New specs for the 3dfx Rampage!!!

[Hardware]

The new generation codenamed Rampage from 3dfx will be a multi-chip solution. There are 3 possible configurations :
Entry Level Rampage Configuration :

2 way SLI ( 1 Rampage chip and 1 T&L unit )
32-512 MB memory support (200MHz DDR)
6.4GB/sec memory bandwidth
4 pixels/clock
800Mpixel fill rate ( core clock at 200MHZ)
75 million triangles/polygons per second
AGP4x, 0.18 micron
32 bit rendering
Full DirectX 8.0 Features
Advanced T-buffer, Hardware T&L, Curved Surfaces, Full Pixel Shader, Quad texturing
Photorealisitic rendering, Photoshop effects
H2 2000 (ECTS at September, available in December)
Middle Level Rampage Configuration :

4 way SLI ( 2 Rampage chips and 2 T&L units )
32-512 MB memory support (200MHz DDR)
12.8GB/sec memory bandwidth
1.6Gigapixel fill rate ( core clock at 200MHZ)
150 million triangles/polygons per second
High End Level Rampage Configuration :

8 way SLI ( 4 Rampage chips and 4 T&L units )
32-512 MB memory support (200MHz DDR)
25.6GB/sec memory bandwidth
3.2Gigapixel fill rate ( core clock at 200MHZ)
300 million triangles/polygons per second


Dunno if the Rampage has single pass 4XFSAA?

 

[snow patrol]

nt

 

[Prodigy^]

ooooold news: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=198233

"and where is the link?"

 

[Soccerman]

yeah, and even if it IS true, that means it's just a Geforce GTS with pretty much all the capabilities thereof, but it includes SLI.

Yawn..

Need something better then that. Maybe they should include a second texture unit per pipe again like they started with their Voodoo 2 series.. That will help their stats a bit in terms of Megapixels.. otherwise you won't really see a big difference. We need more pipes/higher clocks!

 

[Pete]

Comments by the originator of the specs:

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/noncgi/Forum1/HTML/000995.html

The specs for the Rampage and Sage are leaked, the configurations are speculated.

 

[tmj]

>> 2 way SLI ( 1 Rampage chip and 1 T&L unit )

I stopped reading right there. Hardware, do you know what SLI stands for?

 

[AndyHui]

1 Rampage chip and 1 T+L counts as SLI????

 

[Noriaki]

I'm sorry to be so picky but....

2 way SLI ( 1 Rampage chip and 1 T&L unit )

This is not SLI at all. It's a single rasterizer.


4 way SLI ( 2 Rampage chips and 2 T&L units )

This is not 4 way SLI, it's 2.
And the same for what you called 8 is actually 4.

SLI is ScanLine Interleaving, it has to do with alternating scan lines betweeen different rasterizing chips. The T&L units have nothing to do with the degree of SLI.


Edit: No, AndyHui it's not. 1 Rasterizer (Rampage) and 1 T&L chip together make 1 "point" of SLI.

 

[obeseotron]

It has more bandwith, a T&L chip 3 times faster than a GTS, Curved Surfaces, and that's the entry level chip.

Make no mistake, a board of the slowest config should be able to beat a Geforce 2 GTS by a decent margin, and the dual board will be more than double the speed of the Geforce 2 (it's all mem bandwith). I'm not saying nVidia might not have something better coming up, just that it looks like this next generation will be the biggest jump in power in quite a while, possibly even since voodoo 1 to 2. No generation since the voodoo 2 has completely doubled the overall performance of a board.

 

[AndyHui]

Noriaki: that's my point...

 

[Soccerman]

yea I realize that SLI for T&L units really isn't SLI, I just ignored that automatically. lol could go as far as saying bonehead - English translator on. heh j/k

but anyway, I still don't like those specs. even 200mhz DDR doesn't do justice to the NV15. you have to go to ~250 DDR to get near the amount of bandwidth that the NV15 would be able to show it's true power.

BTW the bandwidth # that is posted IS in fact 200mhz DDR.

And therein lies my point. if they want to get REAL speed out of this next series, they have to get more then a wimpy 800 MPIXEL's out of it (wimpy in that it's the same as the last gen competitors card, the NV15).

the Dual texturing without performance loss doesn't appeal to me, becuase I'm still not that convinced that it will really be needed that much (thanks to BenSkywalker on that) when T&L becomes big. BUT they do need at least a BIT more power per chip.

My point is this, with that amount of power lying around, the Bandwidth will be quite a limit per Chip.. they need to impliment something (they will with their next series chips made with Gigapixel tech) to save memory bandwidth.. oh well, at least the Dual chips + DDR SDRAM @ 200mhz helps them out a bit.

