Introduction
3D is intrinsically parallel. We find parallelism at the level at which data is manipulated (4 component vector), but also with the instructions applied to that data. GPU manufacturers have understood that fact well and it’s around this main idea (which constitutes the main difference between graphics and CPUs) that 3D chips are built.
Consequently, an increase in parallelism is the best way to increase GPU performances. Whether you’re talking about geometrical units, pixel pipelines or steam processors, the history of the evolution of graphic card performances is largely related to the one telling the number of those units. The only limit is the physical size of the chip, the increase in which has slowly led to an explosion of production costs. In the end, optimization of processes is the only thing that allows us to increase the quota of transistors that a GPU architecture can hold (their size doesn’t vary too much) and thus the number of computational units.
To outgrow this limit, the founding fathers of 3D introduced the idea of multiplying chips. Once again, this approach is largely beneficial in the GPU world, as tasks can be easily parallelized and assigned to a specific chip while still limiting the number of exchanges between the different GPUs, unlike what you might have seen with multi-CPU solutions. Thus the Infinite Reality from Silicon Graphics was conceived and meant to be largely configurable, the different parts of the graphical pipeline being implemented on independent cards: Geometry Engine, Raster Manager, Display Generator.
It could be set up using multiple configurations and it was even possible to add cards to increase workstation performances. The Rasterization diagram is complex and aims to intelligently balance the workload, either between the 80 image engines of each Raster Manager, or the different Raster Managers. To do so, it operates using tiles that vary in size depending on the number of Raster Manager.
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i wonder wat it would be like to run folding at home on. that would boost my skor lol
i will reserve judgement on the ultra vs 3870x2 until the first driver release after the official release of the card - think how much performance the 2900 xt gained! (not that i would expect anything like that much, but the ultra has had a year for it's drivers to mature)
Two chips and not even a beater of a single GTS and still no where near a card (the GTX) that has been out for almost a year. Come on ATI whats happenned.
Anand's shows the card in a better light, something about newer drivers i hear? Beating the GTS in most games with a largish margin
Is the R700 really delayed until 2009? I thought that rumour was dismissed...
"Anand's shows the card in a better light, something about newer drivers i hear? Beating the GTS in most games with a largish margin"
no it doesnt