NEWSPAGE DEUTSCH RIVASTATION - There“s something FISHY when you can read this!

15.11 - Napalm & Co

Voodooextreme hat schonmal die 3dfx Pressrelease auf einem europäischen 3dfx Server finden können:

3dfx Interactive® Inc. (NASDAQ: TDFX) today announced the first implementation of its new Voodoo Scalable Architecture technology. The initial advanced processor, the VSA-100™, is a highly scalable design that supports the integration of one to 32 chips per system, using proprietary programmable scan-line interleaving (SLI) techniques, to deliver ultimate fill rates and high visual reality through breakthrough digital cinematic effects. Additionally, the VSA-100 architecture substantially improves the overall 3D rendering quality by incorporating advanced full-scene anti-aliasing technology, available for the first time at real-time frame rates and consumer prices.

The Company also announced the Voodoo4™ and Voodoo5™ board products based on the VSA-100 processor. Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 are expected to ship in March, 2000.

At the heart of the VSA-100 is a new advanced 3D engine which enables extremely high fill rates. Sustaining high fill rate is critical to deliver real-time frame rates at high resolution, with significant depth complexity, digital effects and the highest visual quality. For the consumer market, products based on the VSA-100 deliver from 333 megatexels/megapixels per second up to 1.47 gigatexels/gigapixels per second fill rates using 16-128 MB of video memory and one to four processors per board. In the professional market, Quantum3D will manufacturer systems that will utilize eight to thirty-two VSA-100 processors and 128 MB to two gigabytes of video memory to attain fill rates greater than three gigatexels/gigapixels per second in their Aalchemy product line.

The VSA-100, composed of over 14 million transistors, is fabricated in an enhanced .25 micron, 6-layer metal semiconductor process. The architecture incorporates industry standard 3D features including 32-bit RGBA rendering, 24-bit depth-buffer (Z and W), 8-bit stencil rendering, DXTC and FXT1 texture compression support, 32-bit textures, 2048x2048 texture size support, and advanced texture and color combine capabilities. Additional support is provided for both AGP 4x and PCI, DVD hardware assist, and the world’s most powerful 128-bit 2D engine. All VSA-100-based products include support for all major APIs including DirectX®, OpenGL® and GLIDE® providing the highest possible software compatibility. The VSA-100 is designed for optimal performance on current and future CPUs from Intel and AMD.

The Voodoo4 family of products feature single-chip implementations of the VSA-100 architecture and are targeted to deliver great performance at mainstream prices. The Voodoo4 4500 will be available in both PCI and AGP versions, and will feature a single VSA-100 processor and 32 MB of graphics memory. The boards, which render two fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 333 and 367 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates and are expected to be priced at $179.99*.

The Voodoo5 family of products feature multi-chip implementations of the VSA-100 architecture including both dual-chip and quad-chip configurations. The multi-chip capabilities of the VSA-100 allow for the first time, true full-scene, hardware anti-aliasing at real-time frame rates. True full-scene anti-aliasing removes visual artifacts, such as “jaggies” and triangle “popping,” to create smooth images that create a substantially improved immersive experience for the viewer. Additionally, Voodoo5 products enable advanced T-Buffer™ digital cinematic effects including motion blur, programmable depth-of-field, soft shadows and soft reflections.

The Voodoo5 5000 PCI will have dual VSA-100 processors and 32 MB of total graphics memory. The Voodoo5 5000 PCI board, rendering four fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 667 and 733 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates and is expected to be priced at $229.99*.

The Voodoo5 5500 AGP will feature dual VSA-100 processors and 64 MB of total graphics memory. 64 MB of memory allows for higher resolutions and pixel depths with full-scene anti-aliasing and T-Buffer effects enabled, along with more memory available for texture storage. The board, which renders four fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 667 and 733 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rate and is expected to be priced at $299.99*.

The flagship product of the VSA-100 architecture, the Voodoo5 6000 AGP, will feature quad VSA-100 processors and 128 MB of graphics memory. It will be the first consumer graphics product to break the one billion pixel per second fill rate barrier. The Voodoo5 6000 AGP, which renders eight fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 1.33 and 1.47 gigatexels/gigapixels per second fill rate. It is expected to be priced at $599.99*.

Pricing and Availability

Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 products based on the VSA-100 are scheduled to be in volume production in the first quarter of 2000. Final board pricing and performance will depend on memory prices and will be announced in the early part of 2000.

