Hi every one, today i ahve been scrolling throug some old topics, and as far as we do know now is that the Velocity 200 has only been in Prototype fase, well I did come acros this fron DenisF:


wrote on 21.04.04 at 14:55:24:

I actually have a velocity 200 that i bought off ebay yonks ago, i *might* have the box somewhere, if i didn't throw it away (we're talkin 3~ years ago here..).. if it's THAT important i'll look for it.. otherwise i won't miss it that much tbh..

Hmm Denis are you sure you had a boxed Velocity 200? if you are very sure you did have one, how did it look like and what was it's color sceme?

Because, the wierdest thing is, that the Velocity 200 is only known as a prototype .

As far as I can remember, the Velocity 200 was sold in shops within the UK!

I remember a few years ago, just after the V4/V5 series were launched, I went into the GAME store, in a shopping Mall near where I live called Meadowhall.  As soon as you walked into the store, the V3/4/5 series were right in your face, and higher up on the shelves were the Velocities.  I remember picking up the Velocity 100 and I'm pretty sure I picked up the 200 as well.
I remember because I remember thinking "What the hell are these?  I've never heard of these 3dfx cards before".

The Velocity 200 box was copper/brownish in colour.  But EXACTLY laid out like the velocity 100 box.  I remember reading the back of the boxes, and when I realised they weren't mainstream cards for games, I soon put them down and browsed around the rest of the shop.

Back then, I wasn't the big 3dfx fan I am now, although I was still interested in the Voodoo series nevertheless!  ;D

Do u have pictures of it?
i can imagine how it looks like since I do have the retail Velocity 100

wrote on 26.05.05 at 12:16:44:

Do u have pictures of it? i can imagine how it looks like since I do have the retail Velocity 100

Unfortunately not.  :(  Like I said, I put it back.  I never bought one.

At the time, when they first hit the shops, I wasn't looking for a new card upgrade as I was still satisfied with my Creative 12Mb V2 SLI setup (which was getting on around 2 years old at the time).  I remember going in that day and spending about half an hour reading the back of every Voodoo3/4/5 and Velocity box!  ;D
I remember the Voodoo5 being about £279.99 GBP, and one of the Velocities was around £160.00, although I can't honestly remember which, the 100 or the 200. Sorry.  :(

But back then, because the Velocities weren't the top of the range cards, nobody took any interest in them.  They  already had plenty to choose from with the Voodoo series and nVIDIA's GeForce2 family hitting the shops!

If I can remember correctly, the 200 may have been a 16Mb card, but cannot be 100% sure!

Just imagine the 100 box, but where there's blue, there's a copperish brown colour.
Hope that helps.  :)

More like this ?
http://img215.echo.cx/img215/4443/3dfxvelocity200agpbox1bf.jpg
_{Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting}

Someone been busy in photoshop?

wrote on 26.05.05 at 14:38:36:

Someone been busy in photoshop?

Yep, but I hope it looks a bit like the real one that janskjaer mentioned  :)

looks real enough.,
thats exactly what I figured in my head.

thanks thandor!  ;D

You'd better put a 'fake' tag on it before people actually start mistaking it for the real deal. ;D

http://img185.echo.cx/img185/5044/velocity200box8xc.png
3dfx Velocity 200 Retail 'Euro Version'
Even with 16MB High Speed memory  ;D

Jeez!  ;D  That's pretty much spot on!  I thought that was actually it!  :)

That's exactly how I remember it.  You could not have got it any closer.

Well done.  Very impressive, to say you did it 'blind', not knowing yourself, what it looks like.  ;D

The thing I fins strange is that there are no real photos of the card anywhere!  I cannot believe this.  Surely, there must be some, somewhere.

