Just 3 questions:
1. There will be support for ANISOTROPIC FILTERING (like the TNT)???
I'm not sure how TNT does it, but we have not yet decided what method we choose for
Anisotropic filtering. At least we will support the dual pass emulation.
2. You said that the chip will have support for SLI, but how do you plan to implement
this?? We will have to buy 2 identical video boards (very expen$ive :)?? And the AGP/PCI
question?? There is no motherboard with 2 AGP slots, so we will have to buy 2 PCI video
boards?? Or will you work out a solution, like a MASTER video board on AGP slot and a
SLAVE video board in the PCI slot?? I give you a suggestion: build 2 versions of the chip:
one full featured and one that don't have some features (like TV OUT and 2D features) that
costs cheaper, or that power up the 3D part, so the Video Board fabricators can release
the full fetured video card and its upgrade for SLI, maybe in a single-box COMBO solution
(with the 2 boards, of course! :).
The SLI has few options. As the architecture supports SLI propably there will be two
options: user upgradeable SLI limited to PCI boards, and COMBO in single board (two chips
on the same board) connected to do SLI. That way it is not 2X the price and it still can
be AGP board.
3. The TV OUT will work like my VIPER V330 (that doesn't run anything in the TV, only
the WINDOWS 95!:) or will be full compatible in all resolutions??
Video interface is not complete yet, so don't know about this one. But if I understood
your comment about V330 correct, the idea is to be able to show win95/NT desktop in a TV.
Okay, here's something I've
put off until I found out more. Glaze3D is another 3D chipset due out before the end of
the year, from Bitboys in Finland.
They say it will be 4 times faster then the Voodoo2, which makes this the Fastest
Chip Never Made! So there's a real competition among the cards that have not been
released. More info here.
Bitboys is the group that was working
on Pyramid3D, but that project is dead now. The screenshot below shows
very nice antialiasing (no jagged edges) and good MIP-mapping. The shot to the right
shows water bumpmapping and I think they calclulated the reflections. There are a couple
other Very nice looking (not flight-sim-related) screenshots on the Glide3D page. Oh, and
Glaze3D does SLI! 