Rage Fury MAXX™Rage Fury MAXX™

Rage Fury MAXX™Rage Fury MAXX™The Answer to today’s 3D dilemma

High performanceAND

High quality

AND

Universal application acceleration

3D Tradeoff3D Tradeoff

• The classic hardware trade-off– Speed (Frame Rates)– vs. Quality (Resolution, Color Depth,

Texture Size)– vs. Scene Complexity (Triangle Count)

• Software community lag

Creates user confusion and frustration

Why High Resolution Why High Resolution Gaming?Gaming?• Increased realism

– Flight sims, FPS’s, sports– High resolution eliminates jaggies and need for anti-

aliasing

• Improved playability– Strategy games

• View larger fields in greater detail

– Flight sims, FPS, sports• Able to see finer detail and respond earlier

• Increased Satisfaction– Enjoy better “eye candy”

Traditional SolutionsTraditional Solutions

• 3D pipe parallelism• Faster engine clocks• Higher memory bandwidth• More of the 3D Pipe - e.g. T&L

Each of these options have

advantages and limitations

3D Pipe Parallelism3D Pipe Parallelism

• Setup engine– More triangles per second

• Rendering engine– Multiple pipes, single pass multi-texturing

– More rendered pixels per second

• Both result in larger dies• Implications

– Decreased yield due to larger die– Increased complexity lowers clock speeds– Process technology limits cost effective die size

Faster Engine ClocksFaster Engine Clocks

• Design for 150+ MHz increases engine throughput (triangles and pixels)– Decreased yield at speed– Limits ASIC complexity– Process technology limits cost effective engine

speeds

• Simpler architectures are easier to push

Higher Memory BandwidthHigher Memory Bandwidth

• Design for higher speed memories increases rendering bandwidth– 166MHz or faster SDR SDRAM or DDR SDRAM

• Enables high frame rates at high resolutions• Implications

– More costly memory– More exotic memories not in mass production– Lower ASIC yield (as for higher engine clocks)

More Pipeline - T&LMore Pipeline - T&L

• Offload CPU with Transform and Lighting acceleration on ASIC

• Increases scene complexity through higher supportable triangle count

• Implications– Larger die - lower yield– Higher complexity - lower speed in a given

technology (.18 micron is where it becomes viable)– Must wait 8-12 months for software to take

advantage of this

The ideal gaming solution The ideal gaming solution wouldwould• Support higher resolutions and color depths

for games over the next 12 months with• A balanced approach to

– Clock speeds (memory and engine)– ASIC size– Parallelism– Transparent software support

• .25 micron technology for high quality, high volume production

The solution...The solution...

ATI MAXX™(Multiple ASIC)

Technology

Mass Market Multiple Chip Mass Market Multiple Chip Processing TechniquesProcessing Techniques

• 3Dfx’s Scan Line Interleave (SLI)• Metabyte/Wicked 3D Parallel Graphics

Configuration (PGC)• ATI’s MAXX™ (Multiple ASIC)

Technology

Scan Line Interleave (SLI)Scan Line Interleave (SLI)Issues

• Required specific chip design

• No AGP support

• Sychronization delays

• ASIC’s cannot work ahead (inefficient design)

• No DAC calibration

Parallel Graphics Configuration Parallel Graphics Configuration (PGC) - Split Frame Rendering(PGC) - Split Frame Rendering

Issues• Bus imbalance (PCI vs.

AGP)• Imbalanced load

– Scene complexity in top half typically lower than bottom

• ASIC’s cannot work ahead

• Image tearing• No DAC calibration

Software Community LagSoftware Community Lag

• Software community lags hardware– API support and game engine develop lags – Optimizations unique to each chip– Reduces ISV development and support cost– User unable to realize full acceleration capabilities

(eg. geometry)

• User and channel confusion with 3D software support

AURORA Project GoalsAURORA Project Goals• Develop a patentable technology that

demonstrates ATI’s technology and performance leadership

• Using multiple (2) current ATI ASICS

• on a single AGP board

• With transparent support for OpenGL and D3D applications

• Architecture that supports future ATI ASICS

““Difficult” ProblemsDifficult” Problems

• “Bridgeless” Design• Driver transparency• Frame/texture/rendering management• Page flip synchronization• DAC calibration• Efficient use of each ASIC

Desire for a simple, quality design that could be leveraged with future ASIC’s

DB-15 RGB

out

RAGE 128 PRO GL

32 MB SDRAM32 M

B S

DR

AM

RAGE 128 PRO GL

Block DiagramBlock Diagram

ATI Multiple ASIC ATI Multiple ASIC TechnologyTechnology

Each engine renders alternate framesEngine rendering load is cut in half

Engine rendering capacity is doubled

Patent Pending

MAXX™MAXX™ Performance Performance• Alternates frame rendering between ASICs

for a very efficient use of resources - each frame does half the work

• Render ahead if required -- engines do not have to wait for each other as is the case with SLI and split frame techniques

• Can be fully decoupled for single ASIC software and OS compatibility

Performance Con’tPerformance Con’t

• High fill rate, 500 Mpixels/sec • Superior memory bandwidth: 4GB/sec• Run full speed in 32bpp hi-res modes

with large 64 MB (dual 32MB configuration)

• Performance achieved with standard, readily available production parts

3D Community Lag3D Community Lag

RAGE FURY MAXX™ accelerates all D3D and OGL applications– No changes needed to games– Accelerates past, current and future

generations of applications– ATI drivers split rendering and display

activity without software invention

Target MarketTarget Market

• High-end gamer who is passionate about:– Frame rate (speed, power) – Game optimization – Frame buffer size – Benchmarks– Resolution– Maximum visual stimulation– Latest games

Rage 128 Pro AdvantagesRage 128 Pro Advantages

• Rage Fury MAXX™ operates like a Rage Fury Pro in 2D mode– Stable, high volume quality– Superior 2D performance– Leadership Video features and quality– Integrated HW DVD

Key Selling FeaturesKey Selling Features• FASTEST Game Frame Rates Today

– Multiple ASIC technology and true colour rendering performance for ultimate speed

• High Resolution, True Color Display• 64MB memory

– for photo realistic game play with massive textures

ATI MAXX™ Technology

Rage Fury Rage Fury MAXX™MAXX™ Strengths Strengths• 32 bit true color for highest quality

– Multitexturing requires 32bpp in order to avoid color banding or flat washed out colors

– Highly realistic blending and lighting effects– Quality without a compromise in frame rates

• High fill rates (> 500 megapixels/sec.) required for rendering at true color, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 resolution

• Ideal for high resolutions and high color depth

LimitationsLimitations

• Performance benefits reduced below 1024x768 resolution compared to single ASIC solutions

• 64MB is configured as two 32MB frame buffers

• 2nd ASIC does not assist 2D performance

Aurora CL GeForce256SRP $299 $299Chipset 2xR128PRO GeForce256Memory 64MB SDRAM 32MB SDRAMTheoritical Maximum Fill Rate 500Mpixels/sec 480Mpixels/sec Full HW DVD YES No

ATI Rage Fury MAXX™ vs. GeFORCE256

The MAXX™ advantage:

• Faster performance especially in 32bit mode

• More memory for the same price as opposed to less memory with T&L. Games require higher fill rates in high resolution and not much from geometry.

The FutureThe Future

• More driver performance enhancements• Possible higher clock speeds• Future ASICs on MAXX™ platform

ATI MAXX™ Technology will continually provide the leading edge gamer with the

best game experience