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ATI Technologies FIRE GL1 User Manual

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  • Page 1 User's Guide...
  • Page 2 ISCLAIMER The manufacturer (MFR) reserves the right to make changes to this document and the products which it describes without notice. The MFR shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions made herein; not for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents GL1........... 5 BOUT ............6 ARDWARE EATURES ............. 6 OFTWARE EATURES 3D R ..........7 ROFESSIONAL ENDERING ................ 8 AYOUT ........ 9 OW TO SE THIS ANUAL ............9 ANUAL ONVENTIONS GL1..........10 NSTALLING ..........10 NSTALLING THE ARDWARE Preparing your Computer..........
  • Page 4 Table of Contents ..........37 ROUBLESHOOTING ....... 37 OMMON ROBLEMS AND OLUTIONS ..........40 ECHNICAL ETAILS ..........40 EATURES AND ERFORMANCE Hardware................ 40 Software................41 Hardware Performance ..........42 ..............42 SSIGNMENTS ................43 IDEO ODES ..............44 LOCK IAGRAM ...............45 LOSSARY ............57 RADEMARKS D EMI C...

  • Page 5: About Fire Gl1

    2D/3D Raster Engine with Geometry Pipeline Setup processor, and a 250 MHz RAMDAC in a single package. Diamond Fire GL1 delivers a balance of 2D power and superior 3D acceleration providing power for professional 2D and 3D NT graphics applications:...

  • Page 6: Hardware Features

    ARDWARE EATURES IBM 256-bit Graphics Rasterizer 32 MB SGRAM used for unified framebuffer, Z-, Alpha-, Overlay-, Window ID and Clip/Stencil buffers, and texture storage Single short form factor AGP and PCI versions AGP ATX/NLX bus, AGP2x version 2.0 compliant, with sideband addressing PCI bus 32-bit 33/66 MHz version 2.1 compliant 100 MHz clock on raster engine and frame buffer...

  • Page 7: Professional 3D Rendering

    GL1 please refer to the section Technical Details. Important — You must be running Windows NT 4.0, updated with Service Pack 4 (or newer) prior to installing the Fire GL1 drivers. The Service Pack is available from Microsoft's web page, www.microsoft.com.

  • Page 8: Card Layout

    AYOUT Fire GL1 with AGP bus interface IBM 256-bit Graphics Rasterizer Flash BIOS PROM with fan SG-RAM chips Oscillator - also on solder side DB-15 monitor connector 3.3V/5V voltage supply support with heatsink Fire GL1 with PCI bus interface...

  • Page 9: How To Use This Manual

    ANUAL ONVENTIONS Your Fire GL1 User’s Guide is organized in a standard, familiar way. A few icons are used to point out important information: This icon marks useful tips or important operational notes. This icon is a warning about possible electrical/software hazards or problems.

  • Page 10: Installing

    Pack 4 or higher). The drivers DO NOT SUPPORT any other type or brand of graphics card or operating system. Your Fire GL1 may be either an AGP or PCI type. Follow the instructions for the specific card that you purchased.

  • Page 11: Preparing Your Computer

    SuperCD CD-ROM for Fire GL1 Preparing your Computer Before removing your old card… If you are installing your Fire GL1 in place of a card from another manufacturer, we recommend that you de-install the old card first. Do the following: Use the uninstall program for your existing card, if one is available.
  • Page 12 It is recommended that you set your display driver to Standard VGA before you shut down your computer and remove the installed (AGP, PCI, or ISA) VGA card. Some systems have an integrated graphics solution on the motherboard. Please refer to the manual or contact your motherboard manufacturer to determine how to disable your on- board graphics.

  • Page 13: Opening The Computer Cabinet

    7. Windows asks you if you want to restart your computer. Click 8. Shut down your computer. You are now ready to remove your old graphics card and install your new Fire GL1 card. Opening the Computer Cabinet Warning! Prevent static electric damage. Avoid touching any electronic components.

  • Page 14: Installing The Card

    AGP or PCI slot. AGP and PCI cards are designed to fit one way only. Be sure your card is properly aligned. 4. Insert your Fire GL1 card firmly into the AGP or PCI slot. Take care to press it evenly and snugly into its slot. Do not force.

  • Page 15: Reassembling Your Computer

    Installation in an AGP or PCI expansion slot a Fire GL1 card b Card edge connector c Expansion slot Reassembling Your Computer Secure ribbon cables and gently push them down and out of the way before you replace the system cover.

  • Page 16: Connecting The Monitor Cable

    Connecting the Monitor Cable Securely attach your monitor's data cable to the 15-pin VGA output connector (3) on the card. Attach the cable to the monitor according to the monitor's instructions. Fire GL1 with AGP bus interface Fire GL1 with PCI bus interface...