BTW, this is all speculation on the leaked info about RAMPAGE that we don't know if it's true or not.

Ever stop to think again that 3dfx might have synchronized their chip and RAM? 800 MPIXELs @ 200mhz (means 4 pipes) and 200mhz DDR SDRAM which returns you 6.4 gig/s transfer rate..

And the ability to do multiple T&L chips is certainly interesting... I'm just wondering how much extra space this is going to take. I mean, the 4 chip Voodoo 5 6000 is massive on it's own, a 4 chip RAMPAGE with all that RAM, AND all 4 T&L chips will be even worse.

Bleh.. enough of this.

 

[Prodigy^]

Battousai: it's a quote from Thief: The Dark Project it's from the Intro movie, and it says it's quoted from The Book Of The Stone

 

[Chad]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but because of the different architecture, the Voodoo line isn't memory bandwidth limited at all, or at least, not like Nvidia's product (?).

Shhesh, one just has to look at the suposed "25.6GB/sec memory bandwidth" specs to realize, this has enough!!!

I wouldn't recognize these specs to be true, but, all I can say is, if they do come true, this will be a mythological leap in performance, like never before seen (even the mighty Voodoo to Voodoo 2 jump, and it was a biggie!).

One things for sure, this comment from "Soccerman"...



<< yeah, and even if it IS true, that means it's just a Geforce GTS with pretty much all the capabilities thereof, but it includes SLI.

Yawn..

Need something better then that. >>



shows an absolute ignorance upon monumental likings! Dude, wake up, these cards (if true) would absolutely obliterate a GTS card in it's present state. I however think that Nvidia will have something at least comparable at the time of any other Voodoo launch, so don't get your panties in a wad.

 

[Doomguy]

By the time 3dfx has it rampage out and if it can afford to make it the nv25 will be out!

 

[Pete]

Yes, the 4-way SLI would obliterate the GTS, not only in specs but in price . Remember, there doesn't need to be a one-to-one Rampage-Sage ratio. I'm thinking they must have something else up their sleeves b/c Rampage was developed independently of the VSA-100, as it is a new architecture (the VSA was still building on the Voodoo).

Keep in mind that 3dfx might go the same route as V5, and position the SLI solution against nVidia's NV20. I don't think nVidia is going to come up with 12.8GB/s bandwidth with 250MHz DDR.

 

[Hardware]

Has anybody information about the Photoshop effects?
Mostly if there are Photoshop effects its like the T-Buffer (except FSAA) never used!
It seems now work with MS and directx thats the only way!
Not even 3dfx can made a simple public demo who is showing the T-Buffer.
3dfx still needs 2 chips when nvidia can run with only one!

 

[Soccerman]

&quot;so don't get your panties in a wad.&quot;

that's pretty much what I'm sayin.

yes this card has nothing to do with VSA-100 or the Voodoo architecture, except that is as scalable.

We will see about the release date, speculation sucks on this topic, unless you actually know something about how the project is going.

I'm thinking that the low end version of this will be one helluva hot seller. I mean, price/performance wise. think about it.

 

[Noriaki]

I'm just wondering how much extra space this is going to take. I mean, the 4 chip Voodoo 5 6000 is massive on it's own, a 4 chip RAMPAGE with all that RAM, AND all 4 T&amp;L chips will be even worse.

Perhaps they will mount the T&amp;L chips on the back side of the board?

That would generate alot of heat where top chips overlap with bottom chips but how the heck else could they do it? (maybe .18um design process would help the heat problems?)

They can't make the board any bigger than the Voodoo5. That thing has problems fitting in some cases already.

 

[Marty]

These specs indicate that the Rampage will have the same amount of bandwidth per megapixel as the current V4/5. Therefore it will not be as bandwidth limited as some have speculated. Remember, the dual and quad chip boards will use a segmented memory structure, just like the V5. Double the chips = double the bandwidth. 3dfx's early forray into multiple chips/ board gives them the advantage here. and history has shown that 3dfx can produce boards with multiple chips at prices competetive with single chip solutions.

Marty

 

[Czar]

The problem the 4x rampage will have is the same as the Voodoo5 6000 has, to get the standard amount of usable memory you have to have nearly 4 times the amount a single chip sollution has to have. This makes it very expensive. The 4 chip card will be the same as the old Voodoo2 Quantum were, just for developers and few people who had the money for it.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Yes Czar, but the 4 chip card will have a much longer life than the 4 chip Voodoo5.

The VSA-200 (or whatever) seems to be much more feature rich than its younger brother (VSA-100).