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| Q1: |
What is a Radeon™ 8500
graphics card and what chipset does it use?
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| A1:
| Radeon 8500 graphics cards (Radeon 8500 64MB DDR with DVI-I support
and video-output) is ATI's high performance graphics solution for performance
oriented consumer and commercial platforms. Radeon 8500 graphics card is
powered by ATI's Radeon 8500 Graphics Processing Unit or GPU. The Radeon
8500 GPU performs TruForm™, a new technology developed by ATI, overcomes
traditional memory and bandwidth problems to deliver the
smoothest and most realistic images ever seen on a PC.
With SmartShader™, game developers will be able
to create immersive, life-like worlds by modelling the
surface and material qualities of 3D objects with an unparalleled
level of realism. The graphics cards also offer more 3D
features that translate into better visual quality and
greater performance leadership. For more information on
ATI's Radeon 8500 please click here.
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| Q2: |
What are the available
configurations for Radeon™ 8500 graphics boards?
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| A2: |
There is one configuration available and that is of a Radeon™ 8500,
64MB DDR memory with VGA, DVI and TV output.
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| Q3: |
What are the new 3D features
released in Radeon™ 8500 graphics board?
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| A3: |
TruForm™
SmoothVision™
SmartShaderS™
- Vertex Shader:
- Procedural Deformation
- Fur Rendering
- Advanced Keyframe Interpolation
- Shadow Volume Extrusion
- Particle Systems
- Many Light Sources
- Lens Effects
- Advanced Matrix Palette Skinning
- Pixel Shader:
- Realistic Lighting of Any Kind
of Surface
- Varying Properties of a Material
Across a Surface
- Accurate Modelling of Objects
with Microstructure
- Horizon Mapping
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| Q4: |
What is the benefit of
64MB of memory?
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| A4: |
64MB of memory found in Radeon™ 8500 64MB DDR allows you to run the
most extensive games and applications at high resolutions true color mode
and still have enough local memory for abundant texture storage.
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| Q5: |
Do the Radeon™ 8500 graphics
boards support AGP4X?
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| A5: |
Yes. Radeon™ 8500 offers full AGP 4X implementation for 1GB/sec data
transfer rate, sideband addressing, pipelining and AGP texturing support.
AGP 2X operation is also supported for systems / motherboards which do not
offer 4X compatibility.
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| Q6: |
What is the DAC speed?
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| A6: |
The DAC frequency is 400MHz.
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| Q7: |
Is there a PCI version of
Radeon 8500?
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| A7: |
The Radeon 8500 is only available in AGP bus 2x/4x.
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| Q8: |
Can the on-board-memory
be upgraded?
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| A8: |
No. Radeon 8500 graphics cards are not memory upgradeable.
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| Q9: |
What operating systems
do Radeon 8500 graphics cards support?
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| A9: |
Radeon 8500 graphics cards currently support Windows® 98/98SE, Windows®
Me, Windows® 2000 and Windows® NT 4.0.
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| Q10: |
Does ATI develop drivers
for alternate operating systems such as LINUX?
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| A10:
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Although ATI does not develop drivers for alternate operating systems
in-house, drivers are available from 3rd party developers for the majority
of ATI products. ATI actively supports these developers.
For more information on ATI's support of alternate operating systems,
please see the 'Alternate OS Development Resources' section at:
http://www.ati.com/developer/index.html.
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| Q11: |
Can my new motherboard
work with Radeon 8500?
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| A11: |
Radeon 8500 AGP complies with AGP 2.0 and PCI 2.2 specifications and
should therefore work with most motherboards that also comply to these specs.
Many modern motherboards require AGP drivers to be installed in order for
AGP to be supported. These drivers are generally shipped with the motherboard.
Contact your motherboard supplier for updates.
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| Q12: |
What does ATI mean when
they say that the Radeon 8500 is "HDTV ready"? What can a user do with the
Radeon 8500 HDTV decode capability?
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| A12: |
Radeon 8500 is capable of decoding all of the HDTV formats with reduced
CPU utilization and of directly driving both analog and digital high definition
displays. Radeon 8500 achieves its decode capability through motion compensation
and iDCT and without the need for any external hardware. When Radeon is
used with the appropriate DTV tuner and DTV demodulator software, the user
is be able to view HDTV on their monitor or TV.
