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Contents
Introduction
Compare the Cards - compare the 5800, 5600 and 5200
Chipset Details
Shaders
- Changes in the pixel and vertex shaders
CineFX Engine - The Main Driving force behind the Geforce
FX
Intellisample
- Nvidia's new Antialiasing techniques.
DDR-II - Improvement Graphics memory
ThePanther Says - Our views on the
Geforce FX
Product Specs - Quick run down of
the tech specs
Useful Links - Drivers, more info, price comparisons and
buying the Geforce FX
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Get the Geforce FX Cheaper at Ebay Click here to
Search for the Geforce FX |
Introduction
The time has
come again for Nvidia to release another range of cards in its heavily
poplar Geforce range. This time its the Geforce FX. To introduce you to
this new line of cards we will explain a little bit about the new
features that this range brings. Firstly they have planned to release 6
cards in this range originally. They have the FX 5800, 5600 and the
FX5200 plus they have ultra versions of each. An interesting point is
that it seems the Ultra versions will be released before the non-ultra
ones.
The FX 5800
Ultra will be the flagship product for Nvidia this time round. This chip
is coded the NV30, the others from this series are all derived from this
chip with slight modifications and cut backs. Nvidia say that the new
Geforce FX range will bring cinematic computing to every user. A nice
though as the graphics business makes games and more look closer to
life.
Geforce FX Card comparison
|
Type |
Geforce fx 5800 |
Geforce fx 5600 |
Geforce fx 5200 |
|
Max Memory |
128Mb |
256Mb |
128Mb |
|
Memory Clock speed |
800Mhz (2*400Mhz) |
550Mhz (2*275Mhz) |
400Mhz (2*200Mhz) |
|
Clock speed |
400Mhz |
325Mhz |
250Mhz |
|
Memory
Bandwidth |
12.8Gb/s |
8.8Gb/s |
6.4Gb/s |
|
Type |
Geforce fx 5800 Ultra |
Geforce fx 5600 Ultra |
Geforce fx 5200 Ultra |
|
Max Memory |
128Mb |
256Mb |
128Mb |
|
Memory Clock speed |
1Ghz (500Mhz*2) |
800Mhz (350*2) |
650Mhz (325*2) |
|
Clock speed |
500Mhz |
350Mhz |
350Mhz |
|
Effective Memory Bandwidth |
16Gb/s* |
12.8Gb/s |
10.4Gb/s |
* Nvidia
claim that with the compression techniques involved within the Geforce
FX 5800 the memory bandwidth is more like 48Gb/s.
If you want
to know more about the compression calculations and the memory bandwidth
of the Geforce FX take a look at
this article at The Hank Files.
There is now
an FX 5900 version, click here
if you are looking for this card
If you looked at
the cards separately then you would think they would all be top of the
range cards. Even the 5200 series gives the Geforce 4 ti 4600 a run for
its money. However put them together and you see why the 5800 ultra is
so special a massive 1Ghz (DDR) of memory clock speed is totally unheard
of as is a 500Mhz core clock. Add to that the fact that it has all the
new technologies and you have the making of a future proof card. We will
move on to these new technologies shortly. First lets take a look at
what new features are in each of the new cards.
|
Feature |
5800 |
5600 |
5200 |
|
CineFX Engine |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Intellisample |
YES |
YES |
NO |
|
Nview |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
DDR-II |
YES |
NO |
NO |
|
AGP 8x |
YES |
YES |
YES |
Chipset Details of the
Geforce FX
|
GPU:
• .13u Manufacturing Process
• 125 Million Transistors ( 2X Geforce 4)
• 256-Bit GPU
• Flip-Chip BGA Package with copper interconnects
• 8 Pixel Per Clock (8 Pixel Pipelines)
• 1 TMU Per Pipe (16 Textures per unit)
• > 500MHz Core Clock (Will probably vary depending on model)
• AGP8X (2.1GB/s bandwidth)
Memory:
• Memory with >1GHz Data Rate (500MHz DDR)
• 128-Bit "DDRII" Type
• 128MB Memory Capacity
• 3rd. Generation Lightspeed Memory Architecture
• 48GB/s Effective bandwidth through the use of compression
techniques. (16GB/s actual @ 500MHz)
|
Other:
• Full DX9 Compliance (and more)
• 64-Bit Floating-Point Colour
• 128-Bit Floating-Point Colour
• 2 x 400MHz Internal RAMDACs
• Long Program length for Pixel and Vertex Shading
• Conditional Execution for both Pixel and Vertex
• True Data-Dependant at Vertex
• Unified Vertex and Pixel Shading instruction set
• Unified Driver Architecture
• nView 2.0 - Multi-Display Technology
• Digital Vibrance Control 3.0
Based on the MSI fx 5800 |
Shaders
Some big changes have been made to the pixel and the vertex shaders in
the Geforce fx from the Geforce 4. Another table below, sorry :) will
show the differences between the Geforce 4 and the Geforce fx within
Pixel and vertex shaders.
|
Features |
Geforce 4 Ti |
Geforce FX |
|
Vertex Shaders |
1.1 |
2.0+ |
|
Max Instructions |
128 |
65536 |
|
Max Static Instructions |
128 |
256 |
|
Max Constants |
96 |
256 |
|
Temporary registers |
12 |
16 |
|
Max Loops |
0 |
256 |
|
Static Control Flow |
NO |
YES |
|
Dynamic Control Flow |
NO |
YES |
|
Pixel Shaders |
1.01 |
2.0+ |
|
Texture Maps |
4 |
16 |
|
Max Texture Instructions |
4 |
1024 |
|
Max Colour Instructions |
8 |
1024 |
|
Data Type |
Integer |
Floating Point |
|
Data Precision |
32-bit |
128-bit |
Continue to page 2 >>> Useful Links
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