Maybe we have to contact the '3dfx retailbox designer' to ask some things ;)

wrote on 26.05.05 at 20:18:28:

The thing I fins strange is that there are no real photos of the card anywhere!  I cannot believe this.  Surely, there must be some, somewhere.

http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/albums/album81/velocity_200_board.sized.jpg

http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/albums/album81/v3_bios_boot.jpg

The sticker on the Bios Chip raises more question than the Pic solves *ugh*

So if the Velocity 200 was a Voodoo3 2000, where would be the difference ?
Maybe 2nd TMU still disabled by the Bios and Drivers ?

wrote on 26.05.05 at 20:20:03:

Maybe we have to contact the '3dfx retailbox designer' to ask some things ;)

Might be worth trying to figured out who designed the boxes and who printed them up.

Strange things have been found traveling along such odd paths.

wrote on 26.05.05 at 21:49:26:

The sticker on the Bios Chip raises more question than the Pic solves *ugh*

The Velocity 100 and the V3-1000 were one and the same, logically a V3-2000 = Velocity 200.


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So if the Velocity 200 was a Voodoo3 2000, where would be the difference ? Maybe 2nd TMU still disabled by the Bios and Drivers ?

There are some differences in the bios but perfomance differences are nil and the 2nd TMU is active.

I think they killed the Velocity 200 after seeing what happened in the market with the Velocity 100.

Everyone and their brother was buying one for peanuts (heck I purchased one for $39 retail) and enabling the second TMU via the registry hack. A number of people at 3dfx stated that the Velocity 100 badly canabilized their V3-2000 sales at a time when they could ill afford it.

The last thing they needed to do was add another part that would drive down their profit margins even more.

It's been noted that the Voodoo 3 sales while brisk were done at some point with razor thin margins so 3dfx could brag about the boards being number 1 sellers.

Indeed. Maybe the high quality pictures of the boxes are still somewhere on a cd/harddrive or whatever.

Imagine, highres virtual, clean and smooth pictures of the retail boxes ;D
We could also ask if someone really made the Velocity 200 box and how it exactly looked like.  ;)

wrote on 26.05.05 at 21:57:00:

Indeed. Maybe the high quality pictures of the boxes are still somewhere on a cd/harddrive or whatever.

You know, I just might know someone who could tell me who would have that info.

I'll have to fire off some e-mails.

wrote on 26.05.05 at 21:57:00:

We could also ask if someone really made the Velocity 200 box and how it exactly looked like.  ;)

Of course they made, I held it in my hands!  ;D

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The Velocity 100 and the V3-1000 were one and the same, logically a V3-2000 = Velocity 200.

Hm...
Voodoo3 1000 = 125MHz
Velocity 100 = 143MHz (hence the passive Cooler)

IMHO the Velocity 100 is a Voodoo3 2000, only with 8MB RAM.

The Velocity 200, if equipped with 16MB and run at 143MHz would make it a Voodoo3 2000, except for the 2nd TMU probably still disabled.

wrote on 27.05.05 at 14:41:52:

Hm... Voodoo3 1000 = 125MHz Velocity 100 = 143MHz (hence the passive Cooler).

Wrong V3-1000, I was referring to the Gateway "Bonesteel" which is Identical to the Velocity 100 in every way but the bios decal and boot call out.

Ah, okay.

To avoid (or solve) my confusion :

Voodoo3 1000 OEM - 125MHz
Voodoo3 1000 "Bonesteel" - 143MHz
Velocity 100 - 143MHz (1TMU disabled)

> Voodoo3 1000 OEM - 125MHz

Compaq only as far as I have been able to tell, 16MB, 125 mhz.

> Voodoo3 1000 8MB "Bonesteel" - 143MHz
> Velocity 100 8MB - 143MHz (1TMU disabled)

Both boards have only one TMU enabled.

hmm wierd and a little odd, maybe gateway called the Velocity 100 a Voodoo3 Bonesteel just to make marketing alittle easier, I think that would be the most common reason why Gateway did that.  Client would know what a Voodoo is but a Velocity would be so 3dfx like, so there fore maybe Gateway called it Voodoo3 , the Voodoo3 name would done the job better than Veloity in the marketing sector.

It still remains as a Velocity 100, with 8MB SGRAM and 1 TMU enabled.

But the Velocity 200 Box, it's still strange if only they were made is small number in England only and the rest of the world not, it's not that I don't believe you janskjaer man I wish you made a shot of it ! :D , but it doesn't sound so common in particulair.

