ATI R420 and NVIDIA NV40 Presumably Taped Out

sykkopat

n00b
Joined
Apr 2, 2003
Messages
12
this was taken from xbit,what do you think?
r420 with 1600mhz gddr3 will be amazing preformance.

"Neither ATI nor NVIDIA managed to deliver their new high-end graphics processors code-named R420 and NV40 to the market last year. Moreover, as some sources indicate now, only in very late December 2003 both leading graphics companies managed to tape out the actual next-generation graphics chips.


Precise specifications of the upcoming graphics developments from leading powerhouses are absent at the moment, a totally extraordinary situation for the recent years. What is known about the chips code-named NVIDIA NV40 and ATI R420 is that they will have more capable and powerful Pixel Shader 3.0 pipelines and Vertex Shader 3.0 processors to correspond the forthcoming DirectX 9.1 API from Microsoft. Following the latest traditions, expect some new memory bandwidth-saving mechanisms, improved speed in “eye-candy” FSAA plus anisotropic filtering modes, much higher geometry power, calculation power and so on.

Both leading-edge graphics processors will be made using mature 0.13 micron technology and work at higher core-speeds than today’s GeForce FX 5950 Ultra or RADEON 9800 XT.

ATI Technologies and NVIDIA Corp. usually have internal target to develop new generation chips with performance two times higher compared to previous generation products.

One or both graphics companies have been evaluating 1600MHz (1.60GHz) 256Mb GDDR2 memory from Samsung Electronics since late August 2003. Peak theoretical bandwidth of 1600MHz memory on 256-bit bus would be mind-blowing 51.2GB/s.

ATI has two high-end graphics chips in its roadmap for the first half of they year: R420 and R423. The former is designed for AGP 8x, the latter is developed for PCI Express x16. Other specs of both chips are supposed to be the same. NVIDIA has only one high-end chip for the 1H of the year – the code-named NV40. It is not fully clear whether this is an AGP 8x or PEG x16 part, but even in case it is engineered for AGP 8x, NVIDIA still can address the PCI Express market with it, as the company has a special PEG x16 to AGP 8x bridge.

As transpired on The Inquirer, NVIDIA’s NV40 GPU was taped out “in the last days of December of 2003”. Based on some information from sources with presumable knowledge of the matter, ATI managed to receive the first silicon of its R420 visual processing unit a bit earlier than its Santa Clara, California-based rival, though, neither ATI’s nor NVIDIA’s graphics cards partners have received samples of the chips yet.

ATI Technologies said late last year that it utilizes low-k 0.13 process at TSMC for its next-generation graphics products, moreover, an ATI’s spokesperson reassured that the company will have “no yield problems” with its next-generation graphics technology.

Currently available information suggests that the new graphics chips may be announced at CeBIT 2004, or by CeBIT 2004 with actual graphics cards from AIB companies on display at the show.

Usually it takes graphics companies from 90 to 120 days to start commercial production of graphics processors from the initial tape-out. In case the first silicon of a 0.13 micron chips does not work correctly, it may take up to 14 weeks to tape out another one with the issue addressed.

Graphics hardware companies usually deny to comment on unreleased products"
 
You could have just posted the link to the article instead of copying and pasting the whole article.
 
yeah post the link to make sure its not some BS that the the inquirer pulls out of ass as always.

edit: i see it was from xbit news, they are just an inquirer wanna-be, so i wouldn't trust them...
 
Originally posted by mcryptic
yeah post the link to make sure its not some BS that the the inquirer pulls out of ass as always.

edit: i see it was from xbit news, they are just an inquirer wanna-be, so i wouldn't trust them...

WTF?? Sure they post rumors from time to time but most of it is true...or would you rather prefer TOM'S HARDWARE?? :mad:
 
IF the NV40 will be using a PCIexpressX16 to AGP8x "bridge" logicchip (or vice versa) and work on either slot it could be dangerous.

ATi will completely seperate their cores into an AGP8X version and a PCIexpress version.

I've seen enough of "bridge" chips (like RFM to IDE and then IDE to SATA converters) or multiprocessing controllers (like the Intel one used in 3DFX's last 2 and 4 GPU boards) to know they can pose some "very" interesting glitches and problems, in addition to adding an inch or more in tracelengths (doesn't sound like much, but it does affect peformance and stability)

I hope that Nvidia stays on the safe side and has created the NV40 as a AGP8x native part, with a bridgechip to PCIexpress16x. If its the other way around, the NV40 might have an early disadvantage out of the gate.

Add to that: I hope ATis R420 still has AGP4X support in addition to 8x. I just feel that on borderline systems with weaker powersupplies, 4x should be had as an option just in case 8x is not stable.
 
Originally posted by ZenOps
I've seen enough of "bridge" chips (like RFM to IDE and then IDE to SATA converters) or multiprocessing controllers (like the Intel one used in 3DFX's last 2 and 4 GPU boards) to know they can pose some "very" interesting glitches and problems, in addition to adding an inch or more in tracelengths (doesn't sound like much, but it does affect peformance and stability)

It is not necessarily a problem, almost all "All in Wonder" cards use a AGP bridge for the PCI TV Tuner that is on the AGP video card. So ATI at least can make these type of things work.

My guess, that is one part you make an effort to get right, esp. if you are building it yourself.

==>Lazn
 
The AIW took a long time for ATi to get right, and it may have a lot to do with the internal bridge chips inside of it.

I remember when ATi was using the Brooktree 829 and a ribbon cable from an ISA card to get TV and video in features. To put it very lightly, there were numerous problems until after the 869 chipset (and associated PCI bridge) came along. When ATi started making their own bridge chips integrated into their Rage theatres it started to smooth out, but people still complained about needing 3 IRQs to get all the early AIW features, one IRQ was needed for each of the devices the videocard, the Rage theatre, and one for the video/audio bridge overlays to the soundcard (so you could record the audio and video together)
 
Back
Top