3DLabs Announces New VPU w/ Multi-VPU Capability

3Dlabs Announces The Most Powerful Visual Processing Architecture In
Professional Graphics
Wildcat Realizm Delivers Unique Multi-VPU Capability to Raise the Bar on
Workstation Performance and Advanced Shading Language Functionality

MILPITAS, Calif. - April 19, 2004 - 3Dlabs Inc., Ltd., a leading innovator
in professional visual processing, today announced at the NAB (National
Association of Broadcasters) 2004 trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, a major
breakthrough in graphics architectu Wildcat® RealizmT technology. The
architecture combines a next-generation Visual Processing Unit (VPU) and a
unique Vertex/Scalability Unit (VSU). These work together to enable a
software-compatible family of graphics accelerators ranging from a single
VPU AGP 8x solution to a unique dual-VPU configuration, which takes full
advantage of the enhanced bandwidth of PCI Express. Wildcat Realizm is
specifically designed to provide unmatched graphics productivity for CAD,
DCC and visualization professionals. It represents a significant advancement
in accelerating industrial-strength shader programs written in high-level
shading languages such as the OpenGL® Shading Language and Microsoft®
DirectX® 9.0 HLSL. A range of products based on the Wildcat Realizm
architecture is expected to be available mid-2004. 3Dlabs is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: CREAF).

"3Dlabs revolutionized the workstation graphics industry when it delivered
the first compiler-friendly VPU and initiated the creation of the OpenGL
Shading Language," said Hock Leow, president of 3Dlabs. "Wildcat Realizm
technology builds on that significant innovation by creating a uniquely
scalable architecture with unmatched programmability. Our innovative VSU
outperforms ordinary PCI Express bridge chips by adding significant geometry
processing power and supporting multiple VPUs to enable high-level shader
programs that deliver new levels of professional productivity."

Packed with more than 150 million transistors, the Wildcat Realizm VPU
removes any boundaries to running professional-grade shader programs to
generate cinematic-quality visuals in real time. Wildcat Realizm technology
shatters the fragment shader programmability limits of previous
architectures by supporting up to a quarter of a million instructions stored
in virtual memory and by offering advanced flow control. Wildcat Realizm
technology implements a full floating-point VPU pipeline, with up to full
32-bit floating point per component accuracy and direct display of floating
point pixels - an industry first.

The Wildcat Realizm VSU provides extreme geometry performance while enabling
a dual-VPU configuration to provide unmatched high-end graphics solutions.
The Wildcat Realizm VSU receives graphics commands at full bandwidth from a
16-lane PCI Express interface and processes vertices with an incredible 67
billion floating point operations per second in a powerful SIMD (Single
Instruction Multiple Data) array of highly optimized vector processors. The
VSU is then able to drive two VPUs at full bandwidth over a 8.4GB/sec
interface while optimally distributing graphical primitives between the two
VPUs to achieve a genuine doubling of both geometry and fill-rate
performance.

"Wildcat Realizm technology will significantly advance the flexibility and
complexity of graphics VPUs, to enable higher quality images and
interactivity," said Woll Newall, product manager at LightWork Design. "By
working closely with 3Dlabs we have ensured that LightWork's Real-time
provides the perfect solution for application developers to take best
advantage of these advances."

"Hands down, the new Wildcat Realizm technology is truly an amazing
engineering feat and incredible to see in action," said Antony Hervo,
solution partner manager at SolidWorks Corporation. "SolidWorks® 2004
RealView customers can realize maximum speed and raw power when they team
the OpenGL Shading Language and 3Dlabs' Wildcat Realizm technology
together."

"Maya professionals require power, pixel accuracy and an unencumbered
outlet for creativity," said Rob Hoffmann, senior Maya manager for Alias.
"3Dlabs has a history of exceptional products that deliver the performance
our customers require. Based on that history, we can't wait to see the
performance, quality and functionality that Wildcat Realizm technology has
for high performance graphics professionals."

