NVIDIA GeForce3 Technology Preview

NVIDIA has been on the forefront of 3D hardware acceleration design for the last several years. With their accelerated product schedules, we can count on seeing a new or enhanced NVIDIA product every few months. The transitions from the TNT2 to the GeForce256 and then to the GeForce2 GTS related more to performance improvements, with some hardware features thrown in for good measure. With the GeForce3, this has shifted somewhat. NVIDIA seems to have a different strategy behind the GeForce3, and that is to provide the highest quality 3D visuals and effects, while maintaining a high level of overall performance.

The main push for the GeForce3 seems to be promoting it as the "Infinite Effects GPU". This means giving developers the features and power to create visually stunning content, rather than simply letting the end user achieve ever-higher framerates in current applications. The GeForce3 will enable more realistic and innovative visual effects, and at least partially eschews the increasing performance model of previous NVIDIA products. There are some definite hardware improvements on the performance side, relating to memory bandwidth and High-Resolution Antialiasing (HRAA) but the major impetus of the GeForce3 comes from the its nfiniteFX engine.

The nfiniteFX Engine

One of the most important new features of the GeForce3 GPU, the nfiniteFX Engine, is currently a developer feature that will translate into future applications making use of innovative and custom aspects of the engine, which can be accessed through the Microsoft DirectX 8 or OpenGL APIs. The two main features of this engine are Programmable Vertex Shaders and Programmable Pixel Shaders.

Vertex Shaders

On the road to more realistic 3D graphics, the vertex is among the most important considerations. To help understand what a vertex is, think of the joined points between parts of a 3D object, such as the shoulder or arm of a 3D character. The degree to which these objects meld and simulate real life movement and expressions go a long way to providing depth and environment to the 3D experience.

The key to the GeForce3's Vertex Shader resides in its programmability. Instead of simply taking vertex data and assigning pre-programmed operations, the GeForce3 Programmable Vertex Shader allows developers to apply custom effects to each vertex. This versatility can allow custom visual effects such as character movement, keyframe animation, procedural deformation, morphing, environmental effects, lens effects and lighting to be utilized using the same programmable vertex shader.

Skip To Page • 1 Introduction / The nfiniteFX Engine / Vertex Shaders 2 Programmable Pixel Shaders 3 NVIDIA GeForce3 Specifications and Features 4 Lightspeed Memory Architecture / Higher Order Surfaces / Crossbar Memory Controller 5 Lossless Z Compression / Z-Occlusion Culling / High-Resolution Antialiasing (HRAA) 6 DirectX 8 / Developer Support / The GeForce3 GPU / First on Mac / Conclusion

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