PC Video Cards - GeForce3: The Infinite Effects GPU

GeForce3: The Infinite Effects GPU	No Review Available
The NVIDIA GeForce3TM graphics processing unit (GPU) shakes up the gaming industry with unprecedented visual effects and sizzling frame rates—injecting life into the previously artificial world of computer-generated graphics. Powered by the new NVIDIA nfiniteFXTM engine and the Lightspeed Memory ArchitectureTM, the GeForce3 GPU enables users to look into a rich environment instead of just a computer screen. 3D scenes have ambiance with the GeForce3 because textures appear photo-realistic and custom lighting heightens the drama. Characters and living creatures have organic imperfections and unique expressions—you can see their personality. Programmability and performance combine to provide the catalyst for this graphics revolution.
The GeForce3 GPU's nfiniteFX engine gives developers the ability to program a virtually infinite number of special effects and custom looks. Instead of developers having to choose from the same hard-coded palette of effects and ending up with the same generic look and feel, they can specify personalized combinations of graphics operations and create their own custom effects. With the nfiniteFX engine, games and other graphics-intensive applications offer more exciting and stylized visual effects. Two patented architectural advancements enable the nfiniteFX engine's programmability and its multitude of effects: Vertex Shaders and Pixel Shaders. Vertex Shaders inject personality into characters and environments. Motion invades the entire scene, not just the focal points. Vertex processing allows characters detailed movement and facial emotion. By customizing the skinning and motion effects developers can create a character's personality, intensifying the impact of the visualization or animation. Pixel Shaders create ambiance with materials and surfaces that mimic reality. An infinite number of material effects replace the artificial, computerized look with high-impact organic surfaces. Characters now have facial hair and blemishes, golf balls have dimples, a red chair gains a subtle leather look, and wood exhibits texture and grain. By altering the lighting and surface effects, artists are able to manipulate colors, textures, or shapes and to generate complex, realistic scenes.
The Lightspeed Memory Architecture brings power to the GeForce3, delivering earth-shattering performance and fluid motion even for the most complex scenes. NVIDIA's patented high-resolution antialiasing (HRAA) generates high-performance samples at nearly four times the rate of GeForce2 Ultra, while delivering the industry's best visual quality. The GeForce3 delivers more than 800 billion operations (BOPS)—more than twice the raw performance available to consumers in today's GPUs. For more complex scenes and visuals, the GeForce3 advantage grows to as much as a seven-fold increase in delivered performance. Combine the personality and ambiance enabled by the nfiniteFX engine with the power of the Lightspeed Memory Architecture, and the result is superior visual effects and game play. No other graphics processor supports as much functionality. That's why the NVIDIA GeForce3 is the platform of choice for the Microsoft® DirectX® 8 application program interface (API), and the technology foundation for the Microsoft next generation game console, XboxTM. GeForce3 delivers the most visually compelling and most complete graphics experience available today.