Voodoo 4,5 and the VSA-100 Graphics Processor

Voodoo 4 & 5

It finally has happened, after a lot of arguing and speculation 3dfx has finally released the specs on their totally new Voodoo series based cards. After the announcement of nVidia's GPU based GeForce, 3dfx must have gotten quite a bit worried. nVidia was more innovative ever since the release of their 32Bit TNT-2. 3dfx was 'de-crowned' the king had to throw in the towel ... We are now only 8 months away from that moment and 3dfx has now announced their own "GPU" (had to use the phrase folks). Here are the specs of the Voodoo 4 4500, Voodoo5 5000, 5500 and 6000 which are based around 3dfx latest and newest VSA-100 Graphics processor.

I took the liberty to clear and sum up the most important aspects of the PR that has leaked on 3dfx's server on 15 November 1999 (moments before the official announcement).

VSA-100

3dfx announced today its's own "GPU" called the VSA-100.
SLI capabilities and thus supports 32 chips per system !
The VSA-100, composed of over 14 million transistors, is fabricated in an enhanced .25 micron fab.
Additional support is provided for both AGP 4x.
The VSA-100 is designed for optimal
support for all major APIs including DirectX®, OpenGL® and GLIDE®

Voodoo4 4500

The Company also announced the Voodoo4™ and Voodoo5™ board products based on the VSA-100 processor.
Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 are expected to ship in March, 2000.
The Voodoo4 family of products feature single-chip implementations
The Voodoo4 4500 will be available in both PCI and AGP versions.
32 MB of graphics memory
333 and 367 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates
Expected to be priced at $179.99*.

Voodoo5 5000/5500

Architecture including both dual-chip and quad-chip configurations
Voodoo5 5000 PCI will have dual VSA-100 processors and 32 MB of total graphics memory.
Multi-chip capabilities of the VSA-100 allow for the first time, truefull-scene, hardware anti-aliasing at real-time frame rates
Voodoo5 products enable advanced T-Buffer™ digital cinematic effects including motion blur, programmable depth-of-field, soft shadows and soft reflections
667 and 733 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates
Voodoo 5 5000 priced at $229.99*

Voodoo5 6000

Quad VSA-100 processors and 128 MB
One billion pixel per second fill rate
Renders eight fully featured pixels per clock
1.33 and 1.47 gigatexels/gigapixels per second
Priced at $599.99*.

Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 products based on the VSA-100 are scheduled to be in volume production in the first quarter of 2000. Final board pricing and performance will depend on memory prices and will be announced in the early part of 2000.

3dfx hits back hard ...

3dfx VSA-100 V4 and V5 Leaked press-release

3dfx Interactive® Inc. (NASDAQ: TDFX) today announced the first implementation of its new Voodoo Scalable Architecture technology. The initial advanced processor, the VSA-100™, is a highly scalable design that supports the integration of one to 32 chips per system, using proprietary programmable scan-line interleaving (SLI) techniques, to deliver ultimate fill rates and high visual reality through breakthrough digital cinematic effects. Additionally, the VSA-100 architecture substantially improves the overall 3D rendering quality by incorporating advanced full-scene anti-aliasing technology, available for the first time at real-time frame rates and consumer prices.

The Company also announced the Voodoo4™ and Voodoo5™ board products based on the VSA-100 processor. Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 are expected to ship in March, 2000.

At the heart of the VSA-100 is a new advanced 3D engine which enables extremely high fill rates. Sustaining high fill rate is critical to deliver real-time frame rates at high resolution, with significant depth complexity, digital effects and the highest visual quality. For the consumer market, products based on the VSA-100 deliver from 333 megatexels/megapixels per second up to 1.47 gigatexels/gigapixels per second fill rates using 16-128 MB of video memory and one to four processors per board. In the professional market, Quantum3D will manufacturer systems that will utilize eight to thirty-two VSA-100 processors and 128 MB to two gigabytes of video memory to attain fill rates greater than three gigatexels/gigapixels per second in their Aalchemy product line.

