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Contents

Introduction
Card configurations - Clock and memory speeds
Chipset details - The features of the Matrox Parhelia-512
16x FAA - New Technique of anti-aliasing from Matrox
Surround Gaming - Triple monitor support for your favourite games
DVD MAX
The Panther Says - What do we think of this product
Product Specs - A closer look at the products theoretical performance
Useful Links - Drivers, Price comparisons, Matrox Parhelia-512 and more

16x FAA

Yes I did put FAA, there isn't a problem with the "s" key on my keyboard or anything like that. FAA is Fragment Anti-Aliasing. Matrox's answer to FSAA. The process is done for the same purpose of smoothing out jagged lines, but its done by a completely different method. The original FSAA methods included Super-sampling. Super-sampling involves the graphics card rendering the image at twice the screen resolution and the shrinking it back down to the screen size. This gives the effect of a smoother if not slightly more blurry image.

Matrox's answer actually decides its self which pixels need to go through the anti-aliasing process. Pixels that are hidden are not needed to go through the process and pixels that are not on the edge of a line don't need it either. By eliminating the pixels that don't need the anti-aliasing the efficiency of the whole AA process is greatly increased. Because of this Matrox is able to use 16xAA. I'm not saying there wont be a performance hit, that would be silly, however its certainly not as great as it would be with the standard AA process. Just imaging doing a super-sampled 16x AA process, you would be lucky if you even got 1fps.

The Matrox Parhelia does have support for FSAA as well however just in case you decide that its the better option for you. If your not an Anti-aliasing user then buying this card could just change your mind.

Click the pictures to see what effect the 16x FAA really does have on your images.

Surround Gaming

You have had Dolby Surround sound. Now Matrox have brought to you surround Video. You can now have 3 monitors connected to your PC each displaying a separate part of your desktop. You can stretch your desktop across the 3 monitors up to a maximum resolution of 3048X1024 in 32-bit colour.

The best point about this is the fact that it works in a number of games. In a gaming environment it increases your FOV (Field of View). You can basically see to the sides of you without having to turn from side to side. Have a look at the example below.

You can just imagine what an advantage it will be to have this in the first person shooters. The obvious problem with this is the fact that 3 monitors will be very expensive to buy. If you work on the computer at home a lot and think 3 monitors would be of great use to you at work then the gaming side would come as a large bonus to you. Otherwise I'd be saving up your pocket money cause 3 decent monitors will set you back more money than you would like.

DVD Max

Just a short Paragraph on this feature, but Matrox has a new 10-bit DAC and a 10-bit graphics pipeline at the ready for this. Coupled with its Gigacolour technology DVD's will become even better on your PC screen. Before Stan alone DVD players were much better than PC Quality. Matrox however claim that the Parhelia will give DVD watchers a home theatre experience with this new technology. High-end DVD output on the PC is now here.

The first card in a while that has actually provoked some interest. Its something new, which people can enjoy, its not just faster than before, that's what I like about it. It's got something for everyone. I'm not going to list all the features once again, as you know what this card can do by now. A whopping 20GB/s memory bandwidth helps the games along nicely. Triple monitor support gives the high end user a chance to have one screen for web browsing, one for work, and one even to play a movie on all at the same time. Surround gaming with the 3 monitors gives that edge to the user as well as a totally unique gaming experience.

I personally would like to see the DVD's on this card, I've been impressed with DVD quality on the PC so far but I do know that its no where near as crystal clear as a stand alone player and a decent TV set. Now we shall see if the PC can take over the need for a stand alone player as well.

Is it worth it? Well when I wrote this article they were coming in at around £300, so Its expensive but no more than usual for the introduction of a brand new card. Plus if you can afford 3 monitors then you must be able to splash out on a decent graphics card as well.

More information will be released as time goes by and the cards get tested in the "Real World".

Product Specs.

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Useful Links

Other Graphics card reviews.

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