3Dfx Interactive Inc, the San Jose-based graphics chips manufacturer, has unveiled its latest chip at Comdex in Las Vegas. It released the next generation of its flagship product, the Voodoo3 – which combines technology from its Voodoo2 3D chipset and Banshee 2D/3D chip on a single piece of silicon. The company claims that the 128-bit chip, which has twin 32-bit graphics rendering pipelines, offers the fastest 2D/3D performance in the world – twice the 3D rendering capabilities of the voodoo2. 3Dfx is pushing the new chip’s ability to support new display technologies – such as plasma display panel (PDP) hardware. The company is delivering two separate versions of the chip, one designed for PC OEM board and one for the after-sale add-on market. The design is being manufactured for 3Dfx by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) using a 0.25 micron process. The chips are expected to be available in the second quarter of 1999, priced at $35 per 10,000 units.
