| NVIDIA GeForce 3 Series | |
|---|---|
| Codename(s) | NV20 |
| Release date | 2001 |
| Entry-level GPU | None |
| Mid-Range GPU | GeForce 3 Ti 200 |
| High-end GPU | GeForce 3, Ti 500 |
| Direct3D and Shader version | D3D 8.0, Pixel Shader 1.1, Vertex Shader 1.1 |
The GeForce 3 (NV20) is the third-generation of NVIDIA's GeForce graphics processing units. Introduced in March 2001, it advanced the GeForce architecture by adding programmable pixel and vertex shaders, multi-sampling full-scene anti-aliasing and improved the overall efficiency of the rendering process.
The GeForce 3 family comprises 3 consumer models: the GeForce 3, the GeForce 3 Ti200 and the GeForce 3 Ti500. A separate professional version, with a feature-set tailored for computer aided design, was sold as the Quadro DCC. A derivative of the GeForce 3, known as the NV2A, is used in the Microsoft Xbox game console.
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Programmable shaders and new features
Introduced three months after NVIDIA acquired 3dfx and marketed as the nFinite FX Engine, the GeForce 3 was the first Microsoft Direct3D 8.0 compliant 3D-card. Its programmable shader architecture enabled applications to execute custom visual effects programs in Microsoft Shader language 1.1. With respect to pure pixel and texel throughput, the GeForce 3 has four pixel pipelines which each can sample two textures per clock. This is the same configuration as GeForce 2 (not MX).
To take better advantage of available memory performance, the GeForce 3 has a hardware memory manager dubbed Lightspeed Memory Architecture (LMA). This is composed of several mechanisms that reduce overdraw, conserve memory bandwidth by compressing the z-buffer (depth buffer) and better manage the memory bus.
Other architectural changes include improvements to anti-aliasing functionality. Previous GeForce chips could perform only super-sampled anti-aliasing, a demanding process that renders the image at a large size internally and then scales it down to the end output resolution. GeForce 3 adds multi-sampling and Quincunx anti-aliasing methods, both of which perform significantly better. Finally, the GeForce 3's texture sampling units were upgraded to support 8-tap anisotropic filtering, compared to the previous limit of 2-tap with GeForce 2. With 8-tap anisotropic filtering enabled, distant textures can be noticeably sharper.
Performance
In terms of performance, the original GeForce 3 and the Ti200 sometimes lose to the GeForce 2 Ultra. This is because the GeForce 3 GPU has similar pixel and texel throughput per clock to the older chip and every model is clocked lower, meaning lesser fillrate. Although the new efficiency mechanisms of GeForce 3 improve per-clock performance, the GeForce 2 Ultra core is clocked 25% faster than the 200 MHz GeForce 3 and 43% faster than the 175 MHz GeForce 3 Ti200. It also has considerable memory bandwidth available to it, only matched by the GeForce 3 Ti500. However, the original GeForce 3 leads the GeForce 2 Ultra when anti-aliasing is enabled because of the new memory bandwidth / fillrate efficiency features and anti-aliasing improvements. In addition, GeForce 2 entirely lacks the ability to run DirectX 8 shader programs, meaning the GeForce 3 can render effects that the GeForce 2 can not. GeForce 3 Ti500 always outperforms the GeForce 2 series.
Product positioning
The GeForce 3 brand never included a low-end variant. Instead, the previous GeForce 2 and GeForce 2 MX cards were price-reduced to fill in segments below the top-end. For example, the GeForce 2 Ti and GeForce 2 MX400/MX200/MX100 respectively were positioned as mid-range and various low-end offerings.
NVIDIA refreshed the lineup in October 2001 with the release of the GeForce 3 Ti200 and Ti500. This coincided with ATI's releases of the top-line Radeon 8500 and mid-range Radeon 7500. The Ti500 has higher core and memory clocks (240 MHz core/250 MHz RAM) than the original GeForce 3 (200 MHz/230 MHz), and generally matches the Radeon 8500. The Ti200 was a cheaper card meant to compete in the mid-range segment. It is clocked lower (175 MHz/200 MHz) yet it surpasses the Radeon 7500 in speed and feature set outside of dual-monitor implementation.
Specifications
Discontinued support
Nvidia has ceased driver support for GeForce 3 series.
Final Drivers Include:
- Windows 9x & Windows Me: 81.98 released on December 21, 2005; Download;
- Windows 2000, 32-bit Windows XP & Media Center Edition: 94.24 released on May 17, 2007; Download.
- (Products supported list also on this page)
Windows 95/98/Me Driver Archive
Windows XP/2000 Driver Archive
See also
External links
- Nvidia: GeForce3 - The Infinite Effects GPU
- ForceWare 81.98 drivers, Final Windows 9x/ME driver release
- ForceWare 93.71 drivers, Final Windows XP driver release
- Anandtech: Nvidia GeForce3
- Anandtech: Nvidia's Fall Product Line: GeForce3 Titanium
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