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I was the lead and pretty much only programmer for the Canopus Pure3D. Ours had 12 RAM chips for 6 MB of memory. 2 MB extra Woo hoo! We also featured a Chrontel

by djmips 8y ago

I was the lead and pretty much only programmer for the Canopus Pure3D. Ours had 12 RAM chips for 6 MB of memory. 2 MB extra Woo hoo! We also featured a Chrontel chip for composite and S-Video output. I wrote our DirectX driver (performance enhancements) and other sundry software for the Pure3D (pictured) and Pure3D II. Pretty cool to think back on those days.

codezero 8y ago
I owned one of these and it was wonderful! Wild to find someone who worked on it. I needed it because I needed EverQuest to be high res, and couldn’t do SLI (not enough free pci slots!) so the Pure3D nailed it for me.
tus87 8y ago
Please write an extensive blog post about your recollections working in the industry at the time. Seriously.
- corint 8y ago
  I couldn't agree more!
shaunxcode 8y ago
That was my first 3d video card and I am constantly name dropping it when people brag about their current 3d cards!
JohnBooty 8y ago
Hah! That is super cool. I think about that card from time to time. The extra 2MB made me feel badass, though I'm not sure any games actually used it, did they? The Pure3D and Pure3D II were the first and last times I ever owned best-in-class graphics hardware. The Rendition-based card I owned previously wasn't half bad, but those early voodoo cards were really revolutionary.
- rasz 8y ago
  At least one did, "Ultimate Race Pro (3dfx Glide) played in 800x600 resolution with Z-Buffer" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4yajgcLA8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4yajgcLA8
npunt 8y ago
Loved this card, still have it! Need to build an old box to drop it in.
simonsquiff 8y ago
Would love to know more. I recollect the Pure3D being by far the best V1 card. Because of this many gamers patiently waited for the Canopus version of the V2, expecting it to be a similarly significant leap up from the other OEM cards. IIRC it took ages to come out, and was barely different functionally (just smaller and with some kind of LED to indicate it was switched)? And people were pretty annoyed to have waited all that time not joining the V2 party :)
freejak 8y ago
Neat! Your work brought hours of enjoyment back in college. Very fitting username :)

by djmips 8y ago

codezero 8y ago

I owned one of these and it was wonderful! Wild to find someone who worked on it. I needed it because I needed EverQuest to be high res, and couldn’t do SLI (not enough free pci slots!) so the Pure3D nailed it for me.

tus87 8y ago

Please write an extensive blog post about your recollections working in the industry at the time. Seriously.

corint 8y ago
I couldn't agree more!

shaunxcode 8y ago

That was my first 3d video card and I am constantly name dropping it when people brag about their current 3d cards!

JohnBooty 8y ago

Hah! That is super cool. I think about that card from time to time. The extra 2MB made me feel badass, though I'm not sure any games actually used it, did they? The Pure3D and Pure3D II were the first and last times I ever owned best-in-class graphics hardware. The Rendition-based card I owned previously wasn't half bad, but those early voodoo cards were really revolutionary.

rasz 8y ago
At least one did, "Ultimate Race Pro (3dfx Glide) played in 800x600 resolution with Z-Buffer" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4yajgcLA8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4yajgcLA8

npunt 8y ago

Loved this card, still have it! Need to build an old box to drop it in.

simonsquiff 8y ago

Would love to know more. I recollect the Pure3D being by far the best V1 card. Because of this many gamers patiently waited for the Canopus version of the V2, expecting it to be a similarly significant leap up from the other OEM cards. IIRC it took ages to come out, and was barely different functionally (just smaller and with some kind of LED to indicate it was switched)? And people were pretty annoyed to have waited all that time not joining the V2 party :)

freejak 8y ago

Neat! Your work brought hours of enjoyment back in college. Very fitting username :)