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| Q13: |
Can the Radeon 8500 graphic
card support more than one display at the same time?
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| A13: |
Yes. Radeon 8500 allows you to combine many different displays together
simultaneously. The possible display configurations are shown in the table
below:
| Display Configuration |
Connector(s) Used |
Comments |
| CRT monitor |
-15-pin VGA connector -4-pin DVI-I connector (with
DVI-I-to-VGA adapter) |
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| DFP monitor |
-24-pin DVI-I connector |
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| TV |
-s-video connector |
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| CRT monitor + TV |
-15-pin VGA connector + s-video connector |
This configuration is only supported when using the
15pin connector not via the DVI to VGA dongle. |
| DFP monitor + TV |
-24-pin DVI-I connector + s-video connector |
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| CRT monitor + DFP connector |
-15-pin VGA connector + 24-pin DVI-I connector |
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| CRT monitor + CRT monitor |
-15-pin VGA connector + 24-pin DVI-I connector (with
DVI-I-to-VGA adapter) |
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| CRT monitor + CRT monitor + TV |
-15-pin VGA connector + 24-pin DVI-I connector (with
DVI-I-to-VGA adapter) + S-video or composite |
This configuration CRT monitor limitations of 800x600
@ 60Hz same screen contents. The TV will be a clone
screen from either primary or secondary monitor. |
Legend:
CRT - (cathode ray tube) analog monitor supporting the standard 15-pin VGA
connector
DFP - digital flat panel monitor supporting the 24-pin DVI-I connector
· The DVI-I connector can support a monitor using a 15-pin VGA connector
via DVI-I-to-VGA adapter
· The s-video connector on the board can support a composite connector via
s-video-to-composite adapter
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| Q14: |
What are the benefits
of attaching two different displays to the Radeon 8500 at the same time?
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| A14:
| Attaching two displays to the Radeon 8500 offers you the ability to
extend your desktop. The extended desktop mode is available with the Windows®
98, Windows® 98 SE, Windows® Me operating systems. In doing so you can increase
your productivity by having different applications on different displays
or even span an application (i.e., spreadsheet) across both displays. In
effect you receive twice the display area resulting in increased efficiency
and flexibility. Hydravision™ Multiple Monitor Management Software makes
using multiple displays easy and further increases your productivity by
adding features such as hot keys, multiple desktops and a Desktop Management
pop-up menu. For more information on Hydravision™, please see our interactive
demonstration.
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| Q15: |
Which monitors do Radeon™
8500 graphic boards support?
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| A15 |
Radeon™ 8500 graphic boards provide support for DDC1/DDC2B+ compliant
Plug and Play monitors. As well, this graphic card supports DVI-compliant
digital flat panel monitors.
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| Q16: |
What is the speed of the
TMDS transmitter for driving a DVI-I based digital flat panel monitor and
what is the maximum resolution?
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| A16: |
Radeon™ 8500 supports a 165MHz TMDS transmitter and can reach resolutions
of up to 1600x1200. DVI resolution and refresh support is dependant upon
DDC signals from the monitor. Some resolution and refresh rate restrictions
may occur depending upon the signals sent from the monitor.
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| Q17: |
What connectors are available
on the Radeon™ 8500?
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| A17: |
- The Radeon™ 8500 graphic cards supports the following
3 connectors:
1.) VGA - for driving a standard CRT (Analog) monitor
2.) DVI-I - which drive a DVI-I based digital flat panel monitor
- a DVI-I to VGA adapter is also supplied and allows
you to attach 2 CRT monitors simultaneously
- 3.) TV-Out - an s-video connector which can be connected
to a television or VCR
- an s-video to composite adapter is also supplied
and allows you to attach via composite connection if your television
does not support s-video
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| Q18: |
Can TruForm™ work on existing
games?
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| A18: |
Yes. However, TruForm™ is a feature that must be implemented in the
game by the developer. This is not a big task, since the character models
and scenery designed in existing games do not have to be modified. TruForm™
supports the triangle primitives that are used by virtually every game developer.
One can expect software developers to make patches available for download
that would enable TruForm™ in their product.
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| Q19: |
Is TruForm™ compatible
with all new games?
