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Bare Feats "Bare
Facts On Mac Speed Feats" |
Bare
Feats "Bare
Facts On Mac Speed Feats"
(cartoon
courtesy of Mike Yrabedra, BigKahuna of the MacSurfShop
& MacServeShop)
by Rob
Art Morgan,
Speed Freak
complete
3Dfx Voodoo4/5 press release 3DFX
ANNOUNCES FIRST MAC-BRANDED PRODUCTS Voodoo4
4500 PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI Bring Immersive
3D
and Lightning-Fast 2D to the Mac SAN
JOSE, Calif.&endash; April 12, 2000 &endash;
3dfx
Interactive®
Inc.
(NASDAQ: TDFX), a global leader in developing and
marketing 3D technology for personal computers,
today announced that the Voodoo4™ 4500 PCI for
Macintosh and Voodoo5™ 5500 PCI for Macintosh
will be the first two Mac products released by the
company. The boards mark 3dfx's move into the Mac
market with fully supported 3dfx-branded products,
tailored specifically to address the needs of Mac
users. The Voodoo4 4500 PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI is
expected to provide the fastest 3D and 2D
performance for the Macintosh platform. They
support not only VGA output but also the newer DVI
standard allowing them to drive Apple's new,
all-digital flat panel displays. The new boards
will deliver ultimate fill rates and high visual
reality through breakthrough digital cinematic
effects and support for FXT1 texture compression,
the T-Buffer digital cinematic effects engine, and
full-scene hardware anti-aliasing. The
Voodoo4 4500 PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI for Mac are
expected to be available in the company's second
quarter. "The
Voodoo4 4500 PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI will take Mac
3D and 2D graphics to a new level," said Dr. Alex
Leupp, president and CEO of 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
"We see strong demand in the Mac market for our
products and have worked to deliver boards that
will give Mac users the same high quality visual
capabilities that we have brought to the PC for
years." "When
we apply our VSA-100 to fully supported products
optimized for Apple CPUs featuring DVI, the
fastest, cleanest 2D and the most comprehensive 3D
application support, users will be amazed by the
visual experience they get from the Voodoo4 4500
PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI," said Bryan Speece,
director of Macintosh business development at 3dfx
Interactive, Inc. "All Mac users, from pre-press
professionals, to hardcore gamers, will be able to
enjoy a powerful new level of performance whether
they're playing the hottest new games, or working
against a deadline to complete their next design
project. Once users experience our FSAA, they will
never go back." At
the heart of the new Mac boards is the VSA-100
(Voodoo Scalable Architecture) processor. The
architecture incorporates industry-standard 3D
features including 32-bit RGBA rendering, 24-bit
depth-buffer (Z and W), 8-bit stencil rendering,
FXT1 texture compression support, 32-bit textures,
2048x2048 texture size support, advanced texture
and color combine capabilities, and the native
support of Macintosh data formats. Additional
support is provided for the world's most powerful
128-bit 2D engine. The
Voodoo4 4500 PCI for Mac features a single VSA-100
processor and 32 MB of graphics memory. It is the
ideal choice for both pre-press professionals, and
casual gamers, as well as users who want to upgrade
to a board with planned OS X support, or to drive
Apple's new digital flat panel monitors. For
professional designers, the Voodoo4 4500 PCI also
has the necessary power to deliver high visual
quality with a 350MHz RAMDAC that provides
rock-solid images at high refresh rates. Additionally,
it includes support for all major 3D APIs
including, OpenGL®, GLIDE® and
QuickDraw™ 3D RAVE, providing the highest
possible software compatibility. The Voodoo4 4500
PCI, which renders two fully featured pixels per
clock, will deliver up to 333 megatexels/megapixels
per second fill rates. It is expected to be priced
below $200. The
Voodoo5 5500 PCI for Mac features dual VSA-100
processors and 64MB of total graphics memory. The
multi-chip capabilities of the VSA-100 allow, for
the first time, 3D rendering that employs, true
full-scene, hardware anti-aliasing at real-time
frame rates. Additionally, the Voodoo5 5500 PCI
enables advanced T-Buffer™ digital cinematic
effects including motion blur, programmable
depth-of-field, soft shadows and soft reflections.
The Voodoo5 5500 PCI renders four fully-featured
pixels per clock, and will deliver up to 667
megatexels/megapixels per second fill rates.
Targeted at 3D Professionals and hardcore gamers,
the Voodoo5 5500 PCI for Mac, is perfect for 3D
modeling/rendering, CAD, animation, and virtual
reality applications. It is expected to be priced
at $329.99. About
3dfx Interactive 3dfx
Interactive is leading the 3D multimedia revolution
in personal computers and consumer products. With
its patented and award-winning graphics accelerator
chips, boards and software, 3dfx provides the
technology to create high-impact visual
experiences. The company is recognized worldwide
for its ability to bring the world's finest games,
educational content, interactive entertainment and
media-rich business applications to life. 3dfx
products are available in retail stores worldwide,
and through leading PC makers including Compaq,
Dell and Gateway. 3dfx has headquarters in San
Jose, Calif., with engineering and manufacturing
facilities in Richardson, Texas, and Juarez,
Mexico. The company also operates
www.3dfxgamers.com, the premier online community
for Voodoo owners and enthusiasts. 3dfx Interactive
is available on the Web at http://www.3dfx.com. &emdash;end&emdash; 3dfx
Interactive and Glide are registered trademarks,
and Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 are trademarks of 3dfx
Interactive. All other names may be trademarks of
their respective holders. Note to Editors: Visit
the 3dfx Virtual Press Room at http://www.3dfx.com/comp/pressweb/index.html. MORE... SPEED
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