California Graphics, one of the world's
leading manufacturers of advanced graphics cards,
has announced the availability of new drivers for
its recently launched Hawk 3D DX video
graphics board that provide performance increases
of over 40%. The board is based on the Virge DXÔ graphics processor from
S3 and the new drivers enable hardware support
for several key 3D features such as specular
highlights, true perspective correction,
bi-linear filtering, colour key transparency,
alpha blending, and MIP-mapping.
"The result of our tests on the new drivers
for the Hawk 3D DX," said Bob Raikes, the
European Correspondent of leading PC Graphics
market research firm, Jon Peddie Associates,
"showed a significantly better performance
in Direct3D-based applications, with a Winmark
improvement of over 40%. The MIP-mapping and
specular lighting that these new drivers provide
really makes a difference, and I was very
impressed with the much higher quality visual
image. California Graphics has also significantly
improved the refresh rates of the Hawk adding
several high resolution and refresh options,
again improving the performance to one of the
best in its class."
Vincenzo Coccoli, Chairman and CEO of California
Graphics, commented, "These new drivers
really unleash the capability of the Hawk board
to deliver a stunning 3D virtual reality for the
user that is at the leading edge of technology
– without compromising the speed of game
play. We are shipping the new drivers now and
they are on our web site for existing customers
to download."
Hawk 3D DX board
This 64-bit graphics and video accelerator
uses the latest graphics processor from S3, the
Virge DX, and an integrated 170MHz 24-bit true
colour RAMDAC to deliver superb performances.
Advanced production techniques, such as a four
layer PCB design, enable the Hawk 3D board to be
priced significantly below its rivals as well as
deliver a high quality product that is backed by
a lifetime warranty.
The Hawk 3D DX is available with 2MB of 35
nanosecond EDO (Extended Data Output) DRAM for
only $119. This can be subsequently upgraded up
to 4MB by the user. The 4MB version is available
for $149.
Although primarily targeted at the demanding
games market where its state of the art 3D and
video performances will be in greatest demand,
the Hawk 3D DX board will also appeal to the
business user creating multimedia presentations.
Even standard office software packages, such as
word processing, spreadsheets and drawing,
benefit from the increased display performance
that the Hawk 3D DX brings to the PC.
The S3 Virge DX processor
This is one of the latest processors from S3 and
is based on its highly successful Virge design
with the addition of better memory band-width
management, faster memory access and higher
memory clock support. Its Streams Processor
enables the Hawk 3D DX to provide high quality,
full screen playback using both horizontal and
vertical interpolation for MPEG, IndeoÔ and CinepackÔ movies.
Advanced 3D functions
The Hawk 3D board is fully Microsoft Direct 3D
compatible and offers a fully featured set of 3D
functions and effects such as bi-linear and
tri-linear texture filtering, depth cueing and
fogging, alpha blending, video texture mapping,
Z-buffering, MIP-mapping, flat shading, Gouraud
shading, and perspective correction.
Easy to configure
The Hawk 3D DX board is fully Plug & Play and
is supplied with a set of utilities called CGP
Reality 95 that provide an advanced, yet
easy-to-use, means of controlling the display.
The software features sophisticated monitor
adjustment tools to change the resolution and
colour depth on the fly, link a particular
application with a specific video mode, and zoom
enlarge any portion of the display by up to ten
times.
Drivers
Drivers are provided for Windows 3.11, Windows NT
3.51 and 4.0, Windows 95, AutoCAD 10/11/12/13
(including 3D Studio and AutoShade) and DOS.
Hardware support comparison
| Feature |
Hawk
3D DX |
ATI
Rage 2 |
Matrox
Mystique |
| Fog
vertex |
X
|
X
|
|
| Specular
highlights |
X
|
|
X
|
| Colour-key
transparencies |
X
|
X
|
|
| Alpha
transparencies |
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Linear |
X
|
X
|
|
| Mip-map
linear |
X
|
|
|
| Dithering |
X
|
X
|
|
| Perspective
correction |
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Fog
vertex/colour key |
X
|
X
|
|
| Fog
vertex/alpha |
X
|
X
|
|
Data supplied by S3
New resolution and refresh table
| Resolution |
2MB
|
4MB
|
Refresh
Rates |
640x480x8
640x480x16
640x480x24 |
x
x
x
|
x
x
x
|
60,70,72,75,85,135,160
60,70,72,75,85,135, 160
60,70,72,75,85,135, 160 |
800x600x8
800x600x16
800x600x24 |
x
x
x |
x
x
x |
56,60,72,75,85,110,
160
56,60,72,75,85,110, 160
56,60,72,75,85,110, 160 |
1024x768x8
1024x768x16
1024x768x24 |
x
x |
x
x
x |
43i,60,70,75,85,90,
160
43i,60,70,75,85,90, 160
43i,60,70,75,85,90, 160 |
1152x864x8
1152x864x16 |
x
x |
x
x |
43i,60,70,75,85,90,120
43i,60,70,75,85,90, 120 |
1280x1024x8
1280x1024x16 |
x
|
x
x |
43i,60,75,85,90,100
43i,60,75,85,90, 100 |
| 1600x1200x8 |
x
|
x
|
48i,60,110i; |
Modes shown are BIOS
supported and might not be available with all
operating systems
Virge DX is a trademarks of S3 Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
|