I don't believe they were solely produced for my country, but must have been made available to the US also.

It is impossible to know what happened to them all, as I asked the store manager what happens with the cards. He simply said that all 3dfx cards that did not get sold at that time, got sent to 3dfx's head office near London.

I asked him if he remembered the cards, as he has always worked at the shop since it opened back in 1994.

He remembers the cards, but said the velocity series were the most returned cards, and the lowest selling 3dfx cards on display, along with the Voodoo4, surprisingly.

hmm maybe a visit at that 3dfx office, if it's still there, maybe the cards are still there, might be not such a bad idea afterall.

wrote on 26.06.05 at 16:46:55:

hmm maybe a visit at that 3dfx office, if it's still there, maybe the cards are still there, might be not such a bad idea afterall.

I don't think that the cards are still there ;)

It's more likely that the cards would be sold for a lower price somewhere else on earth where people have more interest in a lowbudget 3dfx card :)

Of course.

Another company now occupies the site.  There would be no more 3dfx locations or products left behind, as everything had to be sold off in auctions during administration for the takeover.

I would not hold your breath or build false hopes on their being any secret or forgotten 3dfx buildings that may possibly contain some left behind 3dfx goodies.

This is simply out of the question.

Raiders of the lost 3Dfx cache! :o

LOL! ;D

well it's free to dream, it would be possible though, the world may look small from a certain point of view, but's it's big enough to hide things :)

Let's hope for the good of things that the Velocity 200 box pic will surface one day :)

and I can already have a picture in my mind who would be the first to obtain it,  ;D

wrote on 29.06.05 at 00:07:09:

Let's hope for the good of things that the Velocity 200 box pic will surface one day :)

I was able to contact someone who would know beyond a doubt, the head of the marketing dept.

Here is what they said-

Gary: You were in marketing the 3dfx products?

Marketing: Yes, I managed the marketing department.

Gary: Know anything about the marketing of the Velocity 100/200 boards? The 100 had wide release but the 200 appears to have never been sold.

Marketing: You are correct, the 200 was never released.  There was a minimal amount produced but they were only used in house.

Gary: Yes, I have a few of the samples from the engineer who worked on a number of Voodoo 3 boards.

Gary: There is a guy in England who claims back in 2000 he saw them boxed in a store in the UK.

Marketing: I doubt that boxed versions were for sale in 2000.  All packaging was budgeted and approved by me and I never signed off on offical packaging for the 200.  But the board could have been a knock off with packaging good enough to fool someone.

http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/albums/gdonovan_advertisements/3dfx_marketing_card.jpg

Name withheld by request.

I'll see if they have any artwork or can point to someone who does.

Thanks for sorting out Gary  :)

Maybe some of the boxed Velocity 200 slipped through and ended up in a shop.
Or someone made false Velocity 200 boxes or janskjaer dreamed about the Velocity 200 ;)

well a knock off to fool someone heh who knows, oh well I learned that's it's free to have dreams :)

wrote on 15.07.05 at 18:50:33:

Thanks for sorting out Gary  :) Maybe some of the boxed Velocity 200 slipped through and ended up in a shop.

Don't know about that, 3dfx sure didn't pay to have any Velocity 200 boxes made and only a limited number of engineering samples of the card were done.

wrote on 15.07.05 at 19:12:26:

Don't know about that, 3dfx sure didn't pay to have any Velocity 200 boxes made and only a limited number of engineering samples of the card were done.

Hmm, than it's rather unlikely that "boxed cards slipped through".

Then it must be either a fake retail card or a wonderful 3dfx dream  ;)

wonder what janksjaer think about this.

its of course more then convincing that the 200 velocity retail box did not exist

wrote on 15.07.05 at 19:38:56:

Then it must be either a fake retail card [...]  ;)

As a matter a fact, in the summer of 2001 in Romania were availabale for buying somme "vapor-ware" Voodoo 4's. I remember seeing on the computer parts offer of one's shop, for under 70$ the Voodoo 4 AGP with 16 Mb RAM, bulk (off course they were not retail boxed, but I'm preety sure that cards were not produced in 3DFX's Mexico factory   ??? ) ...
Unfortunately I don't know anyone who buyed that card to confirm if they were fake 3DFX one's (only VSA100 powered, but assembled on the open seas  ;D ) but that is what I think. Would it be impossible to be the case of the Velocity 200 also?

