Voodoo Graphics was a brand of 3D graphics accelerator cards that were widely used in the 1990s. These cards were developed by 3dfx Interactive and were considered to be some of the first truly high-performance graphics cards for personal computers. In this article, we’ll take a look at the history of Voodoo Graphics cards and provide a retrospective on the different versions of these iconic cards.

The first Voodoo Graphics card was introduced in 1996 and was based on the company’s proprietary Glide API. This API was designed to provide high-performance, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics on personal computers, and it quickly became the standard for 3D gaming and graphics. The Voodoo Graphics card was unique at the time in that it was a dedicated 3D accelerator card that offloaded the heavy graphics processing from the computer’s CPU, allowing for faster, smoother, and more detailed 3D graphics.

Over the next few years, 3dfx Interactive introduced several new versions of the Voodoo Graphics card, each with improved performance and features. The Voodoo 2 was introduced in 1998 and was the first card to support SLI (Scan-Line Interleave), which allowed two Voodoo 2 cards to be run in tandem for even better performance. The Voodoo Banshee was introduced in 1999 and was the first card to support both 2D and 3D graphics, making it a versatile option for both gaming and professional graphics work.

The final version of the Voodoo Graphics card was the Voodoo 5, which was introduced in 2000. This card was designed to be the ultimate high-performance 3D graphics card and was equipped with powerful features, such as an advanced memory architecture, advanced anti-aliasing, and full support for Microsoft DirectX. Despite its advanced features and impressive performance, the Voodoo 5 was released at a time when the 3D graphics market was rapidly changing, and it was unable to compete with newer cards from NVIDIA and ATI.

In conclusion, the Voodoo Graphics cards were pioneers in the field of 3D graphics acceleration and paved the way for the modern, high-performance graphics cards we have today. Although the brand is no longer active, the legacy of Voodoo Graphics lives on and its impact on the world of computer graphics can still be seen today. Whether you’re a gamer, a graphic designer, or simply someone who appreciates the evolution of computer graphics, the Voodoo Graphics cards will always hold a special place in the history of technology.