| Q1: |
What is a Radeon™ 8500 graphics
card and what chipset does it use? |
| A1: |
Radeon™ 8500 graphics card (Radeon™ 8500
128MB DDR with VGA, 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 (GPU). The Radeon™ 8500 GPU features TruForm™,
a new technology developed by ATI to overcome traditional
memory and bandwidth problems and deliver the smoothest
and most realistic images ever seen on a PC. With SmartShader™
technology, game developers will be able to create immersive,
life-like worlds by modelling the surface and material
qualities of 3D objects with unparalleled level of realism.
This graphics card also offers more 3D features, which
translates into better visual quality and greater performance
leadership. For more information on ATI's Radeon™ 8500
please check out “Specifications” section in the Radeon™
8500 web
showcase
|
| Q2: |
What are the available configurations
for Radeon 8500™ graphics boards?
|
| A2:
| There are two Radeon™ 8500 configurations
available: with 128MB of DDR memory and with 64MB of DDR
memory. Both are with VGA, DVI and video output. There
is also the Radeon™ 8500LE board available with 128MB
DDR memory, featuring VGA and video output.
|
| Q3: |
What are the new 3D features released
in Radeon™ 8500 graphics boards?
|
| A3:
| Theses new features are: 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
|
| Q4: |
What is the benefit of 128MB of memory?
|
| A4:
| 128MB of memory featured in Radeon™
8500 128MB DDR allows you to run the most extensive games
and applications in high-resolutions true-color mode,
and still have enough local memory for abundant texture
storage.
|
| Q5: |
Do Radeon™ 8500 graphics boards support
AGP4X? |
| A5:
| Yes. All Radeon™ 8500 offer full AGP
4X (1.5 volt) implementation for 1GB/sec data transfer
rate, sideband addressing, pipelining and AGP texturing
support. AGP 2X (3.3 volt) operation is also supported
for systems/motherboards that do not offer 4X compatibility.
|
| Q6: |
What is the DAC speed? |
| A6:
| The DAC frequency is 400MHz.
|
| Q7: |
Is there a PCI version of Radeon™
8500? |
| A7:
| Radeon™ 8500 is only available in
AGP bus 2X/4X.
|
| Q8: |
Can the on-board-memory be upgraded? |
| A8:
| No. Radeon™ 8500 graphics cards
are not memory upgradeable..
|
| Q9: |
What operating systems do Radeon™
8500 graphics cards support?
|
| A9:
| Radeon™ 8500 graphics cards currently
support Windows® 98/98SE, Windows® Me, Windows®
2000 and Windows® XP.
|
| Q10: |
Does ATI develop drivers for alternative
operating systems such as LINUX®?
|
| A10:
| 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 alternative operating
systems, please see the “Alternative OS Development
Resources” section at http://www.ati.com/developer/index.html.
|
| Q11: |
Can my new motherboard work with Radeon™
8500? |
| A11:
| Radeon™ 8500 AGP complies with AGP
2.0 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.
|
| 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? |
| A12:
| Radeon™ 8500 is capable of decoding all
HDTV formats with reduced CPU utilization and 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 able to
view HDTV on their monitor or TV.
|
| Q13: |
Can the Radeon™ 8500 graphics card
support more than one display at the same time? |
| 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
• 24-pin DVI-I connector
(with DVI-I-to-VGA adapter)
|
|
| DFP monitor |
• 24-pin DVI-I connector |
|
| TV |
• S-video connector |
|
| CRT monitor + TV |
• 15-pin VGA connector + S-video connector |
|
| DFP monitor + TV |
• 24-pin DVI-I connector + S-video connector |
|
| CRT monitor + DFP connector |
• 15-pin VGA connector + 24-pin DVI-I connector |
|
| CRT monitor + CRT monitor |
• 15-pin VGA connector + 24-pin DVI-I connector
(with DVI-I-to-VGA adapter) |
This configuration is only supported when using the
15pin connector not via the DVI to VGA adapter. |
| 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
|
| Q14: |
What are the benefits of attaching
two different displays to the Radeon™ 8500 at the
same time? |
| 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 and Windows®
XP operating systems. This way you can increase your productivity
by having different applications on different displays
or even span an application (e.g. spreadsheet) across
both displays. As a result, you receive twice the display
area, plus you increase your 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.
