"It is very important to get our new products in the hands of influential web sites like Sharky Extreme as soon as we can. To do that we are forced to send Alpha and Beta products in for previews, and they are by nature very unstable. We sent out ten Alpha Voodoo3 3500 boards to different web sites and you were the unlucky one that got a bad board. The replacement boards also had problems that where unrelated to the issues with the first board. I think you have a board now that is stable and performing as promised," said Brian Burke, PR Manager for STB.

This little number is clocked higher (greater fill rates) and has a faster RAMDAC and is some $50 dearer than its slower 2000 counterpart.

The problems that occurred in the Sharky Extreme labs stirred a wealth of concern amongst many of you, our readers. In particular our message boards were full of comments about 3dfx's ability to deliver the 3500 part at 183MHz. The yield at 183Mhz how good/bad is it in reality? Burke went on to state,

We are confident that we will ship that part, the yields are what we expect. No question. We have not stated when it will be, but expect an announcement soon. It is absolutely very important for 3dfx to be as forthcoming as we can on future products with out misleading the public or giving away any competitive advantage. Our loyalists are used to 3dfx delivering on our promises and tend to hold us to a higher standard. We have been very up front that the Voodoo3 3500 is a high frequency bin, that yields are not going to be 100%, and it will be available in smaller quantities than the 2000 and 3000.

3dfx did state at back Comdex 1998 that their Voodoo3 3000 (now the 3500) would indeed ship at 183MHz but this won't be happening in Q1 of this year. We can only but 'speculate' as to where when and the 3500 will appear (end of Q2). And when indeed it does

We will test the 3500 board in environments that will exceed any heat experienced in a computer system and put the adequate cooling on it. There is no plan to ship it with a fan, but it will have a more substantial heat sink than the boards that we have sent to Sharky Extreme.