opinion the discussion about having or not having 32bit on the Voodoo 3 was too extreme, because even on the TNT2 you often have to choose between higher resolution or higher color for the same fps. The only issue (but only slightly) was that the Voodoo 3 still supported max. 256x256 textures which was noticeable in some slower paced games.

[conbotonesnadamas]

This video needs part 2, comparing 16bit quality with others from 99, like S3 Savage 4 (from reputable maker), Matrox G400 and TNT2, as you mentioned.

[MrKillswitch]

Just one of those reminders that it really does help to have a collection rather than just getting by on a couple or fewer cards for retro gaming never mind having spares in case something dies.

[janwitkowsky]

Am #38.
Never been this early on a vid.

And it's Voodoo 3-3000!
My favorite and dream video card.

[MDFGamingVideo]

Just want to thank you for all the info you have shared on setting up a retro PC. Has been a big help. Just finishing a Win98 install onto a IDE to Compact Flash adapter right now to test. :)

[KyoshoLP]

Man, I remember trying to explain to internet friends back in the day how things just looked BETTER in older 3D games on my Voodoo 3 compared to other cards, and could never actually prove it. Like you mentioned, screenshots never showed the effect. Phil, do me a favor and send this video back in time for me? Thanks.

[jayyanz]

The Kyro cards had great 16bit quality too as it rendered internally at 32bit. Great for older titles that didn’t support 32bit colours.

[thepcenthusiastchannel]

With the Radeon, there was no point in rendering at 16-bit (the Kyro series as well). Internally, they both render at 32-bit and downscaled to 16-bit if the game requests 16-bit. There's also no performance advantages going from 32-bit to 16-bit color. The Radeon also has HyperZ compression playing a role.

I'd be curious to see a GeForce 2 GTS vs a Voodoo5 5500 in such a comparison as the GeForce 2 GTS does change from 16 to 32 bit internal rendering.