The ATI Rage Fury MAXX graphic card

Monday, April 10, 2000


Installation

Installation of the Rage Fury MAXX goes without any outstanding issues, save for the fact that it may be the reoccuring theme in your future nightmares. To be blunt, Windows does not detect the Rage Fury MAXX as a single, complete card - as it should, but rather seems to think that it is two seperate graphics cards. So, it becomes necessary to first install the "Standard PCI Graphic Adapter (VGA)" for the first card that's detected, and then install the "Standard PCI Graphic Adapter" for the second one. Once that's accomplished, you can finally install the ATI drivers, and everything should work out fine... All told, though, on our Intel system, it took no less than 90 minutes to be able to finally install the ATI drivers correctly, which stubbornly refused to be installed at all. On our Athlon system, I was only able to finally complete the task with the 4th board I ended up trying. That said, be very aware of the item return policy of your store, if you end up with problems installing the MAXX on your Athlon system as it looks like that's not all Athlon system that will handle the Rage Fury MAXX...FONT>



The software bundle

The software pack that accompanies the ATI Rage Fury MAXX includes: the drivers, a CD version of the user's manual, and a DVD-movie player from ATI.

The Rage Fury MAXX isn't equipped with TV out and a set of demo games. ATI apparently had to cut somewhere in order to reduce pricing to something more in line with GeForce DDR price tag.

Next: The test setup.


RAGE FURY MAXX™ SPECIFICATIONS

RAGE FURY MAXX™ AT A GLANCE
  • 64MB of local texture memory
  • Powered by dual ATI RAGE 128 PRO graphics engines using ATI's MAXX™ technology for breathtaking 3D speed
  • Delivers 500 Megapixels/sec "fill rate" required for high frame rate game play
  • High resolution, true color (32-bit) quality graphics without performance degradation
  • Features ATI's Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) technology for incredibly smooth game frame rate action
  • Full OpenGL ICD, Direct3D and DirectX support for all popular 3D games
  • AGP Universal bus (for AGP 2X/4X systems)

64MB of Raw Graphics Power for Today's 3D Gaming

  • A whopping 64MB of memory delivers 3D game frame rates at extraordinary levels
  • Processes massive graphics textures in today's most graphics intensive 3D games
  • Incredible 3D performance delivers smooth animation, amazing color depths, rich and realistic lighting effects and life-like textures for all your gaming needs

Powered by ATI's MAXX™ technology

  • Powered by dual ATI RAGE 128 PRO graphics accelerators using MAXX™ (multiple accelerator) technology
  • Superior to currently shipping single chip solutions, RAGE FURY MAXX™ delivers maximum speed for 3D gaming on a single board
  • Delivers a maximum "fill rate" (textured pixels rendered per second) of 500 Megapixels/second that is necessary for accelerating the latest games in high resolutions and high frame rates

ATI'S Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) Technology

  • Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) is a unique and proprietary technology (patent pending) for smooth 3D performance and more precise gaming control
  • Each RAGE 128 PRO chip used in MAXX™ implementation renders alternate frames for optimal graphics processing
  • Unlike other multiple chip processing boards, each accelerator on RAGE FURY MAXX™ can render ahead without waiting for the other accelerator making AFR the more efficient technique delivering higher game frame rates
  • Each graphics chip is allocated dedicated local graphics memory to prevent tearing, discontinuous or other artifacts in the final image

No Compromise 32-bit True Color 3D Graphics

  • The fastest 3D performance in both 16-bit (65,000 colors) and 32-bit (16.7 million colors) color rendering without compromising game frame rate action
  • Experience millions or more colors and richer details like reflections and shadows - at the same level of frame rates
  • 32-bit color rendering support saves the time and hassle of upgrading your graphics board in 6 months when all of the hot 3D titles will require 32-bit mode support for a maximum experience

Full Support of DirectX, Direct3D and Full OpenGL ICD

  • RAGE FURY MAXX™ instantly brings you superior gaming quality right out of the box with full acceleration for today's hottest 3D games
  • Full support and compliance for powerful and demanding DirectX, Direct3D and OpenGL games and applications
  • 8-bit stencil buffer and advanced 3D architecture and features will let you experience the coolest effects for incredible realism

SPECIFICATIONS

System Requirements
  • Pentium II/III, AMD K6/Athlon or compatible systems with AGP 2X or AGP 2X/4X universal slot
  • Software requires CD-ROM drive
  • DVD playback requires DVD drive (supported under Windows 98 only)
  • Plug and Play monitor required
    Please note: Screen size and position adjustments must be made using the monitor's controls, if your monitor is not plug and play. Adjustment settings in the windows driver will be included in the next driver update. For updates on this driver click here
Graphics Controllers
  • Dual ATI RAGE 128 PRO GL high performance 128-bit graphics engines
Memory Configuration
  • 64MB
Operating Systems Support
  • Windows 98
Monitor Support
  • CRT Monitor: 15 pin VGA connector
Display Support
  • Register compatible with VGA
  • BIOS compatible with VESA for super VGA
  • DDC1/2b/2b+ monitor support
  • VESA Display Power Management Support
  • Separate horizontal & vertical sync at TTL levels
3D Acceleration Features
  • Dual engine acceleration for full-screen 3D
  • Single engine acceleration for windowed 3D
  • OpenGL ICD for Windows 98
  • DirectX, Direct3D, DirectDraw
  • Twin Cache Architecture
  • Superscalar Rendering
  • Single-Pass Multitexturing
  • True Color Rendering
  • Triangle Setup Engine
  • Texture Cache
  • Bilinear/Trilinear Filtering
  • Line & Edge Anti-aliasing
  • Texture Compositing
  • Texture Decompression
  • Specular Highlights
  • Perspectively Correct Texture Mapping
  • Mip-Mapping
  • Z-buffering and Double-buffering
  • Bump mapping
  • Fog effects, texture lighting, video textures, reflections, shadows, spotlights, LOD biasing and texture morphing
Warranty
  • 5-year limited warranty

2D Display Modes: Resolutions, Colors and Maximum Refresh Rates (Hz)
Resolution
640x480
800x600
1024x768
1152x864
1280x1024
1600x1200
256 colors
160
160
160
120
120
90
65K colors
160
160
160
120
120
90
16.7M colors
160
160
160
120
120
90

Maximum 3D Resolution(Hz)
65K colors 1600x1200
16.7M colors (32bpp) 1600x1200

Footnote: Maximum 3D resolution and colors supported with specified memory using double buffered setting and z-buffer. 2D & 3D resolution and refresh rates are subject to change.