Wildcat Realizm Features and Benefits
a.. AGP 8x and PCI Express Support: Built with every graphics professional
in mind, 3Dlabs Wildcat Realizm technology will be available for both AGP
and PCI Express systems.
b.. Flexible Floating-Point Processing: Wildcat Realizm technology can
process up to 128-bit pixels with full 32-bit floating point per component
accuracy for the highest color fidelity. 128-bit pixels can be seamlessly
converted to and from 64-bit pixels with 16-bit floating point per component
accuracy that provides a full floating-point computing environment with
optimized storage requirements.
c.. Compiler-friendly SIMD Architectu Wildcat Realizm's processor
resources are organized in regular and orthogonal SIMD arrays to ensure that
3Dlabs' compilers produce efficient code that runs the most advanced shading
programs.
d.. Virtual Shader Program Storage: The largest shader programs can be
effortlessly compiled and executed with Wildcat Realizm technology's massive
program size limits of up to 256K of instructions stored in virtual memory.
e.. Efficient Hierarchical Z-buffer: Hierarchical Z-buffer culling rapidly
determines which pixels are displayed or hidden so the processor does not
waste clock cycles rendering portions of the scene that are not visible.
f.. Sophisticated Texture Access: The Wildcat Realizm VPU can access up to
32 textures simultaneously to enable highly sophisticated fragment shader
programs to be written that efficiently process a large number of inputs in
a single pass.
g.. Performance-boosting DirectBurstT Technology: The Wildcat Realizm VSU
supports onboard DirectBurst memory that transparently stores rendering
commands and geometry data on the graphics accelerator to significantly
accelerate any geometry-intensive application.
h.. Hardware-accelerated Imaging Pipeline: Wildcat Realizm technology
features an imaging pipeline that is completely hardware accelerated to
avoid image processing bottlenecks.
i.. Extended Virtual Memory: Wildcat Realizm technology supports an
extended virtual memory space up to 256 GB for leveraging the capabilities
of 64-bit systems. With full-demand paging, designers can seamlessly
manipulate larger models faster than before.
j.. Multiple High-resolution Displays: Wildcat Realizm supports up to two,
high-bandwidth dual-link DVI-I outputs that are ideal for driving multiple
high-quality professional displays from a single graphics accelerator
including today's high-end 9.2 Megapixel displays.
k.. Multiview Capabilities: Wildcat Realizm technology integrates 3Dlabs'
fifth-generation Multiview Genlock and Framelock capabilities for seamless
synchronization and edge blending between displays and systems for visual
simulation, virtual reality and broadcast applications.
l.. Comprehensive Operating System Support: Wildcat Realizm also offers
support for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms running Windows® and Linux®
operating systems.
http://www.3dlabs.com/whatsnew/press...ealizmtech.htm


technology white paper:

http://www.3dlabs.com/product/techno...ldrealtech.htm

This new 3DLabs VPU seems to be the P20, sucessor to 3DLabs 76M+ transistor
P10, released in 2002, which was one of the first graphics processors to
have 256-bit bus, along with the Matrox Parhelia-512, both before ATI's R300
(Radeon 9700) or Nvidia's NV35 (GeForce FX 5900).

I'm most interested in a multi-VPU card. With twin P20 VPUs, you basicly
have 300M transistors with of graphics processing muscle. will be
interesting to see how such a card compares to Nvidia's NV40 (GeForce 6800
series) and its refresh the NV45. as well as ATI's 420 (Radeon X800 series)
and any refresh of it (R450?). not to mention ImgTech's upcoming PowerVR
Series 5.

interestingly, 3DLabs new VPU has Vertex Shader 2.0 and Pixel Shader 3.0

source:
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewto...&postorder=asc
&start=20

interesting choice of trade-offs for the 150 million transistor chip.

as for the multi VPU ability, which doubles both fillrate and geometry, I
expect 3DLabs implementation to be much better than that of XGI's Volari V8
Duo which turned out to be rather pathetic.


more observations on 3DLabs P20:

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewto...11687&start=40

______________________________________________
Looking at the diagrams on the 3dlabs whitepaper page
it appears that the following is the case:

VPU (figures in brackets are Direct 3D nomenclature)
array of 16 vertex processors (4 SIMD vertex shaders)
array of 48 fragment processors (12 SIMD pixel shaders)

VSU
array of 32 vertex processors (8 SIMD vertex shaders)

So a maxed out VSU/VPU/VPU config has:
32 vertex processors (8 SIMD vertex shaders)
96 fragment processors (24 SIMD pixel shaders)

It's important to realise 3dlabs can dynamically handle
all instuction co-issue cases, so a like with like comparison
is tricky. They should cook up a demo doing a LOT of
scalar operations.

NV35: ~3 VS - 4 PS
R300: 4 VS - 8 PS
NV40: 6 VS - 16 PS
P20 VPU: 4 VS - 12 PS
P20 Max: 8 VS - 24 PS

Add in the memory bandwidth and you've got a monster.

