3dfx, the pioneer of consumer 3d acceleration as we know it and the cause of what I consider the computer gaming revolution. Not since the Voodoo 2 line of cards almost 3 years ago has 3dfx been able to regain the position of number one of Nvidia, who have incredibly surpassed 3dfx with their latest line of GeForce based products. 3dfx's former product line, the Voodoo3 left gamers behind by not offering all the next generation features their competitors were offering, namely Nvidia.

Not everybody has an AGP slot. Some OEMs (most notably Compaq), and some lower cost computer manufacturers like to integrate both sound and video on their mainboards. This posses a definite problem for people who want to upgrade their video card to the latest and greatest, this is where 3dfx's V5 5500 PCI steps in. Offering almost identical performance to its AGP sibling the V5 5500 PCI is in an excellent position.

The Second (and much smaller) audience that 3dfx is targeting with the V5 5500 PCI is anybody who wants a mad crazy fast secondary videocard. Computers don't come with two AGP slots, and currently the V5 5500 PCI is one of the fastest PCI cards you can buy. Heck, you may just want to run it along side your GeForce2 so you can run glide games and maybe some using 3dfx's better FSAA.

What do you get?

In the box you will find the card, a "Y" power connector, driver disk, and a very thin manual. 3dfx also backs the V5 5500 PCI with a limited lifetime warranty. It's a little disappointing that 3dfx did not include any full version (or even demos) with the V5 5500 PCI, only copies of 3Deep and True Internet Color both good for tweaking gamma in various applications.

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