GeForce 256

[Martin_89]

Just one question where does the 256 come from on the GeForce 256??

Cheers

[K62]

that card has a 256bit data width, ide say thats where it comes from

[MuFu]

Nowhere in particular. It's a completely useless, meaningless figure.

MuFu.

[Todd a]

The core runs at 256bit, but the memory bus only runs at 128bit. I think the newer cards are 512, but it is not really a very important stat as things like Pixel Shader 2.0, Vertex Shader 2.0, Pixel Pipelines, memory bandwidth... are much more important.

Either that or it means it can do 256 colors!

[K62]

hmm, I think somethign like "Geforce killerXmutilatingsonofabloodthurstymang" just sounds much more catchy then "Geforce 256"


-edit *I need sleep*

[SexyMF]

At least 256 isn't as over the top as 'Platinum edition'. Like gold and silver weren't enough.

[Moraelin v2.0]

Actually, the core was _not_ a 256 bit chip. To the best of my knowledge, the largest integer it could actually work with was 24 bit, and even that only in the Z-Buffer part.

If we're going to start multiplying by the number of pipelines, then you might as well say that the original Pentium was a 64 bit chip.

I.e., MuFu is right. It's just a meaningless number that marketing came up with.

[Martin_89]

thats what i thought just one of those computer numbers!! 256MB ram, 256 Bit, 256 colours, you know what i mean and at the time i think 256 was one of the high numbers thats like ati bringing out a RADEON 1024 or somthing it just sounds powerful!

[Todd a]

I'm not talking about 256bit color as it can only do 32bit. Think of it as a Nintendo 64. It runs 64bit proccessing, but likely only did 16bit color. A quick look on NVIDIA's website got me this:

August 31, 1999 marked the introduction of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for the PC industry—the NVIDIA GeForce 256. The technical definition of a GPU is "a single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines that is capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second."

With transform, lighting, setup, and rendering on a single GPU, the GeForce 256 delivers 15M polygons/second and 480M pixels/second of performance. Truly revolutionary, its unique 256-bit rendering engine enabled an order of magnitude increase in visual complexity, and helped to set the stage for the future of realism in graphics.

So it is a 256bit rendering engine. A quick check on the TNT2 shows"128-bit 3D architecture ". The GeForceFX line are still 256 bit and ATI Radeon 9700/9800 core are likely too, but the Matrox Parhelia is a full 512 bit. This does not seem to help them too much. At this point going beyond 256bit yeilds little, unlike upgrading features like PS2.0, pipelines, memory bandwidth.

[Bennyboy]

Good spot Todd! Interesting to see what nVidia thinks of as an order of magnitude as well. Guess that's what you get living in a world of base 2, or letting marketroids write your technical PR.

Bennyboy.

[Martin_89]

Cheers todd that was interesting so this card acctually is an alright card still. i still think it is fast enough for me especialy with it being the special edition 64MB DDR version

[Todd a]

By todays standard it is still pretty slow. Even a GeForce4 MX 420 with SDR can likely beat it. But it is still a good card and will likely play most games just fine. I have a GeForce2 GTS and it does pretty good. Of course it clocks faster (core and memory) and can do 2 texture per pixel pipeline. I still run it overclocked at 210/410 speeds and works well with my Duron 600@900. I also run a TNT2 Ultra on my Celeron 366@550. Myu TNT2 Ultra lacks the features required to run Call of Duty so I only have 4 computers that I can use to run it at my LAN parties, but 6 computers now that can run RtCW: ET. My next LAN party is this Saturday with 12 computers total likely.

[K62]

I remember when my friend first got his geforce 256 32mb ddr about 4 years ago. With his brand new k7 700, is was sooo fast in quake 3 haha I was amazed. It put my pool old k62 500@550 and voodoo3 2000 @ 3000 to shame.

But as todd said, it is pretty slow compared to todays cards. Hell even my Radeon 32mb ddr in my webserver is faster, but as long as you arent trying to play with fsaa and at a high res with eye candy, it will probably run most games just fine.

What is the stock clock of your card? is it the same as the 32mb geforce 256 @ 120/300 ?

[Martin_89]

yup 120 / 300 but ive got it 160/360. so is a geforce 4 MX440 a good upgrade for me?

I play vice city at 1024X768X32 at full deatail with anyaliasing at 2X and its smoth! lol but is getting a bit slow.

[Todd a]

Just make sure you do not get the SE version.