3dfx Voodoo4 4500 & Voodoo5 5500 Preview

With the GeForce's fill rate limitations kicking in, the Voodoo5 5500 makes 1280 x 1024 very playable in 16-bit color but still lacks the memory bandwidth necessary to make 32-bit color faster than 35 fps, which isn't too bad at all. At resolutions above 1024 x 768 is where the Voodoo5 will really begin to shine, and for that matter, so will the upcoming GeForce 2 GTS.

The Voodoo4 4500 comes in below the SDR GeForce once again. The price of the card will be its only aid, with the cheapest SDR GeForce cards going for under $150 now, the Voodoo4 4500 better be priced at around $100 - $125 in order for it to remain competitive.

1600 x 1200 is almost reasonable at 40 fps, although we'd still like to see it at 60 fps before it truly becomes a playable resolution. At the same time, a large number of users don't have monitors that can run clearly at that high of a resolution in the first place so it's not a major issue. The point is that the Voodoo5 has the fill rate power to run at such a high resolution at a reasonable frame rate.

The DDR GeForce isn't too far behind at 34.5 fps, but it lacks the fill rate power to keep up with the V5.