|
Along with a solid
hardware redesign, typically comes a software
overhaul as well. Although the latest revision
of the nVidia Detonator drivers look somewhat
familiar, there are few new features to play with.
We were using the 11.01 Detonator drivers, as
suggested by nVidia, while evaluating their new
product.
 |
|
Drivers,
Features Screen Shots and Demos |
|
nVidia's GeForce3 comes to
life |
|
Click images for full view
As you'll note, there is
a more simplified Anti-Ailiasing control panel with
this version of the Detonator drivers. Here
you can select between the different 2 and 4X modes
and also the new Quincunx mode. Quincunx mode
is a new "Multi-Sampling" versus legacy
"Super-Sampling", method of AA and the result is
near 4X AA quality at close to 2X AA speed.
Our man Marco
went into some detail here on the subject, if you
would like more info.
Here are some
screen-shots which should give you a good idea of
the quality in each mode.
Click images - All
shots 32bit color
Set desktop color depth to 32bit to avoid banding
NoAA
2X AA
Quincunx AA
4X AA
Anti-Ailiasing, as the
saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder. In our
opinion, 2X AA in this Space/Flight Sim hybrid game
"Echelon", does a nice job of cleaning things up.
However, you can notice things do look a little
smoother in the Quincunx and 4X shots. We also
noticed that Quincunx mode does blur textures
slightly. Again however, you make the call
here.
Skipping back for a
moment to driver functionality, with the GeForce3
you get Digital Vibrance Control as an added
feature. Historically, this was only available
on GeForce2 MX cards but now makes an appearance for
the GeForce3. DVC actually turns up the color
saturation on your desktop and within games.
If you want things bright but not washed out, this
just may do the trick for you.
Finally, we'll throw in
some shots from Aquanox a new next generation game
that takes advantage of the GeForce3's new features
like pixel shading etc.
Click images - All
shots 32bit color
Set desktop color depth to 32bit to avoid banding
Perhaps even more
impressive is
Inevitable's "Evolution" demo that was
developed specifically to show off the power and
features of the GeForce3. We were absolutely
stunned when we saw this.
Click images - All
shots 32bit color
Set desktop color depth to 32bit to avoid banding
What you are looking at
here folks, is the future of 3D Gaming.
Console fans have something to envy here for sure.
This is a rolling demo and you should see it live.
It is simply amazing and the frame rate is silky
smooth.
Speaking of frame rates,
why don't we get to some testing here
3DMark 2001,
Quake 3, FSAA, Aquanox and Dronez Testing
| 
