NVIDIA GeForce 256 Review

Specifications

• Single-Chip GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
  
  On-chip integration of the entire 3D pipeline (transformation, lighting, setup and rendering) offers the lowest possible component and board design cost.



• Integrated Transform and Lighting
  
  Delivers 2-4 times the triangle rate for 2-4 times more detailed 3D scenes.  Frees up CPU computations for physics and artificial intelligence (AI), which results in more realistic object behaviors and character animation.



• Independent Pipelined QuadEngine™
  
  Separate engines for transformation, lighting, setup and rendering provides a very powerful, highly efficient architecture that delivers 15 million triangles per second.  Allows applications to represent 3D characters and environments with the highest degree of complexity possible.



• 256-Bit QuadPipe™ Rendering Engine
  
  Four independent pixel-rendering pipelines deliver up to 480 million 8-sample fully filtered pixels per second.  Guarantees highest color quality and texturing special effects at maximum frame rate.



• AGP 4X with Fast Writes
  
  Enables the CPU to send data directly to the GPU to maximize overall system performance.  Avoids costly data copying to and from main memory, which significantly slows down your system.



• High-Quality HDTV Processor
  
  Delivers the highest quality DVD and HDTV playback and digital recording.



• 350MHz RAMDAC
  
  Delivers the clearest, sharpest, most solid image quality at 2048 x 1536 resolution at 75Hz.



• High-Speed Memory Interface
  
  Design to support current SDRAM/SGRAM and upcoming SDR/DDR high-speed memory.



• 256-Bit 2D Rendering Engine
  
  Delivers the industry's fastest 2D performance for ultra-fast screen refresh at high resolutions and 32-bit color depths.



• Complete Support for New Microsoft® DirectX® 7 and OpenGL® Features
  
  Ensures that applications can leverage the new features without additional cost or support.  Guarantees compatibility and best out-of-box end user experience.

NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR - 32MB SDRAM



Image provided by AnandTech.

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