See below
for more information on the industry standard VIP connector.
Both AMC and VIP are used by ATI to provide customers with a
means to connect "side-port" products like TV Tuners,
DTV cards, etc. Note: The RAGE FURY 32MB is an OEM only board
and is not offered as a retail product.
5.
What is the performance increase with the ATI RAGE 128
products over current ATI RAGE PRO TURBO products?
ATI RAGE
128 provides up to 3X 3D performance, next generation 3D display
quality and ultra high resolutions up to 1920x1200.
6.
Can the on-board memory be upgraded?
The new
RAGE FURY 32MB TV-Out (32MB), RAGE FURY 16MB (16MB) and RAGE
FURY 8MB (8MB) are not memory upgradable.
7.
What is the benefit of large on-board memories?
With
larger amounts of memory, you can set your display to higher
resolutions and greater color depths (i.e., 32bit), giving
you more crisp and detailed images. With the added memory on
board, you will realize better performance with texture-intensive
games and graphics hungry applications.
Developers
are writing games and applications that use larger, and more
detailed textures, thus increasing the need for memory. ATI
answers this call by providing large 16MB and 32MB!!! solutions
in order to ensure the end user experiences top game play and
application performance. Frame rates at higher resolutions
and color depths are maintained with a 32MB frame buffer. 16MB
is sufficient for most applications, however robust game performance
will depend on texture transfers across AGP which will slow
performance.
8.
Why should I get a graphics board that offers 32-bit true
color rendering?
With
32-bit color rendering you get millions of more colors on your
screen for life-like visuals and smooth colors and graphics
without a checkerboard look. This translates into stunning
images with tremendous color depths. 32-bit color rendering
also lets users see special effects (particularly in a 3D environment)
like reflections, shadows, water depth etc.
Today’s
game developers are always pushing the limits of technology
in order to deliver to the end user faster games with better
visual imagery. However, many of today’s gamers play games
in 16bpp and thus, realize very little of the overall visual
experience. Images and visual qualities (like shadows, and
lighting effects) are programmed into the game, however few
users get to see them because their graphics card won’t
provide playable frame rates in higher color depths where these
amazing images are waiting!!
With
ATI’s 32-bit (true color) rendering technology, users
can now play games in true color – realize all of the
amazing visual qualities and images that exist in the game.
9.
Will there be PAL versions of these new RAGE 128 boards
available?
Yes,
both NTSC and PAL versions for RAGE FURY 32MB TV-Out are available.
10.
Will there be a PCI version available?
ATI will
offer a RAGE 128-based solution for PCI systems starting in
April 1999. Information will be posted as it becomes available.
11.
What is the DAC speed of the new products?
The DAC
of the RAGE 128 boards is 250Mhz which provides flicker free
ergonomic display.
12.
How will OEM manufactures use the RAGE 128 chipset and
boards and will these products differ from the retail products.
ATI is
the world leader in graphics accelerator chips and boards.
Many large and small OEMs will be using ATI RAGE 128 technology
for both motherboard as well as add-in-board solutions. The
products available to these customers may differ according
to geographic or market requirements. For example, TV-out might
not be offered by an individual OEM.
Software
and Hardware Support Questions
14.
Recommended System and Processor Support with the RAGE
128?
An AGP 1.0
compatible processor is required. The Rage 128 cards are designed
to work with Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron, AMD or Cyrix processors.
Performance and compatibility may vary based on processor and
motherboard. Check with your processor and motherboard vendor
to ensure compliance with ATI products.
15.
Do the Rage 128 boards support 3D Now! instructions?
Yes. ATI’s
drivers for Rage 128 graphics accelerator boards fully support
3D Now! instructions. ATI is planning further optimizations with
a subsequent driver release planned for Q2'99.
16.
Do the new board products from ATI support anisotropic
filtering?
ATI designed
the RAGE 128 chip to use bilinear and trilinear filtering which
provides the required filtering benefits near that of anisotropic
filtering without the performance degradation that is normally
required for anisotropic filtering. In addition, current and
most upcoming applications are not designed to use anisotropic
filtering. This is mostly due to the performance penalty involved
in using this feature. Anisotropic Filtering was not a design
feature of the new RAGE 128 chip for these reasons.
17.
Are your new board products PC 98 and PC 99 Compliant?
Yes. The new
ATI graphics boards are fully PC 98 and PC 99 compliant.
Multimedia & Expansion
Questions
18.
What is the "VIP" port on RAGE FURY 16MB, RAGE
FURY 8MB and RAGE FURY 32MB? How does it differ from "AMC" on
the RAGE FURY 32MB TV-Out?
The Video Input
Port (VIP) can accept connection of compatible side port products
like satellite receivers, TV tuners, teletext decoders, DTV (Digital
TV) cards, HDTV (high definition TV) cards and other convergence
devices. VIP is an industry standard connector port. The ATI
Multimedia Channel is ATI’s proprietary bus that is very
similar to VIP and both can accept most third party device connections.
19.
I own an ATI-TV (used AMC connector). Can I connect it
to an RAGE FURY 16MB, RAGE FURY 8MB or RAGE FURY 32MB (which
have VIP connector)?
ATI-TV will
only connect to a ATI RAGE FURY 32MB TV-Out graphics board. All
other RAGE 128 boards connect to our newest TV tuner add-on board,
ATI-TV WONDER.
20.
Does the ATI-TV tuner board work with the RAGE FURY 32MB
TV-Out Boards?
The ATI-TV
Tuner (ATI-TV (ISA) and ATI-TVfm) will work with the RAGE FURY
32MB TV-Out as the RAGE FURY 32MB TV-Out has an AMC connector.
In order to enable this functionality, an updated driver that
includes an updated ATI Video Player will be made available for
download from our web site beginning in April, 1999.
21.
Is there an ATI Video Player on the driver I received with
my graphics board?
If you purchased
your Rage 128 graphics board between January and April 1999,
it is probable you do not have the driver necessary for MPEG
Playback.
In order to
enable MPEG playback functionality, a new driver that includes
an updated ATI Video Player will be made available for download
from our web site in April, 1999 for RAGE FURY 32MB TV-Out, RAGE
FURY 16MB, RAGE FURY 8MB and RAGE FURY 32MB.
22.
How is the hardware DVD/Mpeg-2 acceleration achieved? Do
all the RAGE 128 based boards support this?
All of the
new RAGE 128 graphics boards have integrated DVD/MPEG-2 decode
(IDCT and Motion Compensation) for industry leading DVD with
the lowest possible CPU usage. With a DVD drive and ATI’s
DVD player*, the customer can achieve full frame rate, full screen
DVD playback without the added expense of purchasing a separate
hardware DVD decode module as is required with other competing
products (not to mention saving one of your computer’s slots!).
*Each of the
retail giftbox shipped between January and March, ’99 (RAGE
FURY 32MB TV-Out, RAGE FURY 16MB) included a redemption coupon
that customers could return to ATI to receive, free of charge,
the ATI DVD Player.
As of mid March,
ATI is transitioning our retail packages to include the actual
ATI DVD PLAYER CD. This transition will take place in from March’99
and will be seen in retail stores by early-to-mid April.
Click
here for more information on DVD
If your questions
aren't answered here or you would like more information or even
just to make a comment about our exciting new products you can
email marketing@atitech.ca
