3DFX Introduces Voodoo Banshee To Bring 3D Game Platorm to PC OEMs

Innovative Features in Integrated 2D and 3D Graphics Chip Break 2D Performance Barriers While Adding Powerfull 3D and Full 3DFx Games Compatibility

San Jose, Calif. - June 22,1998 - 3DFx Interactive, Inc today introduced its much anticipated product to broaden its platform for 3D gaming and penetrate the PC OEM market: Voodoo Banshee, which fully integrate 2D and 3D graphics in a single, powerfull chip. Voodoo Banshee combines an entirely new 2D engine with the core of its most powerfull 3D-only chipset, Voodoo2.

     Voodoo Banshee offers a number of innovative features that breat the 3D performance threshhold previously insurmountable in personal computer architectures. It delivers the highest levels of 3D performance on record, benefitting such applications as presentation graphics, Web browsing, 2D game playing, and general Windows screen performance, including refresh, drawing and scrolling.

     Developed from the vore technology in Voodoo2, the performance leader in 3D gaming, Voodoo Banshee offers the highest levels of gameplay and the greatest visual experience. Voodoo Banshee performs at optimal levels using multipass texturing, surpassed only by Voodoo2, which shows its unique advantage on complex games where it can process multiple textures in a single cycle. PCs equipped with Voodoo Banshee can run the more than 250 enhanced games developed for Voodoo2 and Voodoo Graphics.

     "3DFX has seen incredible success int he retail market with Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo2," said Greg Ballard, president and chief executive officer of 3DFx Interactive. "With Voodoo Banshee, PC users no longer have to compromise their choices of integrates graphics for gaming. Voodo Banshee gives consumers the best of both worlds in an integrates OEM product-uncomprising 3D gaming performance and Voodoo compatibility along with outstanding desktop productivity performance through a new, highly innovative 2D architecture. No matter how you choose to buy 3D graphics, our commitement is to provide the Voodoo experience in retail and OEM products."

Breakthrough in 2D

     The breakthrough in 2D graphics comes fom a number of key hardware innovations. First, Voodoo Banshee has a didicated high speed 128-bit interface to external memory with an internal 256-bit datapath for optimized memory utilization. Second, Voodoo Banshee features the industry's most complete hardware acceleration of the Microsoft Windows Graphical Driver Interface (GDI). Rather than resorting to software emulation for key GDI functions, Voodoo Banshee carries out the function in hardware, resulting in a significant speed boost and greater stability.   The hardware acceleration of GDI includes support for drawing polygons directly based on their vertices rather than requiring software translation and rasterization to create each part of the polygon, line by line. Voodoo Banshee can draw a polygon in tens of clock cycles instead of the tens of thousands required by comventional 2D graphics hardware. Voodoo Banshee also provides full support for the 256 GDI raster operations in hardware, enabline fast object drawing in a single pass.

     Another 2D performance breakthrough comes from Voodoo Banshee's ability to utilize block write support for optimal SGRAM performance. Block write support yields a quadrupling of 2D and 3D performance for polygon fills, pattern fills and Z-buffer clears. Voodoo Banshee supports 4, 8 or 16MB of SGRAM memory and also includes support for 16MB of SDRAM.

Faster VGA Performance

     Voodoo Banshee is the first graphics chip to offer a full 128-bit video graphics adapter (VGA) architecture to boost the performance of legacy DOS games and applications [and newer Direct Draw games and CD-ROM content?]. In the Speed 6.0 benchmark, Voodoo Banshee score 25,206.2 points, compares to only 33.9 for the Riva128 from Nvidia. Voodoo Banshee also offers the highest levels of VGA compatibility.

Unique Optimization for the Pentium II CPU

     Voodo Banshee and Voodoo2 are the first graphics chips that can directly accept and execute the out-of-order commands from an Intel Pentium II CPU. This patent pending technology can provide for an advantage of up to 20 to 25 percent. This technolog is the foundation of Voodoo Banshee's system-independent 2D and 3D interface to provide unparalleled performance in both PCI/AGP 1X and AGP 2X versions of the product.