Kurz zusammengefasst wird es folgende Produkte von 3dfx geben:

Voodoo4 4500 - Ein VSA-100 Prozessor, 32MB Speicher PCI / AGP Karten, Zwei Pixel pro Takt, 333-367 megatexel/sec. (ca. 179$)
Voodoo5 5000 PCI - Zwei VSA-100 Prozessoren, 32MB RAM, Vier Pixel Pro Takt, 667-733 megatexel/xec. (ca. 230$)
Voodoo5 5500 AGP - Zwei VSA-100 Prozessoren, 64MB RAM, Vier Pixel Pro Takt, 667-733 megatexel/xec. (ca. 300$)
Voodoo5 6000 AGP - Vier VSA-100 Prozessoren, 128MB RAM, Acht Pixel Pro Takt, 1.33-1.47 gigatexel/xec. (ca. 600$)

3dfx geht also den weg wie ATi MAXX - Parralellschaltung der Render-Prozessoren. Nachteil: Jeder Prozessor benötigt seinen eigenen Speicher. Die 128MB sind also in Spielen nur effektive 32MB (da 4 prozessoren į 32MB).

15.11 - Quake3 Demo

Eben schreib ich noch die News, schon ist es draussen: Quake3 Arena Demo (50MB)

Mirrors:
Fileplanet - Fileplanet / Gamespy Industries
MNG Network - MNG Network
Splatterworld - Splatterworld (DE)
AVault - The Adrenaline Vault
Blue's News - Blue's News
CDROM.com - CDROM.com
Quake3Arena.de - GXP (DE)
Gamers.de - Gamers.de (DE)

15.11 - 3dfx

3dfx will heute Details zum Voodoo3 Nachfolger unter dem Codenamen Napalm bekanntgeben. Hier ein paar Gerüchte wie diese aussehen werden:

The new chip from 3dfx :

Voodoo X:

coming early 2000 to your pc
capable of SLI
multi-chip solution
over 1 gigapixel fillrate
up to 64 MB memory SDRAM segmented memory
enhanced rendering and texture capabilities to deliver 32-bit per-pixel color and Z, source, and destination alpha-blending, stencil buffering, advanced texture compression, enhanced transparency support, and advanced video capabilities.
T-Buffer(TM) technology enables the graphics subsystem to deliver unmatched, full-scene sub-pixel anti-aliased image quality, along with previously impossible special effects that significantly enhance visual realism. The architecture approach will enable wide parallelism for single-pass, full-scene, sub-pixel anti-aliasing with greater polygon throughput and deep parallelism for scalable fill rate
faster texture download
improved image quality
enhanced triangle and texture paging throughput to deliver industry-leading peak textured triangle rates and texture paging performance, capable of supporting 1280 x 1024 resolution or greater
dxtc texture compression
and much much more

15.11 - GeForce Vergleich

Gamecenter vergleicht die Guillemot 3D Prophet, die Creative Annihilator und die Leadtek WinFast GeForce 256 miteinander: GeForce roundup

15.11 - Quake3 Demo - Bald!

Die endgültige DEMO-Version von Quake3 Arena ist nicht mehr fern. Auf Voodooextreme ist folgendes zu finden:

aus John Carmack“s .plan file:

The demo test is built. It should go up in a couple hours if nothing explodes. Mac and linux builds won't be out tonight.

und....

Graeme Devine: Just so we’re all sure. This isn’t the general demo. If all goes well we’ll upload the general demo in a few days. The demo contains four maps (q3dm1, q3dm7 (q3test1), q3dm17 (q3test2)& q3tourney2 (q3tourney) and six characters (Sarge, Visor, Major, Grunt,Daemia, & Stripe). Bots are in there on five difficulty settings (from “I can win!”to “nightmare!”).

Xian: Ok. For the curious, it's looking like...

11/14/99 07:34p 52,123,258 q3DemoTEST.exe We're doing final testing now. Sandpiper has been called and they are aware that we're planning on a release tonight. The file will simultaneously be made available on our FTP site (heh) and Sandpipers distribution network through www.quake3arena.com.

Todd Hollenshead: As Graeme indicated, this is a preliminary release. We are retaining the prohibition on physical media distribution until we release the final or "gold" demo. That means that magazines will NOT be allowed to distribute this version of the demo on coverdisks. This is marked all over the test, however I would appreciate it if all of the Quake 3 and game site webmasters that are mirroring or covering the release would lend me a hand and make sure our friendly neighborhood game and computer magazines understand this.