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| A19: |
No. However, because TruForm™ is easily implemented without significant
effort by the developer, one can expect TruForm™ to be adopted in many popular
titles in the future.
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| Q20: |
What Games will support
TruForm™?
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| A20: |
Game support will be announced at a later date as games become available
in the market. ATI anticipate games supporting TruForm™ to be available
by Christmas 2001. A sample list of games that support TruForm™ will be
posted on the ATI website as they become available. At this point in time
there is Half Life | Counter Strike which utilises TruForm™ technology.
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| Q21: |
What version of Pixel
Shaders does Radeon 8500 support?
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| A21: |
The Radeon 8500 supports Version 1.4.
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| Q22: |
What's the difference
between a Vertex Shader and Pixel Shader?
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| A22: |
Vertex Shaders are small programs describing a procedure to be applied
to polygon vertices in the scene. These procedures can be up to 128 instructions
in length, and are most useful for simulating deformable objects such as
cloth, fire, water, and human faces. The developer can also invent new lighting
effects in the scene. Whatever effect the developer chooses to create, it
can be hardware accelerated in the Radeon™ 8500 for faster performance.
Pixel Shaders are small programs describing operations to be applied to
pixels in the frame buffer. Pixel Shaders' function is similar to Vertex
Shaders, except they perform operations manipulating colours and textures,
rather than geometry.
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| Q23: |
What has happened to the
Charisma Engine™, and Pixel Tapestry engines of Radeon™?
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| A23: |
Radeon 8500 has an upgraded version of the Charisma Engine™ called
Charisma Engine™ II. Charisma Engine™ II has the following technological
upgrades:
1) A programmable geometry pipeline in addition to the fixed function pipeline.
This additional pipeline is programmable with vertex shaders.
2) Improved fixed function transformation, clipping, and lighting (T&L)
acceleration. The T&L pipeline now processes 75 million triangles/second.
The Radeon 8500 also has an upgraded version of the Pixel Tapestry engine
called Pixel Tapestry II. Pixel Tapestry II has the following technological
upgrades:
1) A programmable rendering pipeline in addition to the fixed function pipeline.
This additional pipeline is programmable with pixel shaders.
2) Up to 6 textures applied to a pixel in a single pass.
3) Increased number of pipelines from 2 to 4.
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| Q24: |
What is HyperZ™ II?
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| A24: |
Z-buffer data is a primary consumer of graphics memory bandwidth, which
is the performance bottleneck of most graphics applications. Hence, any
reduction in Z-buffer memory bandwidth consumption will result in performance
dividends. HyperZ™ II is a technology that makes Z-buffer bandwidth consumption
more efficient by implementing the following memory architecture features:
1) Fast Z Clear
2) Z Compression
3) Hierarchical Z
HyperZ™ II is second-generation technology, while other competing technologies
have only been introduced for the first time. This results in a more robust
and efficient implementation.
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| Q25: |
Other graphic manufactures
are claiming new memory bandwidth saving techniques. How does this compare
to HyperZ™ II?
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| A25: |
Like HyperZ™ II, other graphics manufactures optimize memory bandwidth.
Both HyperZ™ II and competitors offer lossless Z-buffer compression. Both
technologies attempt to discard polygons that are occluded by other polygons
(a process called "occlusion culling"). In this respect, HyperZ™ II is
far superior. HyperZ™ II saves the GPU from rendering over 14 billion pixels
per second, while it is estimated competitors only discards 3.2 billion.
Fast Z Clear has no counterpart in competitor's architecture.
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| Q26: |
Can use a PCI graphics
card, in the same system as my dual display Radeon VE/Radeon 7500/Radeon
8500, to support three or more displays?
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| A26: |
ATI does not support the use of an additional PCI graphic card in a
system with the Radeon VE/Radeon 7500/Radeon 8500. These products do support
the use of two independent displays, from a single card, under the Windows
98, Windows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP operating systems.
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| Q27: |
How do I enable 800x600
TV Output?
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| A27: |
First, ensure that your television is connected to the output connection
on Radeon™ 8500 either through the s-video or composite connector. Access
your display settings either from the control panel or by right-clicking
anywhere on your desktop and selecting Properties'. Under 'Settings' click
'Advanced'. Under 'ATI Display', click the enable TV button, press 'Apply'.