Full Frame Rate DVD Acceleration

     Voodoo Banshee provides full frame rates DVD video acceleration through either direct hardware assistance or through an optional DVD hardware decoder daughter card that can plug into its full VMI interface. With an integrates 230/250 MHz DAC, the chip supports high resolutions including HDTV resolutions of up to 1920x1080.

Powerfull 3D With Full Voodoo Gaming Compatability

     Voodoo Banshee host and integrated, single texture unit version of 3DFx Interactive's award-winning Voodoo2 game platform, the performance leader in 3D gaming. Voodoo Banshee maintains the fully compatible Voodoo Core, which has been available to game developers for over two years and ha resulted in a library of titles that could total over 400 titles by Christmas 1998. No other PC 3D graphics has maintained this level of stability and feature compatibility. The benefit of a stable 3D architecture is that developers have time to learn and specifically optimize games to a single architecture rather then being forced to re-learn a new PC graphics chip every six to eight months.

Optimized for all Major Game Developement Environments

     Voodoo Banshee is designed for optimized drivers for all major game development environments: 3DFx Interactive's Glide, Silicon Graphics' OpenGL and Microsoft's Direct3D. Voodoo Banshee fully supports Microsoft's PC '98 specification and optimized Direct3D, including advanced features slated for Directx 6.0. Voodoo Banshee also provides a new 3D graphics capability where textures can be rendered and mapped in real-time on geometric surfaces to create effects such as real-time reflections. Voodoo Banshee supports the real-time bump-mapping capability introduced with the Voodoo2.

• True 128-bit device (including VGA and MIU)
• Voodoo2 caliber 3D performance
• Fastest 2D performance
• Optimized for Penitum II architexture
• Hardware Mpeg2 and Video encoder options
• 100/125 MHz pixel and memory clock
• 4/8/16 SGRAM/SDRAM frame buffer
• Full featured video acceleration
• Full VMI Host and Video-in ports
• Digital TV-Out Support
• PCI and AGP support (sideband)
• Integrated 230/250 MHz RAMDAC
• 352-pin PBGA, 0.35 micron technology
• 3.3v operation (5v tolerant)
• PC '98 Compliant

Speculation

• Release - August 1998
• Price - $125/$150/$225 4/8/16
• Possible TV-Tuner Addon
• AGP 1X Support Now, Future cards will have AGP 2X Support.

Software Support

• Win95/98
• WinNT
• Glide
• Direct3D
• ICD OpenGL

Voodoo Banshee Breakthroughs

• First full hardware acceleration of the Windows GDO
• First to support out of order execution for the Pentium II instructions.
• First true 3D gaming performance in a fully integrated device.
• First 128 bit VGA
• First Flexible memory architecture to support optimal 2d and 3d performance.

2D

World's Fastest 2D Acceleration

• First true hardware acceleration of the Windows GDI
• Faster Applications with more complex 2D objects.
  - PowerPoint, Web Browsing, Spreadsheet charts
  - Directdraw games.
• All Key Windows GDI functions in hardware.
  - No software emulation of any GDI functions.
  - Dedicated HW for every GDI subroutine.
  - Mimimize CPU overhead.
• Near "Null Driver" performance.
  - Theoretical maximum Winbench performance
  - CPU is the only bottleneck, not the graphics system or system bus.

3D

High Performance with High Quality Rendering

• No compromise on quality
  - 3DFX trademark in the gaming world
  - Highest rendering quality
• Per-pixel MIP mapping and alpha blending
• Most accurate LOD calculations
• Internal rendering calculations @ 32bpp
• Programmable expotential and fog-table
• Floating point Z-buffer to eminate z-aliasing
• Dynamic enviornment mapping
• Bumpmapping
• Full speed Trilinear Mip mapping quality
• Full scene "order independent" edge anti-aliasing
• 3D rendering up to 2k by 2k surface

Optimized for Pentium II Architecture

• Voodoo Banshee can directly handle out-of-order commands from a Pentium II.
• Potential 20-25% performance improvement

Banshee Complexity

• More transistors then a Pentium Pro CPU
• Voodoo Banshee = 40 Billion operations/sec
• Pentium II = ~400 Million operations/sec

