Recently, lead 3d chip manufacturer; 3Dfx reported that they had reached a deal to acquire video-card manufacturer STB Systems. They later announced that they would only be putting their new Voodoo3 chipset in STB cards. This stock deal totaled 141 million dollars.
3Dfx indicated that the benefits of this deal will include greater price stability and smoother product transactions. This will result from having a single source for 3Dfx based graphics boards. That way 3Dfx will only have to worry about working with one company, resulting in a much better quality product.
This acquisition is expected to be completed by March. It will put 3Dfx on both ends of the line, not only will they produce the core 3D technology, they will also distribute it into the marketplace. Yet, it will also place them into competition with Diamond Multimedia and Creative labs, which themselves are two forces to be reckoned with.
The new Voodoo3 card is said to not only bring faster gameplay, but much higher resolutions also. Currently it is scheduled for spring release, but plans for the new STB cards are not yet definite. You can check out reviews on the Voodoo 3 at some of the other hardware review sites like www.fastgraphics.com.