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Trident Back From the Dead

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-thats-just-plain-wierd dept.

FunkyMonkey writes "It seems that Trident is trying to pull a Matrox and resurrect themselves from the 3D video card grave yard. AnandTech posted a Trident XP4 Preview today that has some interesting information on Trident's latest stab at the graphics market. The company is claiming 80% the performance of the GeForce 4 TI 4600 at a price tag of less than $100 USD including DX 9 support. How? A 0.13 micron process and only 30 million transistors thanks to pipeline resource sharing. "

4 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Not a DirectX 9 part by wpmegee · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Trident XP4 isn't a DirectX 9 part, as the headline says Trident claims that they have a DirectX 8.1 GPU. Anyway, even if it was DX9 compliant, it would only meet the Vertex Shader specs and not the pixel shader specs (2.0 is DX9, 1.4 for DX8.1).

    For that matter, no current processor has the fill rate necessary to comply with the Pixel Shader 2.0 specs, except possibly the Radeon 9700, which isn't yet available for benchmarking.

    And while the specs are good for an entry level part, count the number of launch partners-zero.

    1. Re:Not a DirectX 9 part by be-fan · · Score: 3, Informative

      But the Radeon 9700 is available for benchmarking. Benchmarks are on the anandtech site.

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    2. Re:Not a DirectX 9 part by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      1. Because most people use Windows and DirectX.

      2. Each version of DirectX has a clearly defined set of functions whereas OpenGL has the core spec, generic extensions, and vendor specific extensions. Which makes a better bullet point on a package? Full DX9 support, or OpenGL 1.4 compliant with support for ARB_***, NV_***, etc. (listing all extensions).

      This is mainly just for cards aimed at the gamer market. Check out the info on some higher end cards like FireGL or Quadro. They really tout the OpenGL capabilities on those cards because they are aimed at the 3D Developer/Designer segment.

  2. A differing opinion. by paganizer · · Score: 4, Informative

    The newer "blade" series of trident cards support OpenGL, have Linux drivers, are relatively responsive, and CHEAP.
    I've always liked Tridents, especially in comparison to S3; they work.
    Not the power gaming card, but good for general performance on a budget.

    --
    Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.