3DFX Message Board - Msg: 9679703

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : 3DFX

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next

To: Patrick Grinsell who wrote (12904)	5/21/1999 11:33:00 PM
From: Plaz	Read Replies (2) of 16960

Just look at the bandwidth: PCI 33MHz * 32 bit bus / 8 bits/byte = 132 MB/sec AGP 66MHz * 32 bit bus / 8 bits/byte = 264 MB/sec AGP2x 66MHz * 32 bit bus / 8 bits/byte * 2 trans/clock = 528 MB/sec AGP4x 66MHz * 32 bit bus / 8 bits/byte * 4 trans/clock = 1056 MB/sec Voodoo3 3500 183Mhz * 128 bit bus / 8 bits/byte = 2928 MB/sec Sony PS2 2 channel 800MHz Rambus = 48000 MB/sec (published spec) I just don't see where AGP 4x keeps up even with today's technology, let alone tomorrow's. Don't get me wrong, extra bandwidth is always good: we can move more polygons and more textures to the card and maybe supplement a little texturing bandwidth, but for primary rendering? I don't think so... AGP texturing, since it uses the system memory, also contends with the CPU for access to it. On a 100 MHz motherboard there is only 100 * 64 bits / 8 = 800 MB/sec of bandwidth. That's less that AGP 4x! Rambus should make this somewhat better, but I still don't see the need to slow down the CPU's access to memory. My conclusion: AGP texturing was never about making better 3D, it was about making PC's cheaper. AGP was conceived when memory was expensive and it made sense to combine the memory resources on a system into a common pool. Memory had to drop in price substantially before 3dfx could even make an 8MB Voodoo2 for $300. Today it's under $2/MB! I don't think anyone could have predicted that it would drop that low that fast. So AGP texturing is a technology that got obsoleted by cheap memory chips. Maybe with rambus in our systems it will make a little more sense, since rambus is supposed to be considerably more expenive than DRAM. That's the best "pro" I can offer you. But even AGP4x at 1056 MB/sec just doesn't cut the mustard for the next generation of accelerators. I'd love to hear from anyone who thinks I've missed something in my analysis. Plaz

Report TOU Violation

Share This Post

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next