Rest assured, we will allow physical media distribution of the final demo, once it is released, but not yet.

Second, although the 1-800-idgames number is on the screen, we (id) aren't accepting orders yet. Also, please remember that number is not for technical support for Quake III Arena, the demo test, or any other id game. Feedback, bugs, etc., in the demo test should still be sent to feedback@quake3arena.com

Finally, before the crazy speculation starts, we aren't done with the game yet. We will be finished "when it's done!" Again, anyone besides id claiming to have the official release date is just pulling your chain.

12.11 - ASUS V6600 Deluxe

Click to enlarge

Anbei ein erstes Bild der ASUS AGP-V6600 mit NVIDIA GeForce. Ausgestattet mit TV-In, TV-Out, 3D Glasses und einer Hardwaremonitoring Funktion (Siehe auch Artikel: V6600 Deluxe SmartDoctor) bietet ASUS damit die kompletteste bisher erhältliche GeForce Karte. Für den TV-Out sorgt auf dem Board ein Chrontel CH-7005C-T.

Als Speicher setzt ASUS bei der TVR 5,5ns SGRAM Bausteine ein (Die V6600 Pure ist mit SDRAM ausgestattet). Auffällig sind die grossen Kondensatoren links neben dem Lüfter.

ASUS bundled die Karte mit den Vollversionen der Spiele Drakan Order Of The Flame und Rollcage. Zusätzlich legt ASUS noch eine CD mit 12 Spieledemos bei. An Anwendungssoftware ist Ulead VideoStudio, ASUS DVD und die Videoüberwachungssoftware Video Security enthalten. Preislich soll die Karte für um die DM 550,- in den Handel kommen.

12.11 - ELSA Erazor X

Details zum Lieferumfang der ELSA Erazor X: Die Karte bietet 32MB 5.5ns Memory und die ELSA ChipGuard (Lüfter/Temperaturüberwachung) Technologie. An Software liefert ELSA für die Retail Version der Karte die Vollversion MainActor v3, eine 3D Demo CD, COREL Draw 7.0 und COREL Photo Paint 7.0 (auf COREL Select OEM CD) und als Spielebundle: DRAKAN - Order of the Flame als Vollversion

Die DDR-RAM Variante Erazor X² wird auch einen TV-Out bieten.

12.11 - 3D Fight

The Techzone wirft einen Blick auf die Situation auf dem 3D Grafikkarten Markt - wie alles anfing, wo es hingeht etc

The only other competitors to the Voodoo card was the PowerVR and RIVA128 but no one could match the excellence of all that was Voodoo and GLIDE. 3DFX later tightened its stranglehold on the market with the introduction of the ever so lovely Voodoo2. The top end Voodoo2 cost a mere £250 when it reached these British shores but many loved it and it loved them too, showing its affection by enabling the fastest, biggest smoothest 3D this side of reality. You could even 'mate' your card with another Voodoo2 resulting in the legendary SLI setup. But lets get serious for une momento. . .it was 3DFX who claimed proudly that, to be ahead of the rest (and they were ahead of anything else by quite a margin) they would release a new 3D card every six months. So what happened?

Der komplette Artikel ist hier zu finden.

12.11 - v3.53 vs. v3.56

VR-Zone hat einen Vergleich zwischen NVIDIA v3.53 und den Inoffiziellen v3.56 Treibern gemacht: NVIDIA Detonator v3.53 vs. v3.56

12.11 - Neue Annihilator Treiber

Creative hat neue Treiber für die 3D Blaster Annihilator veröffentlicht: 3D Blaster Annihilator Treiber

Wenn Hardware-Probleme mit der Karte auftreten empfiehlt Creative folgendes:

ii) Motherboard compatibility with AGP Cards
If you are still experiencing random screen corruption or system hangs when you run certain games, during video playback, or 3D applications, you can try the following:

a) Ensure that you have the following suggested settings in your system BIOS setup:
1. Enable "Assign IRQ to VGA" if possible.
2. Disable "VGA Palette Snoop".
3. Disable "Video BIOS Cache" and "Video BIOS Shadow".
4. Disable "C800-CBFFF Shadow" or similar options.
5. Set AGP Aperture Size to about half the size of system RAM size.

b) If you have an older LX series motherboard and are experiencing problems, check with your system vendor to udate your system BIOS.

c) If you are overclocking your CPU, you might want to revert back to the original clock settings.

d) The following motherboards were found to have problems working with the Creative CT6941 card. Please contact the motherboard manufacturer for an update. Asus P2L97-DS v1.03 (might need motherboard hardware patch) Gigabyte GA-6BXC rev 1.7 FIC CL31-A, Elite P6LX-A Elite P6LX-A+z

12.11 - Extreme Overclocking

Fastgraphics hat eine ASUS V6600 GeForce mit einem Peltier Kühler ausgestattet und die Karte dabei auf 165MHz Coretakt bringen können. Das Ergebniss des ganzen ist hier zu sehen.

