ATI Vows to Bring Shader Model 3.0, Multi-GPU Tech


Recommended Posts

ATI Consider NVIDIA-Promoted Technologies

ATI Technologies, the world?s top supplier of discrete graphics processing units, said it would adopt technologies that its arch-rival NVIDIA Corp. has been promoting for a while in future. While the Markham, Ontario-based graphics chip designer did not provide any concrete plans, typically graphics firms discuss details of their next-generation products, not hypothetic long-term plans.Pixel Shaders 3.0 ? When Needed

?ATI will support Pixel Shaders 3.0 when it becomes readily available in games and applications. Currently, this feature is not readily used by the developer community and today?s top titles still largely rely on Pixel Shaders 2.0. As this trend starts to change ATI will incorporate PS3.0 into its feature set,? said John Carvill, who is public relations manager on Integrated and Mobile Products for ATI, in an interview to an Asian web-site OC WorkBench.

ATI Technologies has been consistently downplaying Shader Model 3.0 supported by NVIDIA Corp.?s GeForce 6-series GPUs since the release of the GeForce 6800 product in April, 2004. An internal document allegedly made by ATI stated: ?Steer people away from flow control in ps3.0 because we expect it to hurt badly. [Also it?s the main extra feature on NV40 vs. R420 so let?s discourage people from using it until R5xx shows up with decent performance...?.

Makers of graphics processors usually present new graphics architectures or seriously revamped architectures once a year. Some sources expect ATI?s next-generation R520 graphics chip to emerge in the first half of 2005. Before that ATI will offer its code-named R480 product, a remake of the currentMulti-GPU Technology ? Probingchnology ? Probing

The representative for ATI also made some comments in regards multi-GPU technology, a capability that allows two visual processing units to work in parallel and achieve higher performance in resource-demanding 3D environments than single VPU configuration. Currently multi-GPU ability is available on specially designed platforms by Alienware, a maker of high-end gaming desktops, and also from NVIDIA Corp., who supplies graphics processors that are natively able to operate in pairs.

?Our [graphics] cards can already support dual-GPU configurations in such platforms as Alienware?s ALX. We have a strategy in place for dual-GPU on the chipset side but it would be premature to discuss at this time,? Mr. Carvill indicated.

NVIDIA?s SLI is a technology that enables two NVIDIA-based graphics cards to operate in a single workstation or PC delivering higher graphics horsepower. A special mainboard with two PCI Express x16 is required for such configuration. According to NVIDIA?s estimates, typical performance advantage dual NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra bring is about 75% - 80% when operating on a system running NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset that boasts special enhancements for Multi-GPU technology. NVIDIA?s approach requires special circuitry to be incorporated into GPUs and, for extra speed gain, into core-logic. Alienware?s Video Array technology does not require any special logic to be incorporated into graphics or system chips.

ATI?s potential desktop multi-GPU approach is unclear, however, the company has some logic in its VPUs to allow them to work in parallel, as the firm supplies its graphics processing units to Evans & Sutherland for high-end graphics systems with up to 256 chips.

ATI can make chipsets for both AMD and Intel microprocessors. NVIDIA Corp. does not have license to make core-logic products for Intel Corp.?s chips.

X-Bit Labs

Last time 3dfx used MultiGPU, so I guess nvidia has an advantage with technology here. Other than that. Hope ATi manage to do it well. Voodoo 5 wasnt even T&L support but was about as fast as the Geforce 2. Amazing I think.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Amarok 3.3 Beta 2 replaces Phonon API with GStreamer by David Uzondu Audio players come and go, but one of the long-standing pack leaders is Amarok, a KDE project that has been around since 2003. This player was an essential application for anyone who ran a KDE 3 system, mostly because its interface was simple and did not get in your way. After spending some time in hibernation following the 2.x series, development has picked up again. Now we have version 3.3 Beta 2, bringing some changes under the hood. The most important of which is a complete overhaul of the audio engine. The developers have ditched the old Phonon multimedia framework on Qt6 and reworked everything to use GStreamer instead. The developers have also partially restored CUE sheet support, which is fantastic news for anyone who keeps albums as single audio files. ReplayGain logic has been improved to apply a default fallback value for tracks without loudness data, helping to even out the volume. Some work was also done to prevent potential database issues that could happen during library scans. This release also finalizes some major changes that were introduced in the first beta, as outlined below: Dropping support for Qt5 and KDE Frameworks 5 entirely. It is Qt6 from here on out. Updating the database character set to allow full UTF-8 values, which is great for international music collections. Fixing a year 2038 bug for dates stored in the database. Removing TagLib extras support, which affects RealMedia and Audible files. Now, before you rush off to install it, there are a couple of things to know. Because the first beta updated the database schema, downgrading from this beta back to an older version is not really possible unless you manually backed up your music library first. Also, if you are a big Last.fm user, its official library has not caught up with the Qt6 world yet. You will need a specific build from a repository like this one to get those features working for now. If you are feeling adventurous and want to try the new beta, you will probably have to build it yourself. For that, you can check out the project on GitLab for the source code and guidance. Some Linux distributions might also package the beta in their testing or unstable repositories, so it is worth a look there, too. You can grab the latest stable version of Amarok on Linux via FlatHub.
    • Yeah, stable and consistent data-harvesting to secure you and your 801 partners bottom line...thanks but no thanks.
    • The ethical thing for MS to do (a foreign concept) would be to continue full support for WIndows-10; until WIndows-11 is stable and mature enough to be considered reliable. Give users the ability to get decent use out of hardware they have bought, that MS decided are no longer able to run WIndows-11.
    • Why should users give up using a relatively stable OS (after almost a decade from its initial release) and move to a Beta+ level OS? Maybe in four or five more years, when it finally becomes more stable. Oh, and we have finally gotten fair use out of the hardware we bought, only to have MS say "toss it."
  • Recent Achievements

    • Rising Star
      Phillip0web went up a rank
      Rising Star
    • One Month Later
      Epaminombas earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Bert Fershner earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Reacting Well
      ChrisOdinUK earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Year In
      Steviant earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      545
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      205
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      170
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      150
    5. 5
      Som
      131
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!