Hi all
Some time ago an old friend from 2CPU.com gave me a Quantum3D Obsidian2 X24 due to my knowledge of 3dfx and my passion for it
He is also a member @ EVGA Forums as JayVenturi
Even I asked him if he was really sure, thereby I advised him to sell it on ebay, since these can sell ot quite a bit, I also said I don't want to steal away a chance like that from him either.
He was like no man this card belongs in your home and in that old P3 you have there, so I was like okay send her up and I will elt you know if it has arrived.. or not :X
About 5 weeks later nothing had arrived yet, so I mailed jayVenturi and asked him when he shipped it, he was like hmm let me check with the postal services, about a week later he came back to me that it was at the customs Iwas like ahhhhh I beloved enemies lol he also laughed there
And about 6 weeks after that which was two days ago from today there was a big box from USA from G.Venturi on it I was like ahaaa this is it!!!
So I unpacked it and yaaaps it's the X24 alright! and that box is so enormous, dayum man!
Well I then unpacked it and started cleaning it and made some lovey photo's before I put in in Avenger M99, my P3/E 650Mhz test system
So here some pics which I did promise to make and yeah a review also, it's time to go back to 1998, the Voodoo2 age, the time when 3Dfx Interactive ruled the games market with their Glide API with about 97% of all games.. Meet the world's fastest Voodoo2 ever made the Quantum3D Obsidian2 X24 PCI 24MB 384Bit EDO Rev.D 9822 Fourth Final Revision D, Year 1998, Week 22:
Here the top view, you can clearly see that the slave V2 12MB is that half sized Daughter Board aka D-Board:
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5966…_D+9822+top.jpg
Rear view, shows some decals with a barcode and some warning, that long narrow one, the PCB date is 9822, meaning it's from Year 1998 & Week 22 An old Core Warrior of it's days
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5966…D+9822+rear.jpg
Here the headshot of this X24 Monster, as you can see it also has a S/Video & Composite TV-Outs on it, it supports PAL & NTSC, so you can go all ways with this thing as well.
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5967…22+headshot.jpg
Here the top of the box, it shows some battle scars aka weathering xD, but I don't mind, it's a gift from a good friend ya know, something I do plan on keeping for a long time
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5967…X24+Box+top.jpg
Here the rear view of the box, I made a clear shot, so you can read it all, I hope that will bring back lots of good memories for all you Quantum3D fans collectors and users!
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5967…24+Box+rear.jpg
Here a headshot I took of the box showing it's battle scars and the lovely Quantum3D logo's
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/59680-1/X24+Box+headshot.jpg
The famous top banner of the box showing the beautiful Quantum3D Logo and the slogan above the Obsidian2 logo: "Ultimate 3D Acceleration For PC games" Which was very true for it's time, and indeed this card is Single slot, more pics on that further on
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5968…+Top+Banner.jpg
The Feature Highlights tab on the side of the box, 384Bit EDO ram hah quite something for 1998, obviously 6x 64Bit EDO hehe smart marketing of Q3D, I do find their Details on their boxes extremely detailed, something I never saw on others.
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5968…+Highlights.jpg
Here the Specifications tab, and again very well detailed, always loved companies that really put everything in to detail, this is a very good example on how Specs should be written on VGA card boxes especially high end & enthusiast cards, such as this X24.
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5968…cifications.jpg
Well here it is then, this is what came with it, as you see no driver CD and 14 CD game pack or manual, no matter to me, I am happy for what it is, as finding these X24's with their original boxes isn't easy I was told. It was also the best performing Voodoo2 SLI Solution you could get as well, excluding Quantum3D's Obsidian2 200SBI's of course rofl which you can make in to Iron & Mercury sets..yeah the insanity Quantum3D knew exactly how to bring that!
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5969…p_+Contents.jpg
Here showing how narrow the space is between the two PCB's and it's perfectly 1 slot wide too, Quantum3D really planned executed this idea out very well!
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5969…d+placement.jpg
Here a closeup also clearly showing how the two PCB's are connected together via it's two SLI connectors, an interesting approach but a very useful one also, this isn't your everyday Voodoo2 either, as looks go, as it looks rather unique
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5969…+Connectors.jpg
Here the main & slave PCB's taken apart also showing how the D-Board connectors to the main PCB vie them two long vertical SLI connectors and them three 4 pinned power connectors J3, J4 & J5
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5970…J4+_amp_+J5.jpg
Here the two PCB's seen from the other side
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5970…D-Board+top.jpg
Top view of both PCB's
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5970…D-Board+top.jpg
Rear view of both PCB's, in the four white holes go four plastic screws, they are good for the job too, just keep in mind when taking one of these gems apart, make sure you do that very securely, too much force and ware them screws very easily, patience plays a large role there
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5971…-Board+rear.jpg
Here an other nice orientation of the X24, showing it's D-Board and that cool Quantum3D slogan: The Affordable Reality Company
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/5971…+top+angled.jpg
Here a different orientation of the X24, showing a weird 6 pinned connector just above the Xilinx chip, it's set to as J6, does anyone know what J6 was meant for?
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/59713-1/X24+top+showing+J6.jpg
Might be worth finding out
Using the X24 is very pleasant, drivers are also dead stable, only what it is missing are feature settings which 3dfx did have as far as I can recall, the control panel doesn't offer that much besides the TV-Out section, that was very detailed, I also like them Quantum3D test logo's Although I am seeking some more Quantum3D tech demo's to test with the X24.
So here a video showing you the X24 running them Quantum3D logo tests in Glide without and with V-Sync enabled and showing some of the ATi Rage 128 Ultra OpenGL & Direct3D modes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URQ1IYlQo44
Here Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition 1999 in action on the X24:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig8txoOCI6U
Anyways more to come on this so stay tuned