|
| Q15: |
Which monitors does Radeon™ 8500
graphics board support? |
| A15:
| Radeon™ 8500 graphics board supports
DDC1/DDC2B+ compliant Plug and Play monitors. This graphics
card also supports DVI-compliant digital flat panel monitors.
|
| 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? |
| A16:
| Radeon™ 8500 supports a 165MHz TMDS
transmitter and can reach resolutions of up to 1600x1200.
DVI resolution and refresh support is dependent upon DDC
signals from the monitor. Some resolution and refresh
rate restrictions may occur depending upon the signals
sent from the monitor.
|
| Q17: |
What connectors are available on
the Radeon™ 8500?
|
| A17:
| The Radeon™ 8500 graphic cards supports the following
3 connectors:
1) VGA - for driving a standard CRT (Analog) monitor
2) DVI-I – for driving 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) Video output – an s-video connector which can
be connected to a TV or VCR
an s-video to composite adapter is also supplied and
allows you to attach via composite connection if your
TV set does not support s-video
|
| Q18: |
What are the difference between a
Radeon™ 8500 128MB DDR and a Radeon™ 8500LE
128MBDDR?
|
| A18:
| The main differences between the Radeon™
8500 128MB DDR and the Radeon™ 8500LE 128MB DDR are
following:
| Radeon™ 8500LE : |
VGA and video output
Suggested Retail Price - $199.00 U.S.D. |
| Radeon™ 8500: |
VGA, DVI-I and video output
Suggested Retail Price - $299.00 U.S.D. |
|
| Q19: |
Can TruForm™ work on existing
games? |
| A19:
| Yes. However, TruForm™ is a feature
that must be implemented in the game by a 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.
|
| Q20: |
Is TruForm™ compatible with
all new games?
|
| A20:
| No. However, because TruForm™ is
easily implemented without significant effort by a developer,
one can expect TruForm™ to be adopted in many popular
titles in the future.
|
| Q21: |
What games will support TruForm™?
|
| A21:
| Game support will be announced at a later
date as games become available in the market. Many new
titles presently support TruForm™ technology. A sample
list of games that support TruFormTM will be posted on
the ATI website as they become available. Title that is
packaged with the retail Radeon™ 8500 128MB DDR board
is Half Life | Counter Strike which utilises TruForm™
technology.
|
| Q22: |
What version of pixel shaders does
Radeon™ 8500 support? |
| A22:
| The Radeon 8500™ supports Version
1.4.
|
| Q23: |
What’s the difference between
a vertex shader and pixel shader?
|
| A23:
| 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.
|
| Q24:
| What does this feature called “Anisotropic
filtering” do? |
| A24:
| Anisotropic filtering enhances the user’s
experience by rendering sharp, detailed textures. As more
texture samples are filtered, the image quality improves.
The Radeon™ 8500 filters more samples than the competition,
with minimal performance degradation.
|
| Q25:
| What has happened to the Charisma Engine™, and Pixel Tapestry™ engines of Radeon™?
|
| A25:
| RRadeon™ 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.
|
| Q26:
| What is HyperZ II™ ? |
| A26:
| 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.
|
| Q27:
| Other graphic manufactures are claiming
new memory bandwidth saving techniques. How does this
compare to HyperZ™ II? |
| A27:
| Like HyperZ™ II, other graphics
manufacturers optimize memory bandwidth. Both HyperZ™
II and competitors’ solution 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, HYPER
Z™ 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 competitors architecture.
