- Oct 9, 1999
- 72,636
- 47
- 91
Just got this in the mail from SiS...no images though 
A New Era in Bus Technology AGP8X and 3GIO
The beginning of the 21st century has proven to be a challenging time for the PC industry. In the short span of one year, from 2000 to 2001, the industry outlook has dramatically slid and entire market standards are facing dramatic changes: CPU speeds have broken through 1GHz, the new generation of PC memory is coming up to bat, Windows XP has shaken up operating systems and peripheral and I/O standards are all rapidly changing.
The rapid growth of the Internet, allowing for instantaneous dissemination of information around the world, has made data an indispensable part of daily life, fueling demand for stronger, more robust PCs and interfaces. PC functions are evolving quickly from the simple office machines of the past to a wide range of consumer product applications. Multimedia is playing a key role in this development and AV requirements are shaping the future of the entire industry. Therefore, in the near future, the diversification of PC development will present huge opportunities in the graphics chipset market, and producers are maneuvering quickly to control the key technology.
From the earliest days of computing, image processing has been one of the highest consumers of system resources. In the era of MS-DOS single-task systems, a good graphics card meant the difference between smooth execution of large programs and endless delays. With the graphic rendering requirements of today¡¦s Windows OS, graphic processing system requirements have jumped to a new level. Huge advances in CPU technology, the maturation of 3D accelerator display cards and the rise of the Internet have created a huge market for 3D Internet-based gaming, with display card manufacturers promoting a wide range of 3D accelerator display cards. But an old problem is cropping up once again: bandwidth restrictions. As 3D games become richer and more lifelike, data transfer requirements can reach 10MB/s, resulting in backups. Front Side Bus Pentium 4, DDR and Rambus memory specifications were built to address this bandwidth problem.
A simple PC structure:
Diagram 1: PC structure diagram
This diagram shows specifications currently in use with a system bottleneck at the AGP4X bus, which can¡¦t keep up even with its 1GHz bandwidth. The new bus generation includes the AGP8X (PCI-SIG*), 3GIO (PCI-SIG), InfiniBand (Intel), HyperTransport (AMD), RapidIO (Motorola) and others.
Currently, AGP8X and 3GIO are the leading contenders to become a global standard. The specifications for these two devices are outlined below:
AGP8X (AGP 3.0):
Currently developed to specification version 0.95, the AGP8X is a 32bit wide bus like the AGP4X, but it can accelerate to 533MHz and support 2GB/s data transfer. AGP8X is not completely compatible with previous specifications, and is currently offered for reference. It does not support the AGP 1X or 2X signal, so AGP 1X or 2X graphics cards can¡¦t be used on the AGP8X platform.
AGP8X mainly uses Pentium 4 systems and above because processors like Pentium 4 have a bandwidth of 3.2GB/s and their motherboards support Rambus and DDR bandwidth memory, therefore they¡¦re better able to take advantage of the AGP8X¡¦s capabilities.
Diagram 2: AGP comparison chart (source: AGP 3.0 v0.95 draft)
3GIO (Third-Generation Input/Output)
3GIO is also known as Third-Generation Input/Output, PCI (Serial AGP) or Arapahoe, from Intel¡¦s Arapahoe Working Group, and is PCI-SIG certified. 3GIO is used in desktop computers, notebook computers, servers and networked appliances, and is set to become the standard graphics/network card interface, systematically replacing current commonly used PCI technology.
This new I/O will replace existing PCI busses in computers and telecom systems, and is expected to begin production in the second half of 2003 with wide-dissemination beginning in 2004. With channel speeds of 2.5Gbps, supporting data exchange, data packet optimization and broadband technologies, this new standard will greatly improve the efficiency of a wide range of applications, allowing accelerated graphics cards to make computer games more lifelike and helping web servers reduce data transmission time.
Diagram 3: 3GIO Structure (source: PCI-SIG: 3GIO Marketing Brief Document)
Currently 3GIO specifications are unfinished and SiS has not yet planned related products. Current AGP8X -related products are as follows:
Direction for Image Cards
In the first half of next year, a new generation of image cards will be launched, offering AGP 8X, DDR and DirectX8 support. An engineering sample is expected in Q1 2002, with volume production in Q2 2002.
Currently, the demand for performance improvements seems to have paused, possibly due to poor economic conditions, a lack of big demand and a lack of new applications. In actuality, current applications do not fully utilize existing computer capabilities. Computer graphics, for example, are still a long way from realistic imagery and require parallel processing at a professional workstation to achieve the desired effect. There is still no way to immediately create images. Another example is graphic and voice processing. Currently ¡§Pentium 4 2GHz runs at 5000 MIPS. But currently available audiovisual applications, for example HDTV decoding, MPEG2 decoding and natural language processing technology, require transmission capabilities that reach tens of thousands of MIPS.¡¨ Therefore, the main thrust of the current stage of development is broadening each kind of basic technology and chip design function to give users more application value and richer functionality.