11.11 - ELSA GLoria II

Auf der ACS (Fachmesse für Computersysteme im Bauwesen) hat ELSA die GLoria II mit NVIDIA Quadro und 64MB SDRAM gezeigt. RIVA Station hat sich die Karte einmal kurz angeschaut:

Angeschaut: ELSA GLoria II

11.11 - Detonator v3.56 (inoff.)

Auf Voodooextreme“s Referenztreiber Seite gibt es eine inoffizielle Version (Benutzung auf eigenes Risiko) der NVIDIA Detonator Treiber v3.56 (Release 4 Treiber).

11.11 - GeForce Preise fallen

Die c“t meldet das die Preise für GeForce Karten weiter am fallen sind. Nach Creative haben nun auch ELSA und Guillemot ihre Preise nach unten korrigiert:

ELSA Erazor X: Von 666,- auf 599,-
Guillemot 3D Prophet: Von 599,- auf 549,-

Als Grund werden fallende Speicherpreise in TW angegeben. (Die Preise sind UVP“s! Strassenpreise sind wahrscheinlich wie üblich deutlich geringer)

11.11 - GeForce mit Unified

RIVA 3D hat den Creative Glide Wrapper Unified auf einer 3D Blaster Annihilator (Creative) getestet:

While in the midst of doing a review on the Creative Annihilator, I tested the unified drivers and am happy to say that they do indeed work VERY WELL on the Annihilator card. I've posted some Q2 3DFX GL benchmarks to show the excellent performance running GLIDE games on the Geforce powered Annihilator.

Die Ergebnisse gibt es hier

11.11 - Webweites

TweakPC bringt ein exklusives Preview des Abit BE6 2.0:

ABIT war so freundlich uns vor der Markteinführung eines der neuen Boards zur Verfügung zu stellen. Es bietet einige Überraschungen, aber auch Verbesserungswürdiges. Was wir an der Vorab-Version mochten und was weniger, lesen Sie bei uns im Preview.

Wolles Techlab hat ein Interview mit Intel geführt. Hier ist ein Ausschnitt:

- Im Chipsatzbereich läuft es für Intel nicht sehr gut. Können Sie unseren Lesern dieses ein bisschen genauer Erläutern. Warum hat sich Intel z.B. so lange gegen den PC 133 Standart Gesträubt ?

PC133 ist lediglich das Aufbohren einer bestehenden Technologie, und kein neuer technologischer Ansatz. Wir haben die Erfahrung gemacht (und waren damit zusammen mit unseren Kunden in der Vergangenheit auch sehr erfolreich), den Markt auf eine neue Technologie möglichst frühzeitig vorzubereiten, und nicht ältere Technologien bis zum finalen Exitus "auszulutschen". Deswegen führten wir auch in der Vergangenheit schon neue Speicher-Technologien frühzeitig ein, um sie dann dafür Jahre bestehen zu lassen und so der ganzen Industrie Planungssicherheit zu gewährleisten. Einen Chipsatz mit PC133-Unterstützung wird es von Intel im nächsten Jahr geben, weil unsere Kunden dies so wünschen. Dies ändert aber nichts an der Tatsache: Direct RDRAM ist die Speichertechnologie der Zukunft, mit den besten Leistungsdaten bei allen modernen Anwendungen.

Mehr dazu auf der site

10.11 - Noch mehr Maxx

Die Mädels von der Chip (...ja!! Die haben auch ne Website <g>) haben eine ATi Rage Fury MAXX gegen die Hercules (Guillemot) 3D Prophet DVI mit DDR-RAM Speicher getesetet:

Zunächst aber einmal ein Glückwunsch an ATI: Daß die neue Maxx-Karte auch nur in einem einzigen Benchmark an eine GeForce-Karte herankommt, hätte vor dem Test keiner der Testredakreure geglaubt. Offensichtlich hat man das Zusammenspiel der beiden Rage Fury Pro-Chips bereits so gut im Griff, daß ATI tatsächlich auch im 3D-Bereich wieder ganz vorne mitmischt - schließlich ist man ja Marktführer. Bei den derzeit aktuellen Spielen übertrumpft man damit, soviel sei schon einmal verraten, die TNT-2-Ultra-Modelle der Konkurrenz.

