Inside The Demise of 3dfx

[NFS4]

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/3dfxdemise/default.asp

 

[conlan]

Good read, I'm still in mourning ............ Heh, I wonder how long before this one heats up

 

[BHeemsoth]

I miss 3dfx.....I still have my Voodoo3-3000 in my P3 rig.

 

[Aquaman]

Interesting read ........... thanks

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Insane3D]

Hmmmmm...where's Hardware?

 

[Mavrick007]

Should've, would've, could've.. It looks like they would have had some pretty decent speeds earlier than nvidia back in early 01.
Too bad, but I hope some of their old/new features will be included with future nvidia products

 

[andreasl]

Too bad, I would have looked forward to buying a 3dfx Mojo card

 

[DaFinn]

Interesting read ........... thanks

-Indeed

 

[ElFenix]

looks to me like management fvcked 3dfx several times... potential buyout by one of the shareholders rather than nvidia? almost looks to me like management took the money nvidia gave to line their own pockets and didn't act in shareholders best interest... if this was a bigger company there'd have been an investigation into it...

:|

 

[Sunner]

Interesting that someone bothers to write an article about it when it was so long ago.

Granted, 3Dfx did make awesome cards(the V1,2, and 3 in particular), and Im still using 2 V3's, but really, time to forget.

On second though, that article is actually quite interesting, I made the mistake of assuming it would just be another in the long line of "The demise of 3dfx" articles, my bad

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Hmmmmm...where's Hardware?

My thoughts exactly...

Demise of 3dfx? We all know why... HARDWARE DID IT!!!!

 

[rahvin]

Why isn't this thread ***CONFIRMED****

 

[Huijun]

An interesting read and a very good example of inefficient management.

 

[pm]

...a very good example of inefficient management.

Management made some bad decisions, but there were some serious technical problems as well.

To quote from the article:

Fortunately, a chip was not made between each tape out with the final number being A7 silicon.

A7?!? 7 metal mask changes after tape-out on a graphics part?!? That's like a 9 month delay in shipping not to mention about $3-5 million dollar just for the masks alone. 7 mask changes for a graphics part is horrible... nVidia usually productize their A2 stepping, or their A1.

Of interesting note are the two bugs that did exist in Rampage silicon. The first was the DAC being flipped, reversing the color channels. It is hard to be certain how this bug managed to slip through, but it did. One possible reason it was not detected is because this was one of the few places on the chip that had not been simulated.

"Possible reason"? Of course that's the reason. I can't believe that they didn't simulate every part of the chip. If you don't model it, you are basically saying that it's correct by design - which is pretty scary when you have tens of millions of dollars riding on the design (in sales and in development cost). At companies that I have worked at things that are supposed to be "correct by design" are very, very rare exceptions and are cross-checked by entire teams of people to avoid mistakes like these. I can see that modelling in a simulator a DAC is not easy to ensure correct operation, but certainly a behavioral model (like an RTL stub model) should have been written to ensure that the interface is correct. There's really no excuse not to unless the simulator can't handle stubs well - in which case it's time for a new simulator.

 

[SteelyKen]

Ahhh, I remember it well. Hardware had 4-5 posts daily berating 3dfx here. Then someone posted that the lights had been turned out in parts of the 3dfx headquarters and they would be closing in a few days. No one believed him, but sure enough he was right. Wasn't that long ago, was it? Maybe 18 months?

 

[tcrosson]

<<I'm still in mourning... >>

3dfx isn't dead! They're still alive and kicking... inside the NV30 that is!

I'd love to know how much of 3dfx technology is inside that thing - if any.

 

[Hardware]

i told you all enough why 3dfx was crap and now it seems matrox is going the same way

come less
come late
come expensive

nobody is buying the phallus (what a crap name)

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Hardware
i told you all enough why 3dfx was crap and now it seems matrox is going the same way

come less
come late
come expensive

nobody is buying the phallus (what a crap name)

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NOX]

Originally posted by: Hardware
i told you all enough why 3dfx was crap and now it seems matrox is going the same way

come less
come late
come expensive

nobody is buying the phallus (what a crap name)

Hehehe....

Is it the anniversary or something? I don?t understand why sites still write about 3dfx? It was bound to happen, look at ATI, they got smart, they are doing what nvidia has been doing with third party vendors for years now. Matrox better get on the ball or they will be next.

 

[Auric]

Three Defects, yawn. They were just another "one hit wonder" with their Voodoo 2 which was mostly due to a fortuitous drop in memory prices at the time which allowed them to finally break even on past losses. After that they continued to lose money with their "too little too late" and mostly just plain crap designs. The hi-tech bidness is rife with companies that have *good* products and bad management that still do well because of high demand. This was not one of them so do not blame management entirely.

Plus, as I like to remind everyone, they held back advancement with their scheme of paying developers to use their crappy low-res, low color, proprietary API way longer than it was a viable alternative to DirectX.

 

[Rectalfier]

I think their main mistake was the purchase of STM. It angered all of their customer's (Creative,Hercules,Etc) and the reorganization took them off focus. The Voodoo 1, 2, and 3 were all top of the line products, they botched their streak after the STM purchase.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Originally posted by: Hardware
i told you all enough why 3dfx was crap and now it seems matrox is going the same way

come less
come late
come expensive

nobody is buying the phallus (what a crap name)

bahaha

 

[conlan]

Another example of a company with talented employees run by a bunch of over-educated brain-dead idiots, using the company as a cash-cow. Hmmmm, kinda sounds like the company i work for

3dfx isn't dead! They're still alive and kicking... inside the NV30 that is!

I also wonder how much, if any, 3dfx technology will be inside the NV30. I've heard everything from none to some, or that Nvidia won't use 3dfx technology till later models. Any one know for sure? No matter what you think of the company (3dfx) you have to admit they must have been working on some wicked stuff if nVidia is just now (or soon) going to include that technology in their products, 2 years after 3dfx folded.

 

[0roo0roo]

i almost feel sad i sold my voodoo1 and 2 now that they are collectibles

i felt them die the 2nd theywent with stb. it seemed like they were messing with success.

 

[spanky]

i just read that article at work today. wow, i am amazed at how far down the road these companies plan. i'm wondering what ATI and NV have planned...