3dfx VSA-100
The VSA-100 (code name: Napalm ), abbreviation for V oodoo S calable A rchitecture -100 , is a 3D graphics chip introduced in 2000 by the former Californian company 3dfx Interactive .
particularities
The outstanding feature is the fact that up to 32 copies of the VSA-100 can work together. The calculation of the individual image lines is distributed to the individual chips ( scan line interleave ). The VSA-100 is used in the graphics cards of the Voodoo-4 and Voodoo-5 series. The cards differ mainly in the number of graphics processors (GPU) installed. Products of the Voodoo-4 series have one, those of the Voodoo-5 series have two GPUs that work together by means of Scan Line Interleave (SLI).
It was this technological peculiarity that made a feature that was previously not very useful in the first place. With FSAA ( Full-Scene-Antialiasing ) in hardware and the RGSS ( Rotated Grid Supersampling ) used in contrast to Nvidia , these graphics cards are superior to the competition in terms of image quality. At that time, activating FSAA meant a massive loss of performance. If several GPUs work together, this effect only occurs to a small extent.
The decisive factor at the time (in terms of media, advertising and hardware tests) was the raw performance. In this area, the graphics cards with the VSA-100 chip were inferior to the direct competitors from Nvidia's GeForce 2 series . So the hoped-for sales target could not be met, and the manufacturer 3dfx slipped deeper into the red.
So the Voodoo 5 6000 was no longer brought onto the market, which also had to struggle with technical difficulties with the necessary PCI bridge from the start. Four GPUs are integrated on one board on this card. This requires the full length and an external power supply, called Voodoo Volts . A consumer dimensioned in this way (up to 70 watts under full load) could not withstand the usual 300 watt power supply units in the long term.
In the last few years, a strong community has formed with the aim of ensuring that Voodoo graphics cards can be used in conjunction with the latest hardware and software. With the help of former 3dfx employees, it may also be possible. a. It was only possible to keep the majority of the 150 or so Voodoo 5 6000 functional.
Shortly before 3dfx Interactive was bought by competitor Nvidia, the 4-way SLI design on which the Voodoo 5 6000 was based was sold to the subsidiary Quantum3D . This was used to develop graphics cards with eight VSA-100 chips and 512 MB graphics memory . With the help of a built-in LAN interface, up to four cards can be operated simultaneously. These cards, which cost up to $ 40,000, were primarily used in civil and military simulators.
VSA-100 in detail
- 128-bit memory connection
- 250 nm manufacturing process
- SLI capable
- Support for SDR-SGRAM / SDRAM
- T-buffer concept for implementation and a. from
- Motion blur
- Depth of field blur
- soft shadows and reflections
- Supported texture compression methods S3TC and FXT1
- Rotated Grid Supersampling (RGSS) 2 ×, 4 ×, (8 × only Voodoo 5 6000)
Consumer graphics cards with VSA-100 chip (s)
- Voodoo 4 series
- Voodoo 4 4000 (16 MB, never officially sold)
- Voodoo 4 4500 PCI / AGP (32 MB, with a VSA-100 chip)
- VoodooMAC 4500 (32 MB, DVI )
- Voodoo 4 4800 (64 MB, DVI) (never officially sold)
- Powercolor EvilKing 4 CV350
- Voodoo 5 series
- Voodoo 5 5000 PCI / AGP (32 MB, never officially sold, with two VSA-100 chips)
- Voodoo 5 5500 PCI / AGP (64 MB, with two VSA-100 chips)
- VoodooMAC 5500 (64 MB, DVI, with two VSA-100 chips)
- Voodoo 5 6000 (128 MB, prototypes only, never officially sold, with four VSA-100 chips)
Professional graphics cards with VSA-100 chips
- Quantum3D AAlchemy 8164 with eight VSA-100 chips