Resolutions and Thor

FS: Whenever a new high-end video card is released, we like to talk about what resolutions and settings become "free" i.e. little or no framerate hit for higher resolutions and/or settings. The GeForce 256 DDR was able to make the 1024x768 Fastest and 800x600 High Quality settings "free" in Quake 3. What settings will become "free" with the Glaze3D?

Petri: 1024x768 will definitely be "free", as will 1280x1024, and 1600x1280 is fast becoming within our reach. We can of course go up to HDTV resolutions.

True 32-bit color, 32-bit textures, and 32-Bit Z-buffer will also become free, as well as Anti-Aliasing with the XBA architecture.

FS: Can you explain the programmable FPU for the Glaze3D 1200 and 2400? Does this count as a "GPU?"

See below…

FS: How does this FPU this differ from Nvidia's GeForce, and how does it differ from Thor?

Petri: Thor is the project name for our geometry engine project. It will not be part of the initial launch of XBA products in the third quarter of this year. Intel is handling the geometry quite well today, and the AGP bus is really one of the key limitations. We have seen better utilization of the silicon by implementing an optimal host interface.

The Thor project is a more advanced in its design and is capable of techniques that are not possible with today's brute force geometry processors.

FS: Why will the Thor geometry processor only available on the 4-chip solution?

Petri: We are discussing how to implement Thor into the XBA architecture based chips and not release the separate geometry processor. This will allow us to distribute the geometry load for multiple chips and support Thor in various configurations.