16 Bit Floating Point Z-buffer

Games are designed for 64k Z-values

• Content Developers: 24/32-bit Z-values
• Very little quality improvement, not worth the significant frame rate reduction and extra memory requirements.
• 32-bit Z will run at half the speed of a 16-bit Z
• 32-bit Z requires double the memory storage
• Games require high frame rates, not long depth range
• 32-bit Z buffer is primarily useful for CAD applications

16-bit floating point Z is more precise than some 24-bit fixed point Z buffers

• Banshee's 16-bit W-buffer implimentation has ~22-bits of integer accuracy.
  

Banshee vs. Voodoo²

• Voodoo Banshee
  - Designed for today's games written for Voodoo Graphics architecture
  - Banshee will be slightly faster on  fill-rate intensive games and 3D Winbench.
• Voodoo²
  - Designed for next generation games which use multi-texturing
  - Nothing comes close to Voodoo² SLI

Faq

Questa è la Faq rilasciata da 3Dfx Interactive

1. What is Voodoo Banshee?
   3Dfx's first integrated 2D/3D/video Windows accelerator chip. Voodoo Banshee combines a completely new 128-bit 2D core with a 3Dfx-designed 128-bit VGA, video pipeline and a 3D core from 3Dfx's flagship gaming product, Voodoo2. Voodoo Banshee is specifically designed for OEM applications and is targeted to provide the highest 2D and 3D performance in an integrated graphics processor. Key to the Voodoo Banshee, is the large library of compatible 3D game titles, expected to top 400 by Christmas 1998
   
   
2. How does this new chip relate to Voodoo Rush?
   Voodoo Banshee is a completely different chip with 3D derived from Voodoo2 and a whole new 2D core that was developed completely by 3Dfx. Voodoo Rush was an all in one graphic card composed of a separate 2D accelerator from Alliance Semiconductor and the Voodoo Rush 3D accelerator derived from the original Voodoo Graphics. Voodoo Banshee, on the other hand, is a fully integrated device with VGA, 2D, 3D, video and integrated RAMDAC.
   
   
3. How does this new chip relate to Voodoo2?
   Voodoo Banshee has a core derived from 3Dfx's Voodoo2. The core is compatible with Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo Rush and Voodoo2 and provides very high game performance. Voodoo2 is higher in performance in many leading games because is contains 2 texture processors rather than the single texture processor in Voodoo Banshee. Two texture processors allow Voodoo2 to apply two textures in a single cycle to create effects like those used in Quake or Quake 2. Voodoo Banshee also uses a different memory type than Voodoo2. Voodoo2 is similar is design to Voodoo Graphics which has separate frame buffer and texture memories and uses a memory type called EDO DRAM. Voodoo Banshee uses the next generation technologies of SGRAM or SDRAM and supports a unified memory architecture. Finally Voodoo2 needs a primary 2D board to run, while Voodoo Banshee will replace your existing 2D board. So Voodoo Banshee is a complete upgrade to your graphics subsystem.
   
   
4. Will Voodoo Banshee work in Scan Line Interleave mode?
   No, Voodoo Banshee does not have this capability. Scan Line Interleave mode is a feature of Voodoo2 where two separate graphics boards can operate in parallel to double rendering performance. This is one of two advantages of Voodoo2.
   
   
5. So is Voodoo Banshee faster or is Voodoo2?
   Voodoo Banshee runs with 128-bit interface to 100MHz SGRAM, Vooodoo2 runs with dedicated 64-bit buses to 90MHz EDO. Because of the faster memory, Voodoo Banshee will be able to sustain a higher fill rate when applying a single texture. What this means is Voodoo Banshee will be able to run single texturing applications at a slightly faster rate than Voodoo2, but any multi texturing games such as Quake2 will benefit greatly from Voodoo2's second texture processor.
   