The VSA-100, composed of over 14 million transistors, is fabricated in an enhanced .25 micron, 6-layer metal semiconductor process. The architecture incorporates industry standard 3D features including 32-bit RGBA rendering, 24-bit depth-buffer (Z and W), 8-bit stencil rendering, DXTC and FXT1 texture compression support, 32-bit textures, 2048x2048 texture size support, and advanced texture and color combine capabilities. Additional support is provided for both AGP 4x and PCI, DVD hardware assist, and the world’s most powerful 128-bit 2D engine. All VSA-100-based products include support for all major APIs including DirectX®, OpenGL® and GLIDE® providing the highest possible software compatibility. The VSA-100 is designed for optimal performance on current and future CPUs from Intel and AMD.

The Voodoo4 family of products feature single-chip implementations of the VSA-100 architecture and are targeted to deliver great performance at mainstream prices. The Voodoo4 4500 will be available in both PCI and AGP versions, and will feature a single VSA-100 processor and 32 MB of graphics memory. The boards, which render two fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 333 and 367 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates and are expected to be priced at $179.99*.

The Voodoo5 family of products feature multi-chip implementations of the VSA-100 architecture including both dual-chip and quad-chip configurations. The multi-chip capabilities of the VSA-100 allow for the first time, true full-scene, hardware anti-aliasing at real-time frame rates. True full-scene anti-aliasing removes visual artifacts, such as “jaggies” and triangle “popping,” to create smooth images that create a substantially improved immersive experience for the viewer. Additionally, Voodoo5 products enable advanced T-Buffer™ digital cinematic effects including motion blur, programmable depth-of-field, soft shadows and soft reflections.

The Voodoo5 5000 PCI will have dual VSA-100 processors and 32 MB of total graphics memory. The Voodoo5 5000 PCI board, rendering four fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 667 and 733 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates and is expected to be priced at $229.99*.

The Voodoo5 5500 AGP will feature dual VSA-100 processors and 64 MB of total graphics memory. 64 MB of memory allows for higher resolutions and pixel depths with full-scene anti-aliasing and T-Buffer effects enabled, along with more memory available for texture storage. The board, which renders four fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 667 and 733 megatexels/megapixels per second fill rate and is expected to be priced at $299.99*.

The flagship product of the VSA-100 architecture, the Voodoo5 6000 AGP, will feature quad VSA-100 processors and 128 MB of graphics memory. It will be the first consumer graphics product to break the one billion pixel per second fill rate barrier. The Voodoo5 6000 AGP, which renders eight fully featured pixels per clock, will deliver between 1.33 and 1.47 gigatexels/gigapixels per second fill rate. It is expected to be priced at $599.99*.

Pricing and Availability

Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 products based on the VSA-100 are scheduled to be in volume production in the first quarter of 2000. Final board pricing and performance will depend on memory prices and will be announced in the early part of 2000.

Voodoo 4 4500 specs

General Features	Benefits
Fully integrated 128-bit 2D/3D Video Accelerator	It's not just for gaming! Voodoo4 4500AGP enables outstanding 2D and video applications too.
32 MB of Graphics Memory	Enough memory to handle high-resolution 32-bit gaming with large textures.
Fill Rate of 333-367 Megapixels per second	Fill rate delivers frame rate. Virtually all games are limited by fill rate at resolutions of 1024x768 and above so the higher your fill rate the faster your game will perform.
FXT1™ and DirectX® Texture Compression	Dramatically reduces the size of texture images with no loss in visual quality and enables higher frame rates and better image quality. VSA-100 supports all five DXTC compression modes. Texture compression is critical for use of 2048x2048 and 32-bit textures.
8-bit Palletized Textures	The most widely used form of texture compression; as with FXT1, palletized textures enable higher frame rates and enhanced image quality. Graphics cards that do not support palletized textures often experience severe game compatibility problems.
4X AGP with Full Sideband Support	The latest industry-wide graphics bus standard.
32-bit Rendering	Supports the highest possible image quality for the latest titles.
32-bit Textures	Allows use of the highest quality artwork seen in today's titles.
2k x 2k Textures	Allows you to enjoy the full impact of the most detailed artwork used by game developers; larger textures=more complex, more stunning images.
24-bit Floating Point Depth Buffer (Z or W)	Virtually eliminates "Z aliasing," or having surfaces that should be visible being occluded and surfaces that should be occluded being visible.
8-bit Stencil Buffer	Improves image quality and realism by supporting a technique widely used by 3D content developers to create complex shapes such as shadows.
350MHz RAMDAC	Allows users to run at insane resolutions and incredible refresh rates, up to 2048x1536 at 85Hz!
The industry's most complete API support: DirectX, OpenGL, and Glide	Assures the industry's highest title compatibility.
DVD hardware assist: planar to packed-pixel conversion	Assists DVD titles in running at 30fps without dropped frames.
Windows 95, 98, NT4.0 and Windows 2000 drivers	Allows you to run the Voodoo4 4500 AGP with standard operating systems.

