VPU Technology Preview: The Wildcat VP Series From 3Dlabs

Wildcat VP Products

The following Wildcat VP cards will be introduced in the next few weeks:

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Manufacturer3Dlabs3Dlabs3Dlabs
ModelWildcat VP760Wildcat VP870Wildcat VP970
Local Memory64 MByte DDR128 MBByte DDR128 MBByte DDR
IntroductionJULY 1st, 2002AUGUST 1st, 2002AUGUST 1st, 2002
EMEA PricingRRP $599RRP $799RRP $1,400
EST Street Price (US)$449$599$1,199
Performance165M Vertices/sec23G AA Samples/Sec188M Vertices/sec35G AA Samples/Sec225M Vertices/sec42G AA Samples/Sec
VPU (3D Chip) ArchitectureWildcat VP 700, 800 and 900
Memory Width256 bit
Memory StructureUnified
Virtual Texturingyes
System BusAGP 4X/2X*
Dual Headyes
Monitor Connector/s1x DB-15 VGA and 1x DVI-I (DVI-to-VGA converter included)
RAMDACDual 10 bit, 370 MHz
Max Resolution2048 x 1536
Stereo Sync PortFemale, 3-pin VESA
Operating SystemsWindows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows 98
OpenGL VersionOpenGL 1.2
DirectX VersionDirectX 8.1 (1.1 Vertex Shaders, 1.2 Pixel Shaders)
Customer 3ds maxyes
Accelerated DVD playbackyes
Z-depths16, 24 and 32 bit
Double Buffered Overlays8 bit
Stencil Buffer8 bit
Harwdare Lights24
Dual Screen OpenGLyes
Anti-aliasing ModesLine Antialiasing (up to 16 samples)Full Scene AA : Off, 2X, Quincunx and 4X
Two sided lightingyes
Anisotropic Texture Filteringyes
3D Texture Mappingyes
OpenGL 2.0Prototype OpenGL2 drivers available

Benchmarks: Drivers Not Yet Final

In this preview, we won't be including benchmarks, because currently, the drivers are not quite ready yet. However, there is one thing that we can say: the initial tests show that the Wildcat VP cards can stand their own against the Quadro4 and FireFL 8800/8700.

Uwe Scheffel