   
6. Will Voodoo Banshee work with a Voodoo2?
   Voodoo Banshee will work with a Voodoo2, but not in SLI mode. Voodoo Banshee will be the primary device and Voodoo2 will be the secondary device for the serious 3D gaming experience. For the ultimate setup, a system can support a Voodoo Banshee as the primary graphic device and two Voodoo2 boards connected in SLI mode. This way the user will have the fastest 2D acceleration coupled with renown Voodoo2 3D capabilities.
   
   
7. What resolutions will Banshee support?
   Voodoo Banshee will support up to 1900x1440 in 2D and 3D resolutions are just as flexible. Currently the 3D drivers are capable of rendering at resolutions as high as 1600x1200 for selected games. As the drivers mature, Voodoo Banshee will support many more titles at this ultra high resolution.
   
   
8. What memory configurations will Voodoo Banshee support?
   Voodoo Banshee will operate with 4-16MB of SGRAM. Also Voodoo Banshee supports low cost SDRAM as well. With its 128-bit memory interface, only 16MB SDRAM configuration will be supported since SDRAM is available in only 1Mx16.
   
   
9. What bus will Voodoo Banshee support?
   Both PCI and AGP will be supported. PCI 66MHz and AGP 1X with sideband support will be available for Voodoo Banshee. Voodoo Banshee is designed around the Voodoo2 core which is optimized for texturing from local memory. Voodoo Banshee's memory interface provides up to 1.6 Gigabytes/second of texture bandwidth versus a maximum of 500 Megabytes/second of bandwidth available through AGP texturing. With an efficient connection to the processor and an efficient memory interface, games will more likely be limited by CPU performance, not bus bandwidth.
   
   
10. Will there be any performance differences between PCI, AGP?
    For Voodoo Banshee, there will be minimal performance differences between AGP and PCI. Because of the faster bus speed on AGP, there will be a slight improvement in performance when compared to a standard 33MHz PCI bus. Overall performance will not be affected by the bus since Voodoo Banshee is architected to texture out of local frame buffer memory. As always, local texturing will always be faster than texturing from host memory. For this reason Banshee will outperform most products that have AGP execute mode (texturing out of system, or host memory). Voodoo Banshee is designed around the Voodoo2 core which is optimized for texturing from local memory. Voodoo Banshee's memory interface provides up to 1.6 Gigabytes/second of texture bandwidth versus a maximum of 500 Megabytes/second of bandwidth available through AGP texturing. With an efficient connection to the processor and an efficient memory interface, games will more likely be limited by CPU performance, not bus bandwidth.
    
    
11. When will Voodoo Banshee products be available on the shelf?
    Voodoo Banshee is expected to be available by the August/September time frame from various add-in-card manufacturers.
    
    
12. Will Voodoo Banshee have the same game support as the current Voodoo2?
    Yes, all D3D, OGL, and Glide based games that are currently supported by Voodoo2 will be supported by Voodoo Banshee.
    
    
13. With competitive products supporting up to 2k x 2k textures, will Voodoo Banshee be at a disadvantage by only supporting 256 x 256 textures?
    No, nearly all games were designed with 256 x 256 textures since most games were designed with the Voodoo architecture in mind. Therefore supporting larger textures during this time will be wasted.
    
    
14. Is there any disadvantage to supporting a 16-bit Z buffer when some competitors support 24 and 32-bit Z buffers?
    No, most, if not all games, are designed with 16-bit Z buffers, or 64k Z accuracy. Games require real time frame rates, and increasing the Z-depth to 24 or 32-bits requires twice the memory bandwidth and twice the memory storage. All Voodoo generation products support both integer and floating-point Z values. With floating-point Z, the range of Z is increased to the equivalent of 22-bits while keeping the benefits of 16-bit memory bandwidth and memory size. While supporting a deeper Z value provides great marketing, it slows game performance.
    
    
15. Why is Voodoo Banshee's 2D performance so much higher than traditional accelerators?
    3Dfx analyzed the shortcomings of current 2D accelerators and designed a totally new 2D core. This core is much better integrated with Windows and includes functions such as complete 256 ROPS support, hardware polygon generation and true SGRAM block write support. With increasing resolutions requiring the generation and movement of larger blocks of data, a faster 2D architecture will provide much better performance.