Didn't realise people were still posting to this thread, so that's the reason for my delay in replying.

I can only suggest that 3dfx USA was seperated with 3dfx Europe over the Velocity 200.
After all, the majority of US based boards were produced in Mexico post-STB/3dfx merge era, and Europe's in Taiwan.

It can only be suggested that a number of Velocity 200's were produced in Europe and not the USA.  This is possible.

GAME are an official licensed UK market seller of PC and console games including console and PC hardware.  It would be illegal to falsely advertise or sell such items in their stores.  ::)

I spoke to the store manager who currently works there since the stores opening, AND the head of dispatch at Electronics Boutique, and they BOTH remember stocking the cards, where EB's shipment also got transferred to the GAME store.

EB showed me a back catalogue of orders under section 'IBMPC_STOCK_HRD', and under the listing is an order for a quantity of 10 items labelled '3DFXVC200_16M_AGP' and 15 items labelled '3DFXVC100_8M_AGP'.  However, there are no sale records so I cannot tell you how many were sold.

I asked for a photocopy of the order sheets so I could scan them and show you but as I'm not an employee, it's against their policies to outsource their companies market history as it could be advantageous to rival companies if in the wrong hands.  ;)

So there is proof, as well as what I have seen with my own eyes, as it is formally recorded within market documentation.

I rest my case.  ::)

wrote on 17.07.05 at 13:38:52:

As a matter a fact, in the summer of 2001 in Romania were availabale for buying somme "vapor-ware" Voodoo 4's.

There was a large number of Voodoo 4 sold outside of the US made by a number of different companies.

wrote on 17.07.05 at 15:41:04:

It can only be suggested that a number of Velocity 200's were produced in Europe and not the USA.

Only problem is 3dfx no longer had cards made in TW, they purchased STB so they could have a plant remember?

Almost without exception all boards were made in the Mexico plant.

You need two things- Product and a box, people at 3dfx state that no V-200 boxes were signed off in the marketing budget and only sample cards for in-house use were made.

I place my trust with the head of marketing and other people who worked at 3dfx rather then some manager of a chain store who sells thousands of different products a year.

If you come up with an ad or documentaion, I'd be happy to pass it along. I have checked the EB sites via webarchive.org and they show nothing.

Heck even the main 3dfx site showed 5000 & 6000 boxes but no V-200 box.

wrote on 17.07.05 at 15:52:21:

There was a large number of Voodoo 4 sold outside of the US made by a number of different companies.

Were there so many Voodoo 4 of the only 16 MB RAM AGP variant (not the usual 32Mb) produced by third partyes? I guess that would be labeled Voodoo 4 4000 not 4500, but here they were advertised as 4500's with 16Mb video RAM. Seem like a non-sense for a serious OEM to do so ... To bad I canot track one to find out who produced them, but who knows, someday I might get lucky ...

wrote on 17.07.05 at 17:11:12:

I guess that would be labeled Voodoo 4 4000 not 4500, but here they were advertised as 4500's with 16Mb video RAM. Seem like a non-sense for a serious OEM to do so ...

I agree since with the addition of 32 bit 3D rendering 32 MB of ram is almost a requirement for any higher resolution to be run without massive data paging across the AGP bus.

That's why 16MB was fine for the Voodoo 3, even at the highest resolution there was enough for 16 bit rendering.

I'd really like to see if anyone made a Voodoo 4 with 16MB, that would be rather cool.

After a bit of searching I found the following :
http://computer.zood.ru/zmain09/zh/z1390.html

A russian site which sells an Velocity 200. They also name it Voodoo 3 3000 but the picture doesn't show an 3dfx Voodoo 3 3000.

wrote on 17.07.05 at 19:18:13:

A russian site which sells an Velocity 200. They also name it Voodoo 3 3000 but the picture doesn't show an 3dfx Voodoo 3 3000.

