The PCB dates are xx96 but Q3D wasn't established as company until  March 97. The first cards were probably sold/given away as demo prototypes by 3dfx itself.
Just my 2 cents on the matter.

Yes Q3D was born from within 3dfx. The question remains how did they sell the cards until the actual launch of Q3D as separate company. During that time they mostly relied on partners for the majority of customers and probably only a few were supplied directly with Obsidian cards that have the 3dfx stamp on them that's why i said demo boards. This is due to the fact that they were chip manufactures and did not have large scale factories where to produce these cards.
This was one of the reasons they bought STB for factories and a way into the retail market.
After the launch of Q3D maybe there was a relaunch under the new company name with new Box design but for a niche market where high performance 3d cards were required and price was not an issue.
With the X-series cards they had a try at the retail market but could not compete because of their high prices and tough market conditions.
Again my view on the matter.

Tim wrote on 07.01.09 at 16:18:28:


No- Quantum3d was a spin off because board partners like Diamond and Orchid were uncomfortable with 3dfx selling boards.

3dfx would always have the advantage you see, so Quatum3d would just do the arcade and mil-sim market (high end) and 3dfx would just make chips.

In the timeline on your website, it says this :

Quote:


Is there more specific info on when the obsidians were shipping? Like a month? And perhaps an announce date?

That's May 16th, 1996. Great, thank you for your help Gary, it always was a bit vague in my head how the Obsidian story worked before Quantum3D spun off.

Were the Obsidian 50SB boards before the Quantum3D spin off solely targeted for the arcade market? Or was it only when Quantum3D in 1997 targeted the retail market that they were sold boxed for the PC?

Great, that's all I need to know, thank you for clarifying that Gary.