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Any way you
slice it, it seems that NVIDIA just can't catch a break.
Just when they seemed to pull out of their year-long funk
following the GFFX 5800 introduction, by releasing the
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, they were called to the carpet
again, over what they like to call, driver
"optimizations". In a world where benchmarks can make or
break the salability of any piece of hardware, just like
critics can determine the fate of a movie ("Gigli" comes
to mind), NVIDIA has done what they felt was necessary to
paint their products in the most positive light. Why was
all this necessary you might ask? It is due in a large
part by a steady stream of fiercely competitive releases
from a company in Ontario, Canada, that you just might
have heard of before, ATi.
ATi has been pushing all
of the right buttons since the release of the Radeon
9500/9700 series of cards and increasing the pressure for
anyone to come up with a better solution. When
NVIDIA tried to win back some of their loyal fan base with
the 5900 and 5900 Ultra cards earlier this year, ATi was
ready with their Radeon 9600/9800 cards, and the battle
was on. Now, without even letting NVIDIA catch its
breath, ATi has upped the ante with upgrades for what was
already considered top of the line. Dave gave his
thoughts on the
Radeon 9800 XT just a few weeks ago, and told you to
stay tuned for more news. Well, the news is that ATi
have prepared a double treat for us - the Radeon 9600 XT,
a mainstream video card that can rival other high-end
solutions, and a brand new suite of drivers to match with
some important (and some not so important) new features.
We will start with the specs on the all new 9600 XT, a
variation of the 9600 series with increased core clock
speeds and a new manufacturing process aimed at lower
power consumption, and therefore lower heat production.
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Specifications & Features of the 128MB ATi
Radeon 9600 XT |
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The
9600 Pro on Steroids |
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GRAPHICS TECHNOLOGY
RV360 Visual Processing Unit (VPU)
Core Clock Speed 500MHz
MEMORY CONFIGURATION
3D
GRAPHICS FEATURES
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Four parallel rendering pipelines process up to
2.0 billion pixels per second
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High precision 10-bit per channel framebuffer
support
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128-bit DDR memory interface
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AGP 8X support
SMARTSHADER 2.1
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Full support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0
programmable pixel and vertex shaders in hardware
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2.0 Pixel Shaders support up to 16 textures per
rendering pass
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2.0 Vertex Shaders support vertex programs up to
1024 instructions with flow control
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New 128-bit per pixel floating point color formats
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Multiple Render Target (MRT) support
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Shadow volume rendering acceleration
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Complete feature set also supported in OpenGL via
extensions
SMOOTHVISION 2.1
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State-of-the-art full-scene anti-aliasing
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Supports 2x, 4x, and 6x modes with programmable
sample patterns
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Advanced anisotropic filtering
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Supports up to 16 bilinear samples (in performance
mode) or trilinear samples (in quality mode) per
pixel
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2x/4x/6x full scene anti-aliasing modes
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Adaptive algorithm with programmable sample
patterns
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2x/4x/8x/16x anisotropic filtering modes
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Adaptive algorithm with bilinear (performance) and
trilinear (quality) options
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Bandwidth-saving algorithm enables this feature
with minimal performance cost
HYPERZ III+
DISPLAY SUPPORT
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15-pin VGA connector for analog CRT
/
DVI-I connector for digital CRT or
flat panel
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S-video or composite connector for TV/VCR
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Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any
two connected displays
VIDEO FEATURES
VIDEOSHADER
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Seamless integration of programmable pixel shaders
with video data
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High quality, hardware accelerated de-blocking of
internet streaming video
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Noise removal filter for captured video
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Integrated MPEG-2 decode
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Hardware accelerated iDCT, motion compensation,
and color space conversion
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Top quality DVD and all-format DTV/HDTV decode
with low CPU overhead
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Back-end scaler delivers top quality playback
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Upscaling and downscaling with 4-tap horizontal
and vertical filtering
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Filtered display of images up to 1920 pixels wide
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Unique per-pixel adaptive de-interlacing feature
combines the best elements of the ?bob? and
?add-field? (weave) techniques
FULLSTREAM
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Noise removal filtering for captured video
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MPEG-2 decoding with motion compensation, iDCT and
color space conversion
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All-format DTV/HDTV decoding
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YPrPb component output
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Adaptive de-interlacing and frame rate conversion
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Dual integrated display controllers
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Dual integrated 10-bit per channel 400MHz DACs
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Integrated 165 MHz TMDS transmitter (DVI and HDCP
compliant)
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Integrated TV Output support up to 1024x768
resolution
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Optimized for Pentium® 4 SSE2 and AMD Athlon?