If you look at the picture it is called:

http://computer.zood.ru/fot/voodoo3_v2000_sml.JPG

Looking at it in Photoshop it does indeed look like a regular V3-2000 SDRAM board.

You're right, it's an Voodoo 3 2000 AGP in the picture.

wrote on 17.07.05 at 15:59:38:

I have checked the EB sites via webarchive.org and they show nothing.

Read my post again.

EB was not the seller of such cards.  They were the dispatcher for GAME on such products (hence their merge today).  Their stock shipment they ordered, goes directly to GAME stores.

They kept the orders for their store, but did not sell the cards themselves.

Of course the cards may not be on there site because they were only recorded in ORDER LOGS.



wrote on 17.07.05 at 15:59:38:

I place my trust with the head of marketing and other people who worked at 3dfx rather then some manager of a chain store who sells thousands of different products a year.

I spoke to my friend in San Jose, California, who regularly sells me 3dfx merchandise she acquired during the 3dfx shutdown process.  She and her husband were lawyers and part of the official 3dfx shutdown team that had to sell all of 3dfx's assets during the liquidisation process.  Her husband and one of his colleagues auctioned over 500 cards 4 years ago, which included over 30 Velocity 200 cards.  He knows every card also as he even told me about some of the Voodoo5 5000 AGP4X prototype cards that were auctioned off, and back when I spoke to him last, I didn't know the card existed!  
Bare in mind that this auction is open to international sellers so these cards could be anywhere now.

Well everything is possible , we have a small planet compared to that of others, but it's big enough to hide things.

So yeah maybe there were some Velocity 200 boxed items, still hard to believe though, heh, cause it sounds funny that you were one of the very few that seen 'em so it isn't odd that many wouldn't believe it, Still there is a passibillity though, I didn't say myself I don't believe you  ;)

But don't feel guilty about it, I have seen many things also that you people haven't seen either. Don't worry everyone has thier own strange sights of things, I have the same problem myself really :)

I must say I do remember that there was a Velocity 200 box on the UK 3dfx.com once, it was the same as the Velocity 100 box but then yelowish with a brown tint. There is a possitive thing, it's that I have an advantage of my photographic memory :)

wrote on 18.07.05 at 11:59:38:

still hard to believe though, heh, cause it sounds funny that you were one of the very few that seen 'em so it isn't odd that many wouldn't believe it

I can understand that mentality to those that haven't seen it.  ::)


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But don't feel guilty about it

Not in the slightest!  ;D :P


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I must say I do remember that there was a Velocity 200 box on the UK 3dfx.com once, it was the same as the Velocity 100 box but then yelowish with a brown tint. There is a possitive thing, it's that I have an advantage of my photographic memory :)

AFAIK, there was no 'UK 3dfx.com' site, as there was one sight for all.  I have never heard of such site.  Yet, what you claim to have seen does seem to be a coincidence with the Velocity 200 I picked up in the store.  Too much of a coincidence?  I think so.  ;)

wrote on 18.07.05 at 11:44:34:

Of course the cards may not be on there site because they were only recorded in ORDER LOGS.

Which in itself means nothing- There is no shortage of items that showed up on an order sheet that never ship.

The world is littered with such examples.


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Her husband and one of his colleagues auctioned over 500 cards 4 years ago, which included over 30 Velocity 200 cards.

And where are these cards? And why not bring this up before when the Velocity cards have been discussed in the past?

Bottom line is there is not single picture of a non-engineering sample Velocity 200. If 30 were dumped on Ebay one or more of us would have one (think of the recent dump of 5000 AGP and 4500 PCI on Ebay with "not for resale" decals)

People at 3dfx state they didn't make any besides a handful of engineering samples and the head of marketing states they never paid to have any boxes made.

I'm sorry to go in to it Gary but how do you know that a planet with 6.278 Billion inhabbitants isn't littered with such examples?

