3Dlabs GVX1, User Manual

Page 1: ...T h e O x y g e n T M V X 1 a n d O x y g e n T M G V X 1 G r a p h i c s A c c e l e r a t o r U s e r s G u i d e 3Dlabs Inc 480 Potrero Avenue Sunnyvale CA 94086 408 530 4700 www 3dlabs com ...

Page 2: ...icular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures 1 Re orient or relocate the receiving antenna 2 Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver 3 Connect the equipment to an o...

Page 3: ...ing Software 6 To install the Oxygen driver 6 To install Soft Engine 6 To install Colorific 6 Registering Oxygen VX1 GVX1 7 Chapter 2 Software Configuration 8 The Oxygen VX1 GVX1 Driver 9 The Task Bar based Configuration Manager 9 The Display Control Panel 10 Information Screen 11 Setup Screen 12 Direct 3D Support Screen 13 OpenGL Support Screen 15 Monitor Screen 17 Chapter 3 Troubleshooting 18 Tr...

Page 4: ...ons 26 Oxygen VX1 Specifications 27 Oxygen GVX1 Specifications 27 Appendix B Software License 28 SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT 29 Software License and Restrictions 29 Limited Warranty 30 Limited Liability 30 Restricted Rights Notice 30 Termination 30 General 31 Appendix C Regulatory Statements 32 Declaration of Conformity 33 Index 34 ...

Page 5: ...I n t r o d u c t i o n ...

Page 6: ...so your card uses PowerThreads SSE software to distribute OpenGL throughput across processors at top speed Applications running on single processor systems will still benefit from single threaded optimizations found in PowerThreads SSE Overview Your Oxygen card has the following features The GLINT R3 rasterization engine The GLINT R3 rasterization engine accelerates tasks like true color shading t...

Page 7: ...LT performance by up to four times on Windows NT systems Colorific screen to print color matching Colorific simplifies color matching without sacrificing accuracy The Oxygen GVX1 card adds GLINT Gamma geometry processing The GLINT Gamma chip accelerates the 3D geometry pipeline in hardware performing all vertex transformation and lighting calculations required by OpenGL applications Dynamic load b...

Page 8: ...perating system 64 MB RAM Random Access Memory 16 MB minimum available hard drive space AGP expansion slot for AGP based Oxygen VX1 cards PCI expansion slot for PCI based Oxygen VX1 cards VGA multisync monitor Oxygen GVX1 requires these features Intel compatible 166 MHz minimum system Windows NT 4 0 or later operating system 64 MB RAM Random Access Memory 16 MB minimum available hard drive space A...

Page 9: ...abs as well as the appropriate software partner s web site Software Application Web Site Address AutoCAD http www autodesk com Colorific http www colorific com 3D Studio MAX http www ktx com Lightscape http www lightscape com LightWave 3D http www newtek com Maya http www aw sgi com MicroStation http www bentley com Pro ENGINEER http www ptc com SDRC I DEAS http www sdrc com Softimage 3D http www ...

Page 10: ...C h a p t e r 1 I n s t a l l a t i o n ...

Page 11: ...low then install the driver Once the basic installation is complete you can choose to install the SoftEngine and Colorific enhancements as described on page 6 NOTE Be sure to register your new card using one of the options described on page 7 Before You Start Take every possible precaution against static electricity as you prepare to install the card static can damage components We have included a...

Page 12: ...ipherals 2 Unplug the monitor cable from the old card 3 Attach the anti static strap to your wrist and attach the other end to a bare conductive as opposed to painted or sticker covered area of your system s chassis 4 Remove any screws securing the card to the chassis 5 Lift the card out of the slot To install your Oxygen card 1 Turn off and unplug the power source for your system and each of its ...

Page 13: ... sticker covered area of your system s chassis 5 Remove the card from its anti static packaging Write down the serial number for registration and future use 6 Place the card into the expansion slot and seat it firmly See your system documentation for instructions on securing the card to the chassis Loose cards and connections can cause grounding and operating problems 7 Remove the anti static stra...

Page 14: ...dware 5 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1 GVX1 User s Guide 8 Connect the video cable from your monitor to the video connector on the card 9 Plug in and start up your system including peripherals and log on to your operating system ...

Page 15: ... the installation window opens choose the Oxygen driver installation 3 Follow the instructions that appear on your screen Be sure to read the software license agreement 4 Restart your system at the prompt You have installed your Oxygen software successfully To install Soft Engine NOTE Soft Engine works exclusively with AutoDesk s AutoCad R12 R13 R14 and LT software Install Soft Engine if you use o...

Page 16: ...chnical support You can complete the registration card and return it to us in the mail or register on line once your hardware and software installations are complete You must have Internet access to register on line 1 Open your Internet browser 2 Go to http www 3dlabs com register Fill out the registration form that appears on your screen and click Submit when you are finished You have registered ...

Page 17: ...C h a p t e r 2 S o f t w a r e C o n f i g u r a t i o n ...

Page 18: ...task bar utility from your system You will still be able to access the driver configuration options with the Display Control Panel About 3DL Display Manager displays version information for this configuration utility Go to 3Dlabs Website takes you directly to www 3dlabs com through your existing Internet connection Pop up the Display Panel reaches the 3Dlabs section on the display control panel Di...

Page 19: ... this introductory page appears It provides software version and basic hardware specifications and a point of entry to the full set of Oxygen driver customization tools Click the Advanced button for access to these panels Information Setup Direct 3D Windows 95 98 only OpenGL Support Monitor Windows NT only The following sections describe each in detail ...

Page 20: ...on Screen The Information screen provides in depth information about your selected or the default settings as well as detailed hardware software and Direct 3D specs This information can be especially useful if you should need to contact technical support about your Oxygen card ...

Page 21: ...eck the Task bar based Configuration Manager with a click The default setting for the Configuration Manager is Enabled The Gamma Adjustment slider on the Setup screen lets you simultaneously adjust RGB color curves and define the color output for your