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| Q28: |
Other graphics cards support
up to DX8.0 and I hear Radeon™ 8500 is a DX8.1 part. Is this true?
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| A28: |
Radeon™ 8500 is DX8.1 compliant and Competitors are DX8.0 compliant.
However, DX8.1 is an upgrade of DX8.0, so the Radeon 8500™ will support
all DX8.0 titles in addition DX8.1 titles.
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| Q29: |
What is the difference
between DX8.0 and DX8.1?
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| A29: |
The principle difference between DX8.0 and DX8.1 is in the pixel shader
and vertex shader specifications. DX8.1 pixel shaders provide more texture
inputs, larger maximum program length, and unlimited texture addressing
modes. Certain bugs found in DX8.0 have been fixed in DX8.1.
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| Q30: |
Does the OpenGL driver
support all DX8.1 features?
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| A30: |
Yes. The Radeon 8500 does support all the features available in DirectX
8.1 by implementing OpenGL extensions.
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| Q31: |
Does the Radeon 8500 support component output? How do I get component output from the Radeon 8500?
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| A31: |
The Radeon™ 8500 supports
Interlaced and progressive scan HDTV. HDTV Support: 480i,
480p, 720p, and 1080i. For DVD & Macrovision support:
480i & 480p. You can purchase an HDTV Component Video
VGA to YPrPb adapter from ATI available exclusively
on
ATI's online Accessory Store: http://shop.ati.com/country.asp
. Component output was not available at the time of initial
shipment of the Radeon 8500.
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| Q32: |
What games are bundled
with the Radeon™ 8500? *
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| A32: |
There are three excellent game titles that are in the retail Radeon™
8500 box.
- Half Life | UpLink
- Team Fortress Classic
- Counter Strike
All these titles benefit from TruForm™ technology.
*This does not apply to Europe.
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| Q33: |
Why is VIVO (video input/video
output) not included as a feature in Radeon™ 8500?
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| A33: |
The All-In-Wonder products address the needs of the multimedia enthusiast
as this line of products includes support for such features as video capture
and TV tuning. The Radeon™ 8500 does however have the ability to output
video (TV Out).
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| Q34: |
Will the Radeon™ 8500
and Radeon™ 7500 boards be available through the Trade-up? If so when and
what will the trade-up cost be?
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| A34: |
ATI has not announced plans to include the Radeon™ 8500 or Radeon™
7500 in the ATI Trade-Up Program at this time.
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| Q35: |
What are the system requirement
for the Radeon™ 8500?
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| A35: |
- Pentium 4/III/Celeron, AMD K6/Athlon or compatible
with AGP 2X or AGP 2x/4x universal slot
- 64MB of system memory
- Installation software requires CD_ROM drive
- DVD playback requires DVD drive
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| Q36: |
Can you run different
resolutions and refresh rates with two different displays attached simultaneously?
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| A36: |
Windows® 98, Windows® 98 SE, Windows® Me and Windows® XP (when available)
will support independent resolutions and refresh rates on both displays
in extended desktop mode. Windows NT 4.0 and Windows® 2000 will support
independent refresh rates however, it will not support independent resolutions.
The Windows® NT 4.0 and Windows® 2000 operating systems initiate what is
known as Big Desktop Mode when two displays are attached and will see the
two displays as one single desktop.
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| Q37: |
Does the Radeon™ 8500
support monitors with a 16:9 aspect ratio?
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| A37: |
Yes, including 1920 x 1080 and 848 x 480 on Windows® 98/98SE, Windows®
Me, and Windows® 2000. The complete list of resolutions depends on the driver
version and operating system. Please note that resolutions are limited by
the performance of the attached monitor.
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| Q38: |
What has happened to the
Video Immersion technology of the Radeon™?
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| A38: |
The Radeon™ 8500 includes an upgrade of Video Immersion entitled Video Immersion II. The improvements in the technology are improved video de-interlacing,
temporal filtering, component video output, and 800x600 TV-Out. What this
means is that you are capable of doing now with Video Immersion II is you
can have your desktop at 800x600 and output to your display without having
to use Desktop span or reorganize your desktop icons.
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