|
| Q28:
| What has happened to the Video Immersion™
II technology of the Radeon™?
|
| A28:
| The Radeon™ 8500 includes an upgrade
of Video Immersion™ called Video Immersion™
II. The improvements in the technology are better video
de-interlacing, temporal filtering, component video output,
and 1024X768 video output. What this means is that now
you can have your desktop at 1024X768 and output to your
display without having to use Desktop span or reorganize
your desktop icons.
|
| Q29:
| How do I enable 1024x768 video output?
|
| A29:
| 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’.
|
| Q30:
| Other graphics cards support up to
DirectX® 8.0 and I hear Radeon™ 8500 is a DirectX®
8.1 part. Is this true?
|
| A30:
| Radeon™ 8500 is DirectX® 8.1
compliant and competitors’ solutions are DirectX®
8.0 compliant. Since DirectX® 8.1 is an upgrade of
DirectX® 8.0, Radeon 8500TM supports all DirectX®
8.0 titles in addition to the DirectX® 8.1 titles.
|
| Q31:
| What is the difference between DirectX®
8.0 and DirectX® 8.1? |
| A31:
| The principle difference between DirectX®
8.0 and DirectX® 8.1 is in the pixel shader and vertex
shader specifications. DirectX® 8.1 pixel shaders
provides more texture inputs, larger maximum program length,
and unlimited texture addressing modes. Certain bugs found
in DirectX® 8.0 have been fixed in DirectX® 8.1.
|
| Q32:
| Does the OpenGL® driver support
all DirectX® 8.1 features? |
| A32:
| Yes. Radeon™ 8500 supports all features
available in DirectX® 8.1 by implementing OpenGL®
extensions.
|
| Q33:
| Does the Radeon 8500 support component output? How do I get component output from the Radeon 8500?
|
| A33:
| 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.
|
| Q34:
| What games are bundled with the Radeon™
8500? |
| A34:
|
- 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.
|
| Q35:
| Why is VIVO (video input/video output)
not included as a feature in Radeon™ 8500?
|
| A35:
| The All-in-Wonder® family of products
addresses 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 (video output).
|
| Q36:
| Will the Radeon™ 8500/8500LE
64MB/128MB DDR and Radeon™ 7500 boards be available
through the Trade-up? If so when and what will the trade-up
cost be?
|
| A36:
| ATI has not announced plans to include
the Radeon™ 8500/8500LE 64MB/128MB DDR or Radeon™
7500 in the ATI Trade-Up program at this time.
|
| Q37:
| What are the system requirements for
the Radeon™ 8500?
|
| A37:
|
-
- Pentium 4/III/Celeron, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron
or compatible with AGP 2X or AGP 2x/4x universal
slot
- 128MB of system memory recommended
(64MB minimum)
- Installation software requires
CD-ROM drive
- DVD playback requires DVD drive
|
| Q38:
| Can you run different resolutions
and refresh rates with two different displays attached
simultaneously?
|
| A38:
| Windows® 98, Windows® 98 SE,
Windows® Me and Windows® XP supports independent
resolutions and refresh rates on both displays in extended
desktop mode. Windows® NT 4.0 (not supported) and
Windows® 2000 will support independent refresh rates,
however, they 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.
|
| Q39:
| Does the Radeon™ 8500 support
monitors with a 16:9 aspect ratio? |
| A39:
| Yes, including 1920x1080 and 848x480
on Windows® 98/98SE, Windows® Me, Windows®
2000 and Windows® XP. 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.
|
| Q40:
| Can I use a PCI graphics card, in
the same system as my dual display Radeon™ 8500 128MB,
to support three or more displays?
|
| A40:
| ATI does not support the use of an additional
PCI graphic card in a system with the Radeon™ 8500.
These products do support the use of two independent displays,
from a single card, under the Windows® 98/SE, Windows®
ME, Windows® 2000, and Windows® XP operating systems.
|
