
Notice the lower-case "d" in "3dfx" now? Just one of the many marketing-based changes that the same firm who brought us the "got milk?" ad campaign the past two years is now bringing to the 3D video-accelerator designer.
After absorbing manufacturer STB, 3dfx has now set in motion their 2nd phase of company name branding, towards the goal of making 3dfx a bigger draw for the precious Tier-1 OEM market.
This is a tough road to travel, as proven by AMD's successful assault on Intel's similar "Intel-inside" branding campaign, as branding doesn't necessarily mean a damn thing to the educated consumer. The educated consumer buys the best particular part or system for their needs, they don't usually buy PCs because of "Intel-inside" stickers or "3dfx-inside" stickers.
Still, you've got to admire the "OEM sales or bust" attitude from a company pushing a new product line that doesn't necessarily appeal to OEM checklist needs.
The renamed Voodoo2 12MB card that we all know and love will now be sold by 3dfx under this new name, no engineering or board design changes have occurred to the standard reference design.
Prices haven't been announced for this particular card, but we've been told to expect an MSRP of $99/ea.