4 Radeon 9700 Cores....One board!

[mamisano]

E&S Debut simFUSION 6000: Four RADEON 9700 VPUs in One System

Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation (E&S) demonstrated its newest PC-based image generator, simFUSION 6000, at I/ITSEC 2002. Using the second-generation E&S simENGINE graphics board, simFUSION 6000 is the first PC-IG to combine multiple ATI RADEON 9700 graphics chips on a single card.

Key features, according to the manufacturer include:

[*]Exceptional fill rates enabled by a 256-bit wide unified memory interface and integrated multi-chip supertiling;
[*]Outstanding image quality as a result of best-in-class multisample/supersample antialiasing combined with 16x anisotropic texturing, floating-point graphics pipelines, and gamma-in/gamma-out;
[*]Full-speed, 16-bit monochrome mode for accurate sensor simulation;
[*]Three DVI-I outputs per chassis in the quad-chip configuration for cost-effective three-channel, low-end image generator applications;
[*]Multiple chassis solutions via dual-link DVI inputs and outputs for ultra-high-end applications.

simFUSION 6000 offers unbeatable PC-IG performance and image quality, with 2-to-24-sample full-scene antialiasing at screen resolutions up to 2048x1536 and fill rates up to 9.6Gpix/s. OpenGL 1.3, Direct3D 9.0, and Linux compatible, simFUSION configurations include two or four ATI RADEON 9700 graphics chips, one or three DVI-I outputs, a DVI input, and Chanlock channel synchronization. Genlock to internal or external video and 256MB of unified memory are standard in all configurations. The DVI input allows multiple chassis to be cascaded for higher performance or additional AA samples. Optional sensor postprocessor and distortion correction/edge blending cards are available. The first customer deliveries will occur in the first quarter of 2003.

There is no technical information about the novelty currently issued at E&S? web-site. As soon as it will be available, I will share the more in-depth information on the technical side of the simFUSION 6000 with you (I know that you all wonder how those four RADEON 9700 VPUs work in quad configuration).

 

[NEVERwinter]

WAAH!!

surely.. it's not for me.

 

[Wolfsraider]

santa i want that card and a quad zeon machine and scsi and don't forget the plasma screen lol

 

[Lonyo]

Hey!! I said that this woul dbe a fun idea in the Vodoo 5 6000 thread, and someone said it wouldn't, and now it's actually be done!! Hehe, that's awsome.

 

[spanky]

i was just thinking about the v5 6000 myself.

 

[Tab]

Oy! Santa don't forget that on my christmas wishlist. Along with my Asus Granite Bay Board, be sure to include my P4 3.1 Ghz Proccessor.

 

[spanky]

btw, i wonder how much power that would need..

 

[Rand]

E&S Press Release

Reminds me distantly of Quantum3D's 4-32way VSA100 setups.


One comment... anyone find the 16-bit gray mode slightly unusual?
That's generally for medical imaging, a far cry from the military flight simulators E&S typically targets.
Medical imaging is usually restricted to the 4+ way multi-monitor board and is pretty much a strictly Appian/Matrox dominated market.

 

[mrman3k]

Interesting, but would this card actually perform really well in games, or is it just really powerful, but can't be fully used.

 

[kylebisme]

now that is a geforcefx killer

 

[BFG10K]

The heat and power requirements of this card are going to be ridiculous. You'll probably need a separate power supply/wall outlet just for it.

Also that 256 MB VRAM won't look so flash when it's effectively going to be around ~70 MB in reality.

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Also that 256 MB VRAM won't look so flash when it's effectively going to be around ~70 MB in reality.

Why do u say that?
Each R9700 chip does not have a set allocatable memory ala the VSA-100. All of them can access the full 256MB of DRAM.

Interesting, but would this card actually perform really well in games, or is it just really powerful, but can't be fully used.

I'd be shocked if it even had drivers for any Windows based OS. DirectX support is probably very minimalistic In fact odds are it's designed to work in 2-3 specific mainboards, with one OS, and a very small selection of applications. It was true for the ESIG, and pretty much ever system design E&S has marketed since they first left the mainstream Pro3D market.
Tha alone should kill any idea of using it in any gaming rig... E&S definitely isnt targeting gamers with their systems though.