Radeon X1800 Memory
Controller
With the
release of the X1800 lineup ATI included new technologies
such as their new ring bus memory controller. This
new memory controller enables support for vastly
increased memory speeds and memory bandwidth. Tied
together with a fresh new cache design and programmable
arbitration logic, the memory controller is extremely
efficient.
Memory
Bandwidth
As we place higher
demands on our graphics card the level of performance
required scales upward and the need for additional
memory bandwidth scales with it. When rendering
at higher screen resolutions like 1600x1200, our
bandwidth needs increase rapidly. Then if we enable
image quality enhancements like anti-aliasing and
anisotropic filtering the demand for memory bandwidth
becomes even greater. The AIW X1800XL has an extremely
powerful GPU and the faster a GPU can process data,
the faster the incoming data stream must be in order
to keep it operating at its highest level of efficiency.
Some of the things that have the greatest
effect on memory bandwidth are:
*Interface
and channel width (number of channels and the number
of bits per channel)
* Clock Speeds (cycles per second or MHz)
* Data rate (the number of bits per cycle on a given
wire)
* Arbitration (prioritization
of read and write requests)
* Latency (the number of clock cycles between data
requests and receipts)
* Compression (how much data is compressed into
each bit being transferred)
With all
the enhancements made to the R520 architecture the
X1800 has the ability to render things at extremely
high resolutions and much higher frame rates than
the previous X850 based architecture. By including
the new ring bus memory controller that features
programmable arbitration logic and fully associative
caches the X1800 is able to maximize bandwidth efficiency,
reduce latency and run at blazing fast memory speeds.
The
Card
The AIW X1800XL
is a very fast 3D graphics card that can play the
vast majority of today’s newest game titles
at high screen resolution. The AIW X1800XL also
offers a TV/DVR combination second to none in its
class. Before we can look at the specific features
available we need to get all our software together.
We are going to use the latest complete Catalyst
driver suite with the CCC (at time of writing) to
take advantage of the newest driver features and
enhancements. Because we are using an AIW card,
we need to grab the DAO / MDAC which includes the
Windows Media Encoder 9, DAO/MDAC, and Titan TV
components for the Multimedia Centre. Then grab
the DVD Decoder. If the Decoder is not detected
on your system the MMC will not install the DVD
player software required for DVD playback. *The
DVD Decoder requires an original ATI CD for validation
* Then we need the Encoder and Multimedia Centre
package to experience the multimedia capabilities
and high resolution gaming that the AIW X1800XL
brings to the plate.
System
Requirements and features from ATI
*Requires connection to your PC’s internal
power supply for operation. A 450W power supply
or great is recommended in cases where several other
internal devices are installed
* 3.0GHz or equivalent minimum CPU is recommended
for software encoding requirements of Windows®
Media Center
* Intel® Pentium® 4/Celeron™ D, AMD®
/Athlon® or compatible with a PCI Express®
x16 lane graphics slot
* 256MB of system memory
* Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
* DVD playback requires DVD drive
* Installation of Adobe Premiere Elements software
requires DVD-ROM drive
* Interactive Program guide requires Internet connection
for listing updates
* Remote control receiver requires available USB
port
* 1GHz minimum processor speed for MPEG-2
Graphics
Technology
* Radeon® X1800 XL Series Graphics processor
unit (GPU)
Memory
Configuration
* 256MB GDDR3 memory
Operating
Systems Support
* Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
* Windows® XP Home Edition
* Windows® XP Professional Edition
Multi-Monitor
Display Support
* One display (VGA or DVI) simultaneously connected
with a TV/HDTV or VCR
* One display (VGA or DVI) simultaneously connected
with a VGA display
*YPrPb output adapter
TV-tuner
Requirements
* TV signal from amplified antenna or cable NTSC
standards: (North America, Japan, Latin America)
Features vary from country to country and depending
on the television standard. Note that Latin American
countries using the PAL M and PAL N standards including
Argentina and Brazil are supported by the NTSC version.
* MulTView™ requires additional ATI PCI TV
WONDER™ card, compatible motherboard and soundcard.
For more information, please visit www.ati.com
Connectors
* DVI-I
* 15 pin VGA
* Stereo audio, S-video, and composite video inputs
and outputs
* External stereo connections to sound card’s
line input and output
* YPrPb Output adapter
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