ATI RADEON VE (1/10) |
ATI RADEON VE ATi has created a very appealing product with the RADEON VE, pairing the RADEON’s 3D features with dual display technology. NVIDIA’s MX has already become one of the best-sellers in this segment. It, too, offers a combination of 3D acceleration and office features, although it takes a different approach than the VE. Instead of following NVIDIA’s lead and selling the VE as a 3D board with additional 2D features, ATi is definitely focusing more on the 2D features and selling the 3D performance as a bonus. This explains the lack of a T&L unit as well as the disappearance of the second texture pipeline. To make the chip dual display capable, a second 300MHz RAMDAC was added, along with Video-Out functionality. The card ships with Appion’s Hydravision software, which manages the multi-monitor output. Equipped in this way, the VE can put any TwinView equipped MX board to shame, although it can’t quite touch an MX’s 3D performance.
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Copyright: 13.07.2001 - RIVA Station 2001 - Lars Weinand Translation by Benjamin Kraft URL of this Article: www.rivastation.com/radeon_ve_e.htm - If you want to link to it, please use this URL! :-) |
To say that graphics cards come in
all different shapes and sizes would be a bit of an overstatement, and cliché to boot.
They do, however, come in different categories. Currently, NVIDIA is dominating the
performance (and price) high end with its GeForce 2 Ultra and GeForce 3 chips - no great
surprise, as this is essentially a one-horse-race at the moment. One step down on the
class ladder we find cards based on the GeForce 2 GTS/Pro and ATi’s RADEON DDR.
Continuing on further down it gets somewhat harder to make clear-cut divisions into
classes, since at this level, other factors come into play. Often buying decisions
aren’t based only on 3D performance or price. An important factor is definitely a
card’s feature set, since PCs aren’t solely gaming machines - well, for some of
us at least. Seriously, though, who is going to buy a $500 + card for such relatively
mundane and undemanding tasks as DTP or office work? 3D power is secondary to features
like dual display capabilities more appropriate to the working environment. Then again, a
bit of gaming can really lighten up your workday, so a little 3D power is always
welcome....