That's a thing impossible to know, imho, no matter how crazy the idea can be.

The Force tells me there is something out there, anyway that's my vision.

wrote on 18.07.05 at 17:14:46:

That's a thing impossible to know, imho, no matter how crazy the idea can be.

Not sure where your coming from but your wrong- If 3dfx state they didn't sell it, 3dfx marketing states they didn't sign off on any boxes being made and there are no examples of retail boards (or even pictures floating around) then the truth is to the best of our knowledge none were sold.

I'd be happy to be proven wrong, so far no one has put forth a shred of evidence to do so. On the other hand there is evidence to show none were sold in the retail channel.

You wish to think that some were sold then that is how you can spend your time.

I can wish 3dfx never closed but that doesn't change the fact that they did indeed close.

yeah I wish they didn't close either, everyone well mostly all 3dfx fans would think the same, I have feelings that those 3x 3dfx people like to hide some information, I still believe there is lot's from which we don't know of Gary, there is always hope, oh I come from Tatooine ;)

wrote on 18.07.05 at 13:38:58:

Which in itself means nothing- There is no shortage of items that showed up on an order sheet that never ship.

I grow tired of saying this but read my post again.  The staff who produced the order sheet also confirm their existence as they delivered them to the store.


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And where are these cards? And why not bring this up before when the Velocity cards have been discussed in the past?

Because I need to go fetch further evidence to proove my case against your


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If 30 were dumped on Ebay one or more of us would have one (think of the recent dump of 5000 AGP and 4500 PCI on Ebay with "not for resale" decals)

Please.  Do you really think an official liquidisation process staffed by lawyers in a multi-million pound takeover go selling their assets on Ebay?  ::)
The fact that these cards have not appeared on Ebay, therefore not giving you the opportunity to own one seems to frustrate you.


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People at 3dfx state they didn't make any besides a handful of engineering samples and the head of marketing states they never paid to have any boxes made.

No.  One person at 3dfx, you claim to have spoken to.  I could have said I spoke to Scott Sellers myself to confirm that the cards were made.  ;)


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I'd be happy to be proven wrong, so far no one has put forth a shred of evidence to do so. On the other hand there is evidence to show none were sold in the retail channel.

Exactly.  There is also no evidence to negate the fact they do exist, even your own "evidence".  I can only give you what evidence I have in order to be of satisfactory value.  What would be the point of lying about the card that does not exist?  It would be pointless. I for one, would not bother, unless it really did exist.


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You wish to think that some were sold then that is how you can spend your time.

It is also evident from your complete disregard, that you are wishing the card does really not exist.  From this it clearly displays your frustration at not being able to own such a card, and that you will not be happy until you have proven they don't exist.  As obi says, this is impossible, and given from what I have seen and heard from the accounts of others, we will always disagree on this matter.  ;)


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I can wish 3dfx never closed but that doesn't change the fact that they did indeed close.

I don't see how this is relevant.

wrote on 18.07.05 at 20:30:35:

I grow tired of saying this but read my post again.  The staff who produced the order sheet also confirm their existence as they delivered them to the store.

The cards that people at 3dfx said where never sold to the public correct? Just want to make sure were on the same subject.


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The fact that these cards have not appeared on Ebay, therefore not giving you the opportunity to own one seems to frustrate you.

ROTFL

Classic.

What makes you think I don't own one?


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No.  One person at 3dfx, you claim to have spoken to.  I could have said I spoke to Scott Sellers myself to confirm that the cards were made.  ;)

Who said I spoke to one person? There is several I have broached the subject with, all state none were ever sold.

Funny, now Scott Sellers vouches for you eh? What's next, Velocity 200 discussions over lunch with Gary Tarolli?


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From this it clearly displays your frustration at not being able to own such a card, and that you will not be happy until you have proven they don't exist.

Perhaps you should brush up on current events my friend. I have 3 that were obtained from the engineer who designed most of the Voodoo 3 PCB's.

http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/albums/album81/v3_bios_boot.jpg
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/albums/album81/velocity_200_board.sized.jpg
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/albums/album81/P3173159G.jpg