When 3dfx announced the Voodoo3 line, there was the V3 2000 the V3 3000 and later the higher performance model, the V3 3500. The 2000 model rolled out with a 143MHz core and memory clock rate. The 3000 had a much faster 166MHz clock for both. Then comes the Voodoo 3 3500. The plan was for a Voodoo3 based card that could run at 183MHz, which would leave the other two models in the dust. The release was delayed, though, for two reasons.
First, the price of 183MHz memory was high. With speed comes cost and at the time those parts were high-end chips and came with a high-end price tag. The second reason for the delay was that 3dfx decided to add a few more goodies on the card. The 3500 became the 3500TV which means 3dfx didn’t just boost the speed. They also added a TV and FM radio tuner. The end result was a product that nobody could find for months, yet when it finally hit the shelves everybody was happy.
The GeForce 256 is the top of the line NVIDIA chip. It has tons of speed but has yet to be combined effectively with PC theater features other than TV out and software DVD, which have been common features for quite a while now. ATI has their All-In-Wonder line that combines a well-rounded, mature, software control suite for the TV functions and a proven Rage 128 accelerator chip. Matrox has their Marvel G400, which is again a great card. It is similar to the All-In-Wonder in concept except it uses their G400 chip. The two cards have robust video editing capabilities built in. Then comes the classic option, a standalone TV and/or FM radio card. These cards can be added to systems with a wide array of graphics solutions. These boards are convenient because they do their jobs well and allow a user to upgrade their video controller without worrying about losing their TV capabilities. The major drawbacks with these cards are that they take up a valuable slot, usually PCI.
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