Matrox G400 MAX

Name: Matrox G400 MAX - Page 2
Brand: Matrox

by HH Editor — Saturday, December 15, 2001, 11:00 PM EDT

"VCQ²" and "EMBM"

Matrox always seems to have a few tricks up their sleeves and this time is no exception. Environmental Mapped Bump Mapping is a feature that no other Graphics Chipset in the industry supports currently. This technology allows for the additon of all new, very immersive effects on various image surfaces. For instance you can add animated or motionless bumps on the surface of a 3D object. This gives you the ability to implement ripple effects on water or turbulence on air in the event of smoke or gasses. Also, many other enhancements can be made to all sorts of textured surfaces with these bumps. In short, this feature adds another level of detail and texture to almost any surface. It is a feature that is built in to DirectX 6.1 and future releases of the API. There are only a few games currently that support this feature, like "Slave Zero", "Decent III" and "Expendable", with more titles coming on line every day. Here's an example taken from Rage Software's "Expendable".

EMBM On	No EMBM
We don't even have to go into detail on the differences here. A picture says it all. The EMBM enabled shot on the left looks generations ahead when compared to the shot on the right. The water effects are amazing. Of course my precision "gibbing" of these Alien Slimes in BOTH shots, looks damn sweet too! :-)

Now, VCQ² is a little more of a subjective thing. It is the way the G400 renders images in full 32bit color from its 32bit frame buffer and internal pipelines. The effect that is supposed to be produced a rich, highly saturated 32bit color image with the most vibrant deep colors available. We felt that the G400MAX lived up to its claims on this. However, this again is a subjective area. You be the judge for your own opinion. Here are a couple of High Res. 32bit Quake3 Arena shots... *Click 'em* *For the bandwidth advantaged, get your original TGAs here and here!* (right click and then "save as" or just click if your browser supports TGA format.)

If you want our opinion (and let's face it, you are reading this, so you must) the G400MAX has the image quality battle won HANDS DOWN over ANY 3D graphics chipset on the market today!

But how does it fair in the Framerate Department? We think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Page 3 ---> Take a look! <---