Karten mit NVidias Flaggschiff GeForce 256 dagegen haben ihre große Zeit erst noch vor sich: Spiele mit hohen Polygonzahlen und T&L-Unterstützung werden erst im nächsten Jahr in nennenswerter Zahl verfügbar sein - bis dahin hat NVidia aber zumindest im OpenGL-CAD-Bereich eine unter den Desktop-Karten absolut dominante und vielversprechende Position gefestigt. Guillemot liefert mit der DDR-Version der 3D-Prophet ein absolutes 3D-Highlight. Daß der Markenname Hercules gerade auf diese Weise wieder auftaucht, gehört anscheinend zu den ganz normalen Vorkommnissen in einem extrem kompetitiven Marktsegment.

Den kompletten Test gibt es hier.

10.11 - Savage 2000

S3 hat den neuen Savage 2000 offiziell angekündigt - pressrelease:

Diamond Viper II comes powered with S3's own Savage 2000 processor and 32MB on-board memory to deliver true next-generation 128-bit 2D/3D graphics acceleration. It is also the first mainstream graphics accelerator to deliver a single-pass Quad-Texture(TM) engine designed for fast action multi-textured games. Capable of running all 3D processing functions without causing system delays, Viper II features a state-of-the-art transformation and lighting engine, in addition to S3's trademarked S3TC processing technology, to provide consumers with the ultimate tool for obtaining the maximum in visual quality for today's intense 3D applications. Customers can also run resolutions as high as 2048x1536 with fillrates of up to 500 Mtex/s. Additionally, Viper II delivers full API support for DirectX 7.0, 6.1, Direct 3D, OpenGL ICD and driver support for Windows 95/98, and Windows NT 4.0.

10.11 - Mehr über MAXX

Tomshardware hat sich der ATi Rage Fury MAXX angenommen:

First of all, we didn't have the chance to compare Fury MAXX to GeForce in a T&L-supporting game-title. The driver would not allow DMZG to run, which may make Fury MAXX look better than it actually is. We will test Fury MAXX with T&L-titles as soon as we can.

Den Test gibt es hier.

10.11 - MadOnion und BAPCo

Neues zu MadOnion. Diese haben eine strategische Allianz mit BABCo bekanntgegeben:

BAPCo® and MadOnion.com™ Form Strategic Alliance Online Benchmark Technology for Business Applications to be Powered by MadOnion.com engine

Santa Clara, California - November 9th, 1999 - MadOnion.com™ (formerly Futuremark Corporation), the leading provider of PC performance and upgrade information, today announced a strategic alliance with BAPCo®, the Business Applications Performance Corporation, combining the strengths of Internet integration provided by MadOnion.com with BAPCo's technical expertise in business benchmarking. The strategic alliance enables the two companies to develop enhanced online benchmarking products that allow users to compare their systems globally.

Through the strategic alliance, MadOnion.com will integrate a new interface and Internet-based engine for BAPCo's SYSmark® 2000, adding a layer to its Web services by providing the MadOnion.com engine to drive the online benchmark. SYSmark® 2000 is a business application benchmark supporting popular business applications running on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system. Modifications to the SYSmark 2000 benchmark reflect a shift to the increased use of the Internet.

"The alliance will give BAPCo products, already at the cutting edge of benchmarking for corporate users, the power of global comparison in online benchmarks," said Aki Jarvilehto, CEO of MadOnion.com. "BAPCo's business applications, combined with MadOnion.com's online benchmark technology, enable business users to make more informed decisions about PC purchases."

Under the terms of the alliance, MadOnion.com is also providing marketing support and distribution services for the SYSmark 2000 online benchmark to deliver the products to a wider corporate market.

" BAPCo and its member companies are excited about the strategic alliance with MadOnion.com," says Andreas Uiterwijk, President of BAPCo. "This alliance will strategically enhance the ability of both companies to create and deliver both consumer and business benchmarking products. BAPCo's leadership in developing industry standard benchmarks, and MadOnion.com's marketing support and Internet-based engine, will create a synergy for success, benefiting all PC users."

Pricing and Availability

SYSmark 2000 will be available later this month at a price of $99.95 US.