Clock speed will be interesting too, as the chips are not
too large.
_____________________________________________

(Combaticon) wrote in message . com...
3Dlabs Announces The Most Powerful Visual Processing Architecture In
Professional Graphics
Wildcat Realizm Delivers Unique Multi-VPU Capability to Raise the Bar on
Workstation Performance and Advanced Shading Language Functionality

MILPITAS, Calif. - April 19, 2004 - 3Dlabs Inc., Ltd., a leading innovator
in professional visual processing, today announced at the NAB (National
Association of Broadcasters) 2004 trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, a major
breakthrough in graphics architectu Wildcat® RealizmT technology. The
architecture combines a next-generation Visual Processing Unit (VPU) and a
unique Vertex/Scalability Unit (VSU). These work together to enable a
software-compatible family of graphics accelerators ranging from a single
VPU AGP 8x solution to a unique dual-VPU configuration, which takes full
advantage of the enhanced bandwidth of PCI Express. Wildcat Realizm is
specifically designed to provide unmatched graphics productivity for CAD,
DCC and visualization professionals. It represents a significant advancement
in accelerating industrial-strength shader programs written in high-level
shading languages such as the OpenGL® Shading Language and Microsoft®
DirectX® 9.0 HLSL. A range of products based on the Wildcat Realizm
architecture is expected to be available mid-2004. 3Dlabs is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: CREAF).

"3Dlabs revolutionized the workstation graphics industry when it delivered
the first compiler-friendly VPU and initiated the creation of the OpenGL
Shading Language," said Hock Leow, president of 3Dlabs. "Wildcat Realizm
technology builds on that significant innovation by creating a uniquely
scalable architecture with unmatched programmability. Our innovative VSU
outperforms ordinary PCI Express bridge chips by adding significant geometry
processing power and supporting multiple VPUs to enable high-level shader
programs that deliver new levels of professional productivity."

Packed with more than 150 million transistors, the Wildcat Realizm VPU
removes any boundaries to running professional-grade shader programs to
generate cinematic-quality visuals in real time. Wildcat Realizm technology
shatters the fragment shader programmability limits of previous
architectures by supporting up to a quarter of a million instructions stored
in virtual memory and by offering advanced flow control. Wildcat Realizm
technology implements a full floating-point VPU pipeline, with up to full
32-bit floating point per component accuracy and direct display of floating
point pixels - an industry first.

The Wildcat Realizm VSU provides extreme geometry performance while enabling
a dual-VPU configuration to provide unmatched high-end graphics solutions.
The Wildcat Realizm VSU receives graphics commands at full bandwidth from a
16-lane PCI Express interface and processes vertices with an incredible 67
billion floating point operations per second in a powerful SIMD (Single
Instruction Multiple Data) array of highly optimized vector processors. The
VSU is then able to drive two VPUs at full bandwidth over a 8.4GB/sec
interface while optimally distributing graphical primitives between the two
VPUs to achieve a genuine doubling of both geometry and fill-rate
performance.

"Wildcat Realizm technology will significantly advance the flexibility and
complexity of graphics VPUs, to enable higher quality images and
interactivity," said Woll Newall, product manager at LightWork Design. "By
working closely with 3Dlabs we have ensured that LightWork's Real-time
provides the perfect solution for application developers to take best
advantage of these advances."

"Hands down, the new Wildcat Realizm technology is truly an amazing
engineering feat and incredible to see in action," said Antony Hervo,
solution partner manager at SolidWorks Corporation. "SolidWorks® 2004
RealView customers can realize maximum speed and raw power when they team
the OpenGL Shading Language and 3Dlabs' Wildcat Realizm technology
together."

"Maya professionals require power, pixel accuracy and an unencumbered
outlet for creativity," said Rob Hoffmann, senior Maya manager for Alias.
"3Dlabs has a history of exceptional products that deliver the performance
our customers require. Based on that history, we can't wait to see the
performance, quality and functionality that Wildcat Realizm technology has
for high performance graphics professionals."

