# 3dfx Voodoo3

5 Hacker News commenters recommended 3dfx Voodoo3 and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for far better 3D visuals than software rendering, while critics cite no 32-bit output and a weaker showing against the AGP Voodoo 3-3000.

## Why people recommend it

- Better visuals than software rendering (2 comments): "the only thing my 3dfx Voodoo3 could do that software-only mode could not was surface reflections" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46632265)) "I distinctly remember the 3Dfx version looking vastly better everywhere to my eyes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46633657))
- Effects software mode could not do (1 comments): "the only thing my 3dfx Voodoo3 could do that software-only mode could not was surface reflections" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46632265))

## What people warn about

- No 32-bit output option (1 comments): "3dfx were stupid not to include token 32bit output option on Avenger chip" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47500975))
- Weaker than AGP Voodoo 3-3000 (1 comments): "It was not as good as the Voodoo 3-3000, which was AGP" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49848592))
- Card runs hot (1 comments): "the heat emanating from a 3dfx Voodoo3 card" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49410278))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3090.md): 116 recommend
- [NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5090.md): 102 recommend
- [NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-rtx-pro-6000.md): 77 recommend
- [Nvidia GPUs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-gpus.md): 67 recommend
- [AMD Radeon GPU](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amd-gpus.md): 48 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=3dfx+Voodoo3+2000+PCI+graphics+card&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "3dfx Voodoo3", https://hackerapproved.com/p/3dfx-voodoo3/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).