  • Page 17: After Installing The Card

    If you have correctly installed the card, operating system messages will appear on your monitor when the boot procedure is finished. To enjoy the full benefits of your new Fire GL1 card in your PC, you will need to install a package of basic drivers. Refer to Installing Software.
  • Page 18 It is optimally configured to be combined with high-resolution MultiSync or multi-frequency monitors. You can also connect the Fire GL1 to other VGA monitors. Note: You can use the full power of the graphics card only if your monitor supports the horizontal (kHz) and vertical (Hz) refresh rates as required by the graphics card.

  • Page 19: Installing Software

    The Diamond installation dialog will display in English if your operating system’s language is not supported. Note: If you have added Fire GL1 cards to your system for a multi-monitor configuration you do not need to install the software drivers again for each card. Go to MultiScreen in the Display Properties menu to enable and set up your multi- monitor configuration.

  • Page 20: Software Installation For Windows Nt4.0

    You must be running Windows NT 4.0, updated with Service Pack 4 (or newer) before installing the Fire GL1 drivers. For most languages you can perform the Service Pack 4 update from the SuperCD when you run the Quick Start utility.
  • Page 21 Note: You can select the refresh rates individually for each monitor in the Monitor dialog of the Display Properties menu. However, you can set the refresh rate for the monitor on your first or primary display adapter only in the Settings dialog. Installing Fire GL1 21...

  • Page 22: Fire Gl1 Software Utilities

    ETTINGS ODIFYING PPLICATION ROFILES As part of its Windows NT drivers, Fire GL1 installs additional property pages to your Display Properties control panel. They are named Monitor, Adjustment, MultiScreen, Configuration, and Information. Use the Configuration dialog to customize application profiles for individual application settings.

  • Page 23: Changing The Video Settings

    Windows Desktop background and then selecting the Properties option from the pop-up menu. If you have made a modification that causes your screen to go blank or to be unreadable, the keyboard shortcut for ‘Undo’ is Alt-U. Fire GL1 Software Utilities 23...

  • Page 24: Setting Resolution And Color Depth

    Setting Resolution and Color Depth Select the Settings dialog in the Display Properties window. Set the resolution and color depth that best suit your requirements and your monitors' performance. Also set the refresh rate for the monitor on your first or primary display adapter.

  • Page 25: Choosing Monitors And Display Refresh Rates

    Rates 1. Select the Monitor dialog in the Display Properties window. For each Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerator in your system you can customize the settings of the connected monitor. For more information on setting up the monitor(s) refer to the context sensitive online help.
  • Page 26 3. Set the desired operation mode for the selected monitor. Custom Modes Use resolution and refresh rates for this monitor as specified in the Settings dialog in Display Properties. This option allows you to take full advantage of the resolution/refresh rate capabilities of the video chip. Warning! Selecting a resolution or refresh rate that your monitor does not support can permanently damage the monitor.

  • Page 27: Adjusting The Monitor Display

    Adjusting the Monitor Display 1. Select the Adjustment dialog in the Display Properties window. For each Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerator in your system you can adjust the display of the connected monitor. For more information on adjusting the monitors’ display refer to the context sensitive online help.
  • Page 28 3. Monitor Tuning: With the buttons in the Move and Size sections you can tune the position and size of the monitor's display for the indicated resolution and refresh rate. Notes: (1) Use the hardware setting controls on your monitor, if available, to adjust your display size or position - instead of the software controls in 'Adjustment - Monitor Tuning.' Check the documentation of your monitor for information on your...
  • Page 29 You may also use the keyboard shortcut for ‘Undo’ - Alt-U. (2) If you change the resolution (in Settings) and/or the refresh rate (in Monitor), you may need to re-adjust the monitor's display. Fire GL1 Software Utilities 29...
  • Page 30 4. Gamma Correction Adjustment: Adjust the monitor's gamma correction for optimal brightness with the red, green and blue slider bars. Note: You cannot adjust Gamma Correction for 256-color modes When these sliders are changed the gamma correction table modifies each pixel's color value. The brightness produced at the face of the display is proportional to the input voltage raised to the power gamma.

  • Page 31: Setting Multiple Monitor Configuration

    Setting Multiple Monitor Configuration 1. Select the MultiScreen dialog in the Display Properties window. Refer to the context online help for more information on setting up your MultiScreen configuration. Fire GL1 Software Utilities 31...
  • Page 32 2. Select your monitor combination in the Define Desktop drop- down list. Click the Apply or OK button to enable your multi- monitor setting. Notes: Click on a monitor icon in the MultiScreen dialog to identify the corresponding monitor. For example, if you click on the monitor icon 2 in the MultiScreen dialog, your second monitor will display a 2.