Wildcat Realizm Features and Benefits
a.. AGP 8x and PCI Express Support: Built with every graphics professional
in mind, 3Dlabs Wildcat Realizm technology will be available for both AGP
and PCI Express systems.
b.. Flexible Floating-Point Processing: Wildcat Realizm technology can
process up to 128-bit pixels with full 32-bit floating point per component
accuracy for the highest color fidelity. 128-bit pixels can be seamlessly
converted to and from 64-bit pixels with 16-bit floating point per component
accuracy that provides a full floating-point computing environment with
optimized storage requirements.
c.. Compiler-friendly SIMD Architectu Wildcat Realizm's processor
resources are organized in regular and orthogonal SIMD arrays to ensure that
3Dlabs' compilers produce efficient code that runs the most advanced shading
programs.
d.. Virtual Shader Program Storage: The largest shader programs can be
effortlessly compiled and executed with Wildcat Realizm technology's massive
program size limits of up to 256K of instructions stored in virtual memory.
e.. Efficient Hierarchical Z-buffer: Hierarchical Z-buffer culling rapidly
determines which pixels are displayed or hidden so the processor does not
waste clock cycles rendering portions of the scene that are not visible.
f.. Sophisticated Texture Access: The Wildcat Realizm VPU can access up to
32 textures simultaneously to enable highly sophisticated fragment shader
programs to be written that efficiently process a large number of inputs in
a single pass.
g.. Performance-boosting DirectBurstT Technology: The Wildcat Realizm VSU
supports onboard DirectBurst memory that transparently stores rendering
commands and geometry data on the graphics accelerator to significantly
accelerate any geometry-intensive application.
h.. Hardware-accelerated Imaging Pipeline: Wildcat Realizm technology
features an imaging pipeline that is completely hardware accelerated to
avoid image processing bottlenecks.
i.. Extended Virtual Memory: Wildcat Realizm technology supports an
extended virtual memory space up to 256 GB for leveraging the capabilities
of 64-bit systems. With full-demand paging, designers can seamlessly
manipulate larger models faster than before.
j.. Multiple High-resolution Displays: Wildcat Realizm supports up to two,
high-bandwidth dual-link DVI-I outputs that are ideal for driving multiple
high-quality professional displays from a single graphics accelerator
including today's high-end 9.2 Megapixel displays.
k.. Multiview Capabilities: Wildcat Realizm technology integrates 3Dlabs'
fifth-generation Multiview Genlock and Framelock capabilities for seamless
synchronization and edge blending between displays and systems for visual
simulation, virtual reality and broadcast applications.
l.. Comprehensive Operating System Support: Wildcat Realizm also offers
support for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms running Windows® and Linux®
operating systems.
http://www.3dlabs.com/whatsnew/press...ealizmtech.htm


technology white paper:

http://www.3dlabs.com/product/techno...ldrealtech.htm

This new 3DLabs VPU seems to be the P20, sucessor to 3DLabs 76M+ transistor
P10, released in 2002, which was one of the first graphics processors to
have 256-bit bus, along with the Matrox Parhelia-512, both before ATI's R300
(Radeon 9700) or Nvidia's NV35 (GeForce FX 5900).

I'm most interested in a multi-VPU card. With twin P20 VPUs, you basicly
have 300M transistors with of graphics processing muscle. will be
interesting to see how such a card compares to Nvidia's NV40 (GeForce 6800
series) and its refresh the NV45. as well as ATI's 420 (Radeon X800 series)
and any refresh of it (R450?). not to mention ImgTech's upcoming PowerVR
Series 5.

interestingly, 3DLabs new VPU has Vertex Shader 2.0 and Pixel Shader 3.0

source:
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewto...&postorder=asc
&start=20

interesting choice of trade-offs for the 150 million transistor chip.

as for the multi VPU ability, which doubles both fillrate and geometry, I
expect 3DLabs implementation to be much better than that of XGI's Volari V8
Duo which turned out to be rather pathetic.


more observations on 3DLabs P20:

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewto...11687&start=40

______________________________________________
Looking at the diagrams on the 3dlabs whitepaper page
it appears that the following is the case:

VPU (figures in brackets are Direct 3D nomenclature)
array of 16 vertex processors (4 SIMD vertex shaders)
array of 48 fragment processors (12 SIMD pixel shaders)

VSU
array of 32 vertex processors (8 SIMD vertex shaders)

So a maxed out VSU/VPU/VPU config has:
32 vertex processors (8 SIMD vertex shaders)
96 fragment processors (24 SIMD pixel shaders)

It's important to realise 3dlabs can dynamically handle
all instuction co-issue cases, so a like with like comparison
is tricky. They should cook up a demo doing a LOT of
scalar operations.

NV35: ~3 VS - 4 PS
R300: 4 VS - 8 PS
NV40: 6 VS - 16 PS
P20 VPU: 4 VS - 12 PS
P20 Max: 8 VS - 24 PS

Add in the memory bandwidth and you've got a monster.

Clock speed will be interesting too, as the chips are not
too large.
_____________________________________________


3dlabs always makes cards for PROFESSIONAL applications, they are
also..in these specific applications pretty faster then Quadro or
FireGL cards ( "proffesional" solutions from nvidia and ati )

But in gaming... don't even think about gaming.

So for gamers... as worthy as a matrox card :-p but for professional
users worth muchos more :-p