Notes:
*PCI-SIG: Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group is the industry¡¦s non-profit standard-setting organization. The nine committee members include AMD, Broadloom, Compaq, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Phoenix Technologies and Texas Instruments. Website: www.pcisig.com
A New Era in Bus Technology AGP8X and 3GIO
The beginning of the 21st century has proven to be a challenging time for the PC industry. In the short span of one year, from 2000 to 2001, the industry outlook has dramatically slid and entire market standards are facing dramatic changes: CPU speeds have broken through 1GHz, the new generation of PC memory is coming up to bat, Windows XP has shaken up operating systems and peripheral and I/O standards are all rapidly changing.
The rapid growth of the Internet, allowing for instantaneous dissemination of information around the world, has made data an indispensable part of daily life, fueling demand for stronger, more robust PCs and interfaces. PC functions are evolving quickly from the simple office machines of the past to a wide range of consumer product applications. Multimedia is playing a key role in this development and AV requirements are shaping the future of the entire industry. Therefore, in the near future, the diversification of PC development will present huge opportunities in the graphics chipset market, and producers are maneuvering quickly to control the key technology.
From the earliest days of computing, image processing has been one of the highest consumers of system resources. In the era of MS-DOS single-task systems, a good graphics card meant the difference between smooth execution of large programs and endless delays. With the graphic rendering requirements of today¡¦s Windows OS, graphic processing system requirements have jumped to a new level. Huge advances in CPU technology, the maturation of 3D accelerator display cards and the rise of the Internet have created a huge market for 3D Internet-based gaming, with display card manufacturers promoting a wide range of 3D accelerator display cards. But an old problem is cropping up once again: bandwidth restrictions. As 3D games become richer and more lifelike, data transfer requirements can reach 10MB/s, resulting in backups. Front Side Bus Pentium 4, DDR and Rambus memory specifications were built to address this bandwidth problem.
A simple PC structure:
Diagram 1: PC structure diagram
This diagram shows specifications currently in use with a system bottleneck at the AGP4X bus, which can¡¦t keep up even with its 1GHz bandwidth. The new bus generation includes the AGP8X (PCI-SIG*), 3GIO (PCI-SIG), InfiniBand (Intel), HyperTransport (AMD), RapidIO (Motorola) and others.
Currently, AGP8X and 3GIO are the leading contenders to become a global standard. The specifications for these two devices are outlined below:
AGP8X (AGP 3.0):
Currently developed to specification version 0.95, the AGP8X is a 32bit wide bus like the AGP4X, but it can accelerate to 533MHz and support 2GB/s data transfer. AGP8X is not completely compatible with previous specifications, and is currently offered for reference. It does not support the AGP 1X or 2X signal, so AGP 1X or 2X graphics cards can¡¦t be used on the AGP8X platform.
AGP8X mainly uses Pentium 4 systems and above because processors like Pentium 4 have a bandwidth of 3.2GB/s and their motherboards support Rambus and DDR bandwidth memory, therefore they¡¦re better able to take advantage of the AGP8X¡¦s capabilities.
Diagram 2: AGP comparison chart (source: AGP 3.0 v0.95 draft)
3GIO (Third-Generation Input/Output)
3GIO is also known as Third-Generation Input/Output, PCI (Serial AGP) or Arapahoe, from Intel¡¦s Arapahoe Working Group, and is PCI-SIG certified. 3GIO is used in desktop computers, notebook computers, servers and networked appliances, and is set to become the standard graphics/network card interface, systematically replacing current commonly used PCI technology.
This new I/O will replace existing PCI busses in computers and telecom systems, and is expected to begin production in the second half of 2003 with wide-dissemination beginning in 2004. With channel speeds of 2.5Gbps, supporting data exchange, data packet optimization and broadband technologies, this new standard will greatly improve the efficiency of a wide range of applications, allowing accelerated graphics cards to make computer games more lifelike and helping web servers reduce data transmission time.
Diagram 3: 3GIO Structure (source: PCI-SIG: 3GIO Marketing Brief Document)
Currently 3GIO specifications are unfinished and SiS has not yet planned related products. Current AGP8X -related products are as follows:
Direction for Image Cards
In the first half of next year, a new generation of image cards will be launched, offering AGP 8X, DDR and DirectX8 support. An engineering sample is expected in Q1 2002, with volume production in Q2 2002.
Currently, the demand for performance improvements seems to have paused, possibly due to poor economic conditions, a lack of big demand and a lack of new applications. In actuality, current applications do not fully utilize existing computer capabilities. Computer graphics, for example, are still a long way from realistic imagery and require parallel processing at a professional workstation to achieve the desired effect. There is still no way to immediately create images. Another example is graphic and voice processing. Currently ¡§Pentium 4 2GHz runs at 5000 MIPS. But currently available audiovisual applications, for example HDTV decoding, MPEG2 decoding and natural language processing technology, require transmission capabilities that reach tens of thousands of MIPS.¡¨ Therefore, the main thrust of the current stage of development is broadening each kind of basic technology and chip design function to give users more application value and richer functionality.
Notes:
*PCI-SIG: Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group is the industry¡¦s non-profit standard-setting organization. The nine committee members include AMD, Broadloom, Compaq, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Phoenix Technologies and Texas Instruments. Website: www.pcisig.com
Facebook
Twitter