Monday, October 02, 2000

Introduction Chaintech, a board manufacturer that we've always respected for the quality and diversity of its products, recently presented us with their latest graphics card: the Desperado R191, a GeForce 2 GTS card equipped with 64MB of DDR memory. This power monster not only devoured every performance test we put before it, but also managed to spit out positively hallucinatory performance figures. To determine what - if any - differences separate the GeForce 2 GTS from its predecessor, the GeForce 256, we'll first be take a brief detour to examine the card's features & specifications, before setting up for the main course.

Particularities of the GeForce 2 GTS

First off, the new GPU that is at the heart of the R191 is manufactured using a 0.18 micron process, rather that the 0.22 micron process that characterized the GeForce 256. Thanks to this reduction in size, the GTS is now able to operate at 200MHz - quite a bit higher than the 120MHz typical of the GeForce 256. This increase in frequency allows the GTS to leapfrog the latters 480 megapixel pushing power with its own ability to process 800 megapixels a second. Using the same QuadPipelining technology found in the GeForce 256, the GTS is nevertheless able to manipulate 2 textures per pipeline, compared to the single texture per pipeline of the 256. This results in the GeForce 2 GTS' ability to process an impressive 1.6 gigatextels every second. As for this particular card, it comes in two renditions - a 32MB, and a 64MB version, both of which employ DDR memory on a 128-bit bus. This memory oscillates at 166MHz (333MHz effective), thus allowing for 5.3GB/sec of bandwidth. This is in stark contrast to the GeForce 256 SDR, who's bandwidth tops out at 2.5GB/sec. Note that the GeForce 2 GTS RAMDAC operates at 350MHz.

In addition to the features we've already outlined, Nvidia has also seen fit to improve a few aspects of its graphics engine. NVIDIA Shading Rasterizer (NSR) for instance, makes its first appearance with the GTS. NSR allows 7 pixel operations to be performed in a single pass, among them: bump mapping, shadow maps, shadow volumes, volumetric explosions, vertex blending, elevation maps, waves, refraction, spectacular lighting, and 2 types of DirectX Bump mapping.

A faster T&L engine has also been put in place. The new engine is able to operate on 25 million triangles each second (compared to the 15 million of the GeForce 256), and is capable of performing lighting, and clipping calculations that were previously performed by the CPU. This is a double gain efficiency, because it integrates heavy operations into the GPU - thus speeding things up while it relieves the CPU of an operating burden - thus freeing it up to do other things.

Finally, the GeForce 2 GTS possess a High Definition Video Processor (HDVP) which permits it to output all the various ATSC video formats. This makes it possible to output a signal to a computer monitor, flat-panel display, or a television - all according to the options provided by the manufacturer. A second video plug also allows for video image captures.

Next: The drivers

Technical Specifications