The benefit of overclocking a Voodoo3 might seem easy to quantify, but the real story is a bit more difficult. Sure a Voodoo3 3000 at 193 MHz is faster than at 166 MHz, but only in certain instances. For many games, the CPU is fully loaded and the Voodoo3 is waiting for it to complete FPU calculations before being fed more data. Using a Celeron or Pentium 2/3 CPU at 450 MHz with the current crop of 3D games, you probably won't notice a framerate increase at less than a 1024x768 resolution. The framerate increase also does not correlate perfectly to the Voodoo3 clock speed. Increasing the clock speed 16% (166 to 193) won't automatically increase all game framerates a corresponding 16%. The speed difference is dependent on the individual game, but in general you'll notice a greater percentage increase with D3D games than with OpenGL or Glide.
A few words of caution are also needed here. If you intend to overclock your Voodoo3 with any type of cooler, do so with your eyes open. Removing the standard heatsink will void your manufacturer's warranty and incorrect installation of the cooler could damage the card. The overclocking results I have listed in this review are only indicative of these 2 Voodoo3 cards, and results will vary depending on memory speed and chip quality. The Stealth V3 Fighter is also just one piece of the cooling puzzle. If your PC case is extremely hot and airflow is poor, then the addition of a V3 Fighter might do little to aid your attempts at overclocking. Adding an internal fan or slot cooler can help lower the ambient case temperature. The review testing was on a closed PC with one front-mounted cooling fan and an internal temperature of 38 to 42 degrees (after hours of use).
The value of the Stealth V3 Fighter is highly dependent on what you want out of your computer. If you're a performance freak with an overclocked CPU and a Voodoo3, then this is the product for you. It will allow you to get the highest possible performance out of your Voodoo3 while the cooler's diminutive size will save you a PCI slot. Even if you're not worried about performance, the Stealth V3 Fighter will cool your Voodoo3 much better than the standard heatsink, so if you're having any stability issues you might want to take a closer look. Those who are perfectly happy with their Voodoo3 performance and stability should just walk on by, nothing to see here. Meanwhile I'll be running a Celeron 366@550 MHz, a 200 MHz+ V3 3500, temporarily sating my need for speed.
TennMax can be found on the web at www.tennmax.com.
Space-conserving design
Excellent cooling and performance
Easy installation
Diminishing returns moving from V3 2000 to 3500
Voids Voodoo3 warranty
Requires internal power plug