Voodoo 5 5000 specs

General Features	Benefits
32 MB of Graphics Memory	Enough memory to handle high-resolution 32-bit gaming with large textures.
667-733 Megapixel Fill Rate	Allows games to fly at faster frame rates and higher resolutions.
Real-time Full-Scene HW Anti-Aliasing	Removes annoying jaggies and flashing objects from the image to dramatically improve the visual quality of any title, new or old.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Motion blur	Can be used to smooth motion to improve image quality or to exaggerate motion for special effects.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Depth of Field Blur	Enhances reality by rendering a scene as if viewed through a real lens. Enables artistic depth of field effects often used in cinema, such as blurring all but the most important objects in a scene.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Soft Reflections	Enables realistic reflections from semi-gloss surfaces like polished wood or stone and stainless steel.
FXT1™ and DirectX® Texture Compression	Dramatically reduces the size of texture images with no loss in visual quality; higher frame rates and better image quality.
8-bit Palletized Textures	Widely used form of texture compression; as with FXT1, palletized textures enable higher frame rates and enhanced image quality.
4X AGP with Full Sideband Support	The latest industry-wide graphics bus standard; enables higher performance in complex 3D applications.
32-bit Rendering	Supports the highest possible image quality for the latest titles.
32-bit Textures	Similar to 32-bit rendering; allows use of the highest quality artwork seen in today's titles.
24-bit Floating Point Depth Buffer (Z or W)	Virtually eliminates "Z aliasing," which happens when surfaces that should be visible but are occluded and visa-versa.
8-bit Stencil Buffer	Improves image quality and realism by supporting a technique widely used by 3D content developers to create complex shapes such as shadows.
Fully integrated 128-bit 2D/3D/Video Accelerator	It's not just for gaming! Voodoo5 5500AGP enables outstanding 2D and video applications, too.
2K x 2K Textures	Allows you to enjoy the full impact of the most detailed artwork used by game developers; larger textures=more stunning images.
350MHz RAMDAC	Allows users to run at insane resolutions and incredible refresh rate --2048x1536 at 85Hz for example.
The industry's most complete API support: DirectX, OpenGL, and Glide	Assures the industry's highest title compatibility.
DVD hardware assist: planar to packed-pixel conversion	Assists DVD titles in running at 30fps without dropped frames.
Windows 95, 98, NT4.0 and Windows 2000 drivers	Allows you to run the Voodoo5 6000 with standard operating systems.

Voodoo 5 5500 Specs

General Features	Benefits
64 MB of Graphics Memory	Enough memory to handle high-resolution gaming with large 32-bit textures and T-Buffer effects enabled.
667-733 Megapixels Per Second Fill Rate	Fill rate delivers frame rate. Virtually all games are limited by fill rate at resolutions of 1024x768 and above so the higher your fill rate the faster your game will perform. The Voodoo5 5500 delivers the industry's highest fill rate, outside of the Voodoo5 6000, of course.
Real-time Full-Scene HW Anti-Aliasing	Removes annoying jaggies and flashing objects from the image to dramatically improve the visual quality of any title, new or old.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Motion blur	Can be used to smooth motion to improve image quality or to exaggerate motion for special effects.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Depth of Field Blur	Enhances reality by rendering a scene as if viewed through a real lens. Enables artistic depth of field effects often used in cinema, such as blurring all but the most important objects in a scene.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Soft Shadows	Adds soft edges to shadows to give them a much more realistic appearance.
T-Buffer™ Digital Cinematic Effect: Soft Reflections	Enables realistic reflections from semi-gloss surfaces like polished wood or stone and stainless steel.
FXT1™ and DirectX® Texture Compression	Dramatically reduces the size of texture images with no loss in visual quality; higher frame rates and better image quality. VSA-100 supports all five DXTC compression modes. Texture compression is critical for use of 2048x2048, 32-bit textures.
8-bit Palletized Textures	The most widely used form of texture compression; as with FXT1, palletized textures enable higher frame rates and enhanced image quality. Graphics cards that do not support palletized textures often experience severe game compatibility problems.
32-bit Rendering	Supports the highest possible image quality for the latest titles.
32-bit Textures	Allows use of the highest quality artwork seen in today's titles.
2k x 2k Textures	Allows you to enjoy the full impact of the most detailed artwork used by game developers; larger textures enable more complex, more stunning images.
24-bit Floating Point Depth Buffer (Z or W)	Virtually eliminates "Z aliasing," or having surfaces that should be visible being occluded and surfaces that should be occluded being visible.
8-bit Stencil Buffer	Improves image quality and realism by supporting a technique widely used by 3D content developers to create complex shapes such as shadows.
Fully integrated 128-bit 2D/3D/Video Accelerator	It's not just for gaming! Voodoo5 5500AGP enables outstanding 2D and video applications, too.
350MHz RAMDAC	Allows users to run at insane resolutions and incredible refresh rate --2048x1536 at 85Hz for example.
The industry's most complete API support: DirectX, OpenGL, and Glide	Assures the industry's highest title compatibility.
DVD hardware assist: planar to packed-pixel conversion	Assists DVD titles in running at 30fps without dropped frames.
Windows 95, 98, NT4.0 and Windows 2000 drivers	Allows you to run the Voodoo5 5500 AGP with standard operating systems.

