GeForce3 Video Cards in stores now

  05/14/2001 4:11:55 PM MDT Albuquerque, Nm
  By Dustin D. Brand; Owner AMO


In a great move, the GeForce3 Video cards are in stores now, just in time for e3.
  The GeForce3 NVidia video cards have shipped and are now in stores. The retail price for these beauties is $399.00 US, or $349.00 with a $50 mail in rebate.

  The GeForce3 chipset is the worlds most advanced processor, out of all processors, and is the worlds fastest Graphics Processor Unit or GPU. A faster variation of this chip was designed exclusively for the upcoming Microsoft XBOX Video Game System.

  The GeForce3 box image from Visiontek, Inc is below.

An image of the actual Video card is below

Feature Benefit
nfiniteFXTM Engine Enables dynamic, breakthrough effects, which deliver the next leap in realism to 3D graphics. Users will experience a virtually infinite number of special effects via the Vertex Shader and Pixel Shader engine components.
Vertex Shader Injects personality into characters and scenes by allowing characters to move and show facial emotion, materials to stretch, and scenes to come alive.
Pixel Shader Creates ambiance with materials and surfaces that mimic reality. Pixel shaders alter lighting and surface effects that replace artificial, computerized looks with high-impact organic surfaces.
Lightspeed Memory ArchitectureTM Makes GeForce3 the fastest GPU ever produced, and generates the power to deliver earth-shattering performance at all resolutions.
High-Resolution Antialiasing (HRAA) Produces the best visual quality and performance for all applications. HRAA delivers a high level of detail and crisp, clean lines at high frame rates, featuring the Quincunx AA mode.
Microsoft® DirectX® 8.0 Compatibility Ensures compatibility with the next generation of 3D applications to hit the market. The GeForce3 GPU supports DirectX 8.0 features and special effects for the ultimate 3D experience.
World's Fastest DDR Memory Interface 7.36GB per second memory subsystem ensures peak performance and the smoothest frame rates ever.
High-Definition Video Processor (HDVP) Turns your PC into a full-quality DVD and HDTV player.
AGP 4X/2X and AGP Texturing Support Takes advantage of new methods of transferring information more efficiently, and allows content developers to use high-quality, 32-bit color textures and high-polygon-count scenes.
Microsoft DirectX and OpenGL® Optimizations and Support Delivers the best performance and guarantees compatibility with all current and future applications and games.
Unified Driver Architecture Guarantees forward and backward compatibility with software drivers. Simplifies upgrading to a new NVIDIA product because all NVIDIA products work with the same driver software.
TV-Out and Video Modules Gives end users the option of big-screen gaming, digital timeshifting VCR, and video-editing applications.

System Requirements

MAIN
Product Name VisionTek GeForce3
Chipset NVIDIA GeForce3
RAMDAC (MHz) 350
Speed of core (MHz) 200
Available bus AGP
Supported API(s) Open GL 1.2 + DirectX 8
TwinView Support No
MEMORY
Amount of RAM (MB) 64
Type of RAM DDR SDRAM (256 Bit)
Speed of RAM (MHz) 460
Speed of RAM (GB/sec) 4.0
Bandwidth 7.36
VIDEO OUT
CRT Resolutions/Maximum Refresh Rates yes
640x480 240
800x600 240
1024x768 200
1152x864 170
1280x1024 150
1600x1200 100
1920x1440 75
2048x1536 60
TV-Out (Svideo) yes
TV-Out (Composite) yes
TV-Out Max Res. (NTSC) 640X480
TV-Out Max Res. (PAL) 800X600


  I highly suggest getting the above Graphics card for your Windows or Mac computer, whether you're a games enthusiast, or an aspiring Graphics Artist, or even a professional computer modeler or animator. I've written several previous GeForce3 articles, including 1 entitled "GeForce3 VS Others", and another earlier one entitled "The XBOX GPU, an inside look.". Take a look at those articles if you want a more comprehensive explanation of the features and their abilities.

  The main difference between the GeForce3 standalone PC chip and the XBOX chip are that the XBOX GPU has been customized on a standard non-flucuating set of hardware, while the GeForce3 is intended to run faster the faster the computer is, meaning it hasn't been customized. The added customization on the XBOX GPU (using the Geforce3 as it's core), make the XBOX GPU faster, and capable of performing better than the GeForce3 video cards on the computer, even at the time the XBOX ships many months from now in October, 2001.

  You've probably already heard of Microsofts' XBOX system, and the GeForce3, and if you're a regular to AMO.NET or a user of Never Offline(SM), you've heard it from me. You may have even heard that the current games built for the XBOX were running on 50% of their power. Often times this kind of technical info is misunderstood, likely by those who don't understand the "tech talk". The exact reason why the XBOX games have been running at 50% of their power is because the development kits have been running the GeForce3 on a PC, or XBOX Development Kit. Since the XBOX is a customized version of the GeForce3, the regular GF3 isn't capable of what the XBOX GPU is, and that's why the XBOX games have been running at half their power. Now that the XBOX GPU's have gone "gold" and since they've been in production for a while now, the XBOX developers have had just enough time to bring their XBOX games up to full or near full power. Doing this is really as easy as running the XBOX Games that were running at 50% on a regular GeForce3 - to running these games on Final XBOX hardware, or the final XBOX GPU's (also known as the Final XBOX developer kits - XDK's)

  Expect a great show for Microsoft at e3, and this Wednesday expect MS to kick start the show with a big bang.

  10/11/01 Tuesday October 11th, 2001 XBOX Launch Date...< PREDICTION

  Ontogony Recapitulates Phylogony...
  <___The Dustman___> out <:msg recv>

  Microsoft XBOX Web-Site

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