***Hot Topics

Nvidia Announces RIVA TNT with True Color TwiN Texel
Architecture
(March 23)

NVIDIA Corporation today unveiled its RIVA TNT 3D processor.
It has the following performance characteristics:

125 million dual-textured, bilinear filtered, per-pixel
Mip-mapped, alpha blended, 24-bit Z-buffered pixels per
second and 250 million single-textured, bilinear filtered,
per-pixel Mip-mapped, alpha blended, 24-bit Z-buffered
pixels per second.

To achieve these rates it process two pixels per clock cycle
enabling true single-pass multi-texturing. Utilizing over 7
million transistors, comparable to the complexity of the
Intel Pentium II. The RIVA TNT’s TwiN Texel processing
engine integrates a dual-pixel 32-bit color pipeline, 24-bit
Z-buffer, 8-bit stencil buffer and per-pixel precision. Not
only can the RIVA TNT apply two textures to a single
triangle, but it can also process two pixels per clock cycle
to yield twice the pixel fill rate. The RIVA TNT can render
up to 8 million triangles per second.

The RIVA TNT processor is optimized for Microsoft’s PC ’98
specification and Direct3D, including the DirectX 6.0
initiatives. These optimizations include hardware triangle
set-up, single-pass multi-texturing and anisotropic
filtering.

RIVA TNT supports up to 16MB of frame buffer memory, AGP 2X
and a 250MHz RAMDAC to drive displays up to 1600x1200x32bpp
@ 85Hz. The memory interface is asynchronous 128 bits wide
to SGRAM allowing a bandwidth up to 200MHz. RIVA TNT
provides full support for an OpenGL ICD (Installable Client
Driver) for Windows 95 and Windows NT.

The RIVA TNT processor will be priced at $45.00 US, in
10,000 unit quantities. The RIVA TNT will tape out this
week, be sampling next quarter when it is expected to be
seen at CGDC and will be in production in the third quarter
of 1998. Initial fab will be by TSMC.

WAVE Comments

NVIDIA continues to demonstrate how it shapes the industry
with high performance mass market parts. If this part
delivers on its promises it presents a formidable challenge
to both Voodoo2 and Permedia. By supplying both Direct3D and
OpenGL drivers TNT begins the process of blurring the line
between the high end and mass market segments of the market.

www.nvidia.com.


Wave Issue 9802 3/23/98 Article 1-01