3Dnow!
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PC 2002 compliant
DISPLAY FEATURES
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Dual integrated display controllers
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Drive two displays simultaneously with independent
resolutions and refresh rates
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HYDRAVISION? software provides complete control
over multi-display configurations with a
user-friendly interface
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Dual integrated 10-bit per channel palette DACs
operating at up to 400MHz
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Integrated 165MHz TMDS transmitter supports
resolutions up to QXGA (2048x1536) and complies
with DVI and HDCP specifications
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Integrated TV-Out support up to 1024x768
resolution
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YPrPb output for direct drive of HDTV monitors
GENERAL FEATURES
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Comprehensive 2x, 4x, and 8x AGP support
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DDR memory interface supports 64/128/256MB
configurations
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Fully compliant with PC 2002 requirements
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Optimized for Pentium® 4 SSE2 and AMD Athlon?
3Dnow! processor instructions
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Supports optional THEATER? 200 companion chip for
NTSC/PAL/SECAM video capture
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Highly optimized 128-bit 2D engine with support
for new Windows® XP GDI extensions
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CLICK ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW
Perhaps
not as stylish as the 9800 XT model, the 9600 XT still has
its merits with the standard red PCB and large aluminum
heatsink over the VPU. The architecture of the card
is not much different from the 9600 Pro we used for
testing, less a capacitor or two. The driving force
behind the card is the RV360 core, basically a vamped up
version of the RV350 with a 100MHz boost in clock speed.
It also is the first graphics core to be based on a low-k
dielectric 0.13 micron process. Low-k in this
context refers to the low capacitance of a new insulating
material called Black Diamond used in the TSMC 0.13 micron
LV process. The effects of this are two-fold,
allowing for higher clock speeds yet requiring less power
consumption. The reduced power needs of the card are
obvious when one notices that the 9600 XT does not require
any external power connections, even though the core is
running at 500MHz.
The
reduced power consumption and capacitance should also
lessen the heat produced by the VPU, although ATi has
still included an oversized aluminum heatsink with a
built-in 40mm fan. It is a custom fit, covering all
of the space south of the capacitors and stopping just shy
of the Samsung RAM. Unlike the 9800 XT, which is
still based on a .15 micron process, only the front side
of the card is cooled, and the RAM is left bare as well.
The heatsink is mounted using two spring-loaded retentions
clips and although it may be hard to see in the photo, it
makes a solid connection with the RV360. The
heatsink/fan combo is a quiet and adequate solution for
this card. Combined with the better cost efficiency
of the .13 micron process and lack of heatsinks over the
RAM help keep costs down.
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RADEON 9600 XT |
RADEON 9600 PRO |
RADEON 9600 |
RADEON 9600 SE |
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Frame Buffer |
128MB DDR |
128MB DDR |
128MB DDR |
128MB DDR |
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Memory Interface |
128-bit |
128-bit |
128-bit |
64-bit |
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Rendering Pipelines |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
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Pixel Fillrate (Gpixels/sec)
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2.0 |
1.6 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
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Engine Clock (MHz) |
500 |
400 |
325 |
325 |
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Memory Clock (MHz) |
600 |
600 |
400 |
400 |
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Output Connections |
VGA + TV + DVI |
VGA + TV + DVI |
VGA + TV + DVI |
VGA + TV + DVI |
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The XT version brings the
9600 series to a total of four different models now, which
includes the Radeon 9600 XT, Radeon 9600 Pro, Radeon 9600,
and the Radeon 9600SE. It's hard to believe that a
mainstream card could have this many variations, but each
one is a step higher than the next performance-wise,
providing a dizzying array of options for the ever hungry
PC Graphics consumer.
A breakdown of the main differences between the four
variants is shown in the graph above. The major salient
point for this product launch today, is the 100MHz boost
for the engine clock of the 9600 XT over the 9600 Pro.
This speed bump was afforded by ATi's cutover to a "low-k"
dielectric .13 micron process, with their fab partner TSMC.
Theoretically, this results in a 25% increase in the pixel
fillrate, an all-important aspect of today's 3D gaming
requirements.
The
Drivers & Some
Screenshots
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