  • Page 33: Modifying Application Profiles

    ODIFYING PPLICATION ROFILES Using the Configuration dialog in the Display Properties menu you can individually configure each application’s settings. Fire GL1 Software Utilities 33...
  • Page 34 For some of the most popular applications the optimal configuration profile is factory-set by default. Select the application from the list in the Configuration Profiles section. This will add necessary Windows NT registry settings. Click Apply and, if prompted, restart Windows NT. If you experience problems with your application, or if you want to try to optimize the performance of your system on specific applications, you may modify the configuration settings.
  • Page 35 If you disable ‘Wait for vertical retrace’ you may experience visual artifacts such as tearing. However, this function may be disabled for performance benchmarking. 4. Click the Apply or OK button to enable your Configuration settings. Fire GL1 Software Utilities 35...

  • Page 36: Emoving The

    This section describes how to properly remove your graphics card software from your system should you need to do so. To install or uninstall the Fire GL1 drivers, you need administrator rights or you must be logged on as a user with administrator rights under Windows NT.

  • Page 37: Troubleshooting

    No image appears on monitor when computer system is turned on Make sure that the Fire GL1 is firmly seated and lined up properly in its AGP or PCI slot, and that the monitor cable is firmly and correctly connected to the card. For more information, please...
  • Page 38 Screen image defects appear Check if your monitor supports the resolution, horizontal (kHz) and vertical (Hz) refresh rates as required by the graphics card. Check for your current resolution, refresh rate, and color depth settings in the Settings and Monitor dialogs of the Display Properties Warning! Be sure that both video card and monitor support resolution and refresh rates you select.
  • Page 39 Resolving Interrupt Conflicts To support the special graphics processor on the Fire GL1 the system BIOS should automatically assign a system interrupt to the AGP/PCI slot where the card is installed. However, there may be problems if your graphics card does not receive an interrupt or a system interrupt is used for more than one device.

  • Page 40: Details

    ECHNICAL ETAILS EATURES AND ERFORMANCE ARDWARE ERFORMANCE SSIGNMENTS IDEO ODES LOCK IAGRAM EATURES AND ERFORMANCE Hardware Design: Single short form factor AGP and PCI versions AGP ATX/NLX bus, AGP2x version 2.0 compliant, with sideband addressing PCI bus 32-bit 33/66 MHz version 2.1 compliant Graphics Engine: IBM 256-bit Graphics Rasterizer with integrated VGA Controller...

  • Page 41: Software

    32 MB SGRAM used for unified framebuffer, Z-, Alpha-, Overlay-, Window ID and Clip/Stencil buffers, and texture storage 100 MHz clock on raster engine and frame buffer 64 KByte BIOS FlashROM, reprogrammable by software 32-bit RGB True color 2D and 3D acceleration TrueColor screen resolutions up to 1920 x 1200, double- buffered 24-bit Z- buffer, 4-bit double-buffer, 8-bit single-buffer...

  • Page 42: Hardware Performance

    Hardware Performance (As tested on an Intel Xeon 450, 128M RAM, 1280x1024, TrueColor, 60 Hz.) 4 Million Polygons/s (25 pixels) sustained 15 Million antialiased vectors/second sustained 200 Million Pixels/second fill rate, Gouraud shaded, Z- buffered, non-Textured 45 Million Pixels/sec Trilinear Texture fill rate Viewperf CDRS rate of 116+ on single-processor systems, and 165+ frames per second on dual processor workstations...

  • Page 43: Video Modes

    IDEO ODES All video modes comply with VESA DMT (Discrete Monitor Timing) or VESA GTF (General Timing Format) standards. Windows NT Resolution Color Line Frequency (kHz) Refresh Rate Bits Bits (Hz) 640 x 480 31.5, 37.9, 37.5, 43.3 60, 72, 75, 85 800 x 600 37.9, 48.1, 46.9, 53.7 60, 72, 75, 85...

  • Page 44: Block Diagram

    LOCK IAGRAM AGP2x (PCI) System Interface OASIS Graphics Engine RGB Out System Bus Interface Sync Out Palette DDC2B Ctl Raster Engine Unit and I/O Unit Control Display Video Timing Pixel Cache Engine Generator Utility Bus Interface Frame Buffer Interface Flash Frame buffer 32 MBytes SGRAM 64KB...