Voodoo 5 6000 specs

General Features	Benefits
Fully integrated 128-bit 2D/3D/Video Accelerator	It's not just for gaming! Voodoo5 6000 AGP enables outstanding 2D and video applications too.
128 MB of Graphics Memory	No, we're not kidding. How about having enough graphics memory to handle 1600x1200, 32 bits per pixel, with full-scene hardware anti-aliasing enabled?
1.32 to 1.47 Gigapixels Per Second Fill Rate	Not kidding about this one, either. The first gigapixel board delivers frame rates beyond belief. Virtually all games are limited by fill rate at resolutions of 1024x768 and above so the higher your fill rate the faster your game will perform.
Real-time Full-Scene HW Anti-Aliasing	Removes annoying jaggies and flashing objects from the image to dramatically improve the visual quality of any title, new or old.
T-Buffer!" Digital Cinematic Effect: Motion blur	Can be used to smooth motion to improve image quality or to exaggerate motion for special effects.
T-Buffer!" Digital Cinematic Effect: Depth of Field Blur	Enhances reality by rendering a scene as if viewed through a real lens. Enables artistic depth of field effects often used in cinema, such as blurring all but the most important objects in a scene.
T-Buffer!" Digital Cinematic Effect: Soft Shadows	Adds soft edges to shadows, giving them a much more realistic appearance.
T-Buffer!" Digital Cinematic Effect: Soft Reflections	Enables realistic reflections from semi-gloss surfaces like polished wood or stone and stainless steel.
FXT1™ and DirectX® Texture Compression	Dramatically reduces the size of texture images with no loss in visual quality; higher frame rates and better image quality. VSA-100 supports all five DXTC compression modes. Texture compression is critical for use of 2048x2048 and 32-bit textures.
8-bit Palletized Textures	The most widely used form of texture compressio. As with FXT1, palletized textures enable higher frame rates and enhanced image quality. Graphics cards that do not support palletized textures often experience severe game compatibility problems.
32-bit Rendering	Supports the highest possible image quality for the latest titles.
32-bit Textures	Allows use of the highest quality artwork seen in today's titles.
2k x 2k Textures	Allows you to enjoy the full impact of the most detailed artwork used by game developers; larger textures enable more complex, more stunning images.
24-bit Floating Point Depth Buffer (Z or W)	Virtually eliminates "Z aliasing," or having surfaces that should be visible being occluded and surfaces that should be occluded being visible.
8-bit Stencil Buffer	Improves image quality and realism by supporting a technique widely used by 3D content developers to create complex shapes such as shadows.
4X AGP with Full Sideband Support	The latest industry-wide graphics bus standard.
350MHz RAMDAC	Allows users to run at insane resolutions and incredible refresh rate --2048x1536 at 85Hz for example.
The industry's most complete API support: DirectX, OpenGL, and Glide	Assures the industry's highest title compatibility.
DVD hardware assist: planar to packed-pixel conversion	Assists DVD titles in running at 30fps without dropped frames.
Windows 95, 98, NT4.0 and Windows 2000 drivers	Allows you to run the Voodoo5 6000 AGP with all popular operating systems.