Gamecenter interview part 2
gamecenter.com
Is Bigger Better?
Whether or not gamers would immediately benefit from the additional 4MB of texture memory (for a total of 4MB for each TMU) is an open question at this point, since there aren't any games on the market that take advantage of such a feature. Using two 12MB cards in SLI mode won't enable games to run at resolutions any higher than running two 8MB cards in SLI mode (1,024 by 768 with Z buffering) because the frame buffer memory in both scenarios is only 8MB.
Is Creative worried about winning precious retail shelf space for two models of Voodoo cards? "The only person who's going to benefit from a shelf-space battle," says Carlton, "is the consumer. But I'd love to see Diamond stay a player in the Voodoo market without a 12MB model."
3D Blaster Details
Carlton also shared with us a few of the design details behind the 3D Blaster Voodoo 2. According to Carlton, board-size limitations dictated that Creative use both sides of a printed circuit board (PCB) to mount the 12MB of memory. "Timing is critical," says Carlton, "because you're synchronizing three parts. There are serious trace-length restrictions to be dealt with. This doubled our manufacturing time, but we haven't experienced any reliability problems."
Creative isn't ready to disclose the software bundle lined up for the 3D Blaster Voodoo 2, but Carlton did tip his hand with this remark: "I'm going to put a broad sampler in the box," he says, "but I'm not going to try and differentiate by putting a lot of money into a game bundle. If I could get an exclusive where the only way you could get the game was to buy my 12MB card, that would be one thing, but that's not likely to happen." |