  • Page 45: B Glossary

    LOSSARY Three-dimensional 3D-DDI 3D device driver interface, software interface (3D-API) from Microsoft, higher level 3D-APIs like OpenGL and 3DR may be implemented in Windows 95 3D software interface (3D-API) from Intel, supporting Microsoft's GDI DDI, DCI and 3D-DDI AutoDesk Device Interface The Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is a new technology developed by Intel for Pentium II based systems.
  • Page 46 Artifacts Blurred or "blocky" portions of degraded image quality in a digital video. ASCII American Standards Committee on Information Interchange. A standard used by IBM and compatible computers to represent numbers and characters in binary form. Bandwidth Required capacity for the data volume and transmission rate. BIOS Stands for Basic Input-Output System.
  • Page 47 IBM Color Graphics Adapter, one of the first color graphics standards. Either 320x200 pixels with four colors or 640x200 pixels with two colors can be displayed. Chrominance Portion of a video signal that corresponds to color values and includes information about hue and saturation.
  • Page 48 Digital Display Also called TTL. A type of monitor that switches signals ON or OFF to determine display color. Types of digital displays include the IBM Enhanced Color Display or Monochrome Display. Digitize Process of turning an analog signal into digital data. Digitizer Input device in the CAD area, used for scanning printed graphics or drawings, i.e.
  • Page 49 EEPROM Electrically erasable programmable read only memory; used like a ROM permanent memory chip, but can be programmed and erased to replace DIP switches and jumpers on new graphics boards. IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter, which allows 640 x 350 pixels with 16 colors. Enhanced Color Display (ECD) IBM Enhanced Color Display capable of 640 x 350 resolution.
  • Page 50 Gamma Correction The brightness produced at the face of the display is proportional to the input voltage raised to the power gamma. This nonlinearity must be compensated to achieve correct reproduction of the image's brightness. The effect of display gamma is to darken the midtones relative to the dark and light regions.
  • Page 51 Horizontal Frequency Rate at which a monitor displays each scan line, usually measured in kilohertz (kHz). The value must be set depending on the operating limits of the monitor in order not to damage it. Synonym for color. I/O Port Input/Output port.
  • Page 52 Line Drawing This is a hardware function of the graphics processor chip. The CPU supplies only the starting and ending coordinates of a line. The graphics processor then does the rest of the work drawing the line. Luminance Portion of a video signal corresponding to brightness value - essentially the black- and-white foundation of a color video picture.
  • Page 53 Palette Selection of colors from which to choose. Your board provides as many as 16.7 million simultaneous colors from a palette of 16.7 million. This capability is sometimes referred to as TrueColor. It is believed that the human eye can discern no more than 16.7 million colors.
  • Page 54 Random Access Memory - memory that can be read from and written to. Rasterization Rendering 3D images to a 2D screen is called rasterization. Real-time 3D graphics cards take 3D coordinates from the CPU for a given frame of animation and render them to the screen, calculating perspective, viewpoint, and visibility of objects as well as rendering surfaces and textures on to surfaces.
  • Page 55 Saturation Amount of gray in a color determining the intensity and purity of a color. A color with a high saturation value is optically very intensive. A color with a low saturation value appears weak (i.e. with less color content). Scalability The existence of independent, high-speed connections between the CPU, graphics board, and system memory means that applications developers can improve the...
  • Page 56 V-Sync Length of the vertical synchronization pulse for a monitor, given in microseconds. Variable Frequency Display (VFD) Monitor that is capable of displaying a wide range of resolutions through its ability to sync to a wide range of horizontal and vertical scan frequencies. Vertical Frequency Rate at which the monitor screen is refreshed.

  • Page 57: C Trademarks

    ATI is a registered trademark of ATI Technologies Inc. in Canada, the United States and/or other countries. Fire GL is a trademark of ATI Technologies Inc. in Canada, the United States, and/or other countries. MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, Windows 2000, DirectDraw and Direct3D are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

  • Page 58: D Emi Compliance Information

    ATI Research Inc.- Fire GL Graphics 4 Mount Royal Avenue, Marlborough, MA 01752-1978 USA; Phone: (508) 303-3900 declare that the product Fire GL1 AGP/PCI complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. The compliance with those standards is confirmed in accreditation certificates.

  • Page 59: Ce Compliance Information

    CE Compliance Information EMC Directive 89/336/EEC and Amendments 92/31/EEC and 93/68/EEC, Class B Digital Device EN 55022/CISPR 22, Limits and Methods of Measurement of Radio Interference Characteristics Information Technology Equipment. EN 50082-1, Generic Immunity Standard for Residential, Commercial and Light Industrial Products (EN 61000-4-2:96, EN 61000-4-3:97, EN 61000-4-4:96, EN 61000-4-6:97) Directive EMC 89/336/CEE et amendements 92/31/CEE et 93/68/EEC,...

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