IDF 2000: Intel Pentium 4 (Willamette)

The Graphics Scene

After a full round of Intel presentations, lab sessions and workshops, every reporter needs a little time to think things over and exchange information. Here, interestingly enough, I learned that ATI has taken a different approach to the handling of print and online media. Although Tom's Hardware was asked right from the start to sign an NDA, the responsible ATI employee's remained lips remained practically sealed. We will not be able to say how many parallel rendering pipelines the Fury 6 C will have until the beginning of March.

Nvidia's NV 15 project is not yet ready for the eyes of the public yet. The same applies to S3's Savage 2000+ graphics chip and the GX4-C. Despite this, there are some interesting points to report on from ATI and S3:

This picture shows a version of the Viper II from S3/Diamond which corresponds to the FlexATX form factor. ATI showed us a similar model. Just the size of the 3D chip (under the black heat sink) allows you to recognize the small height requirement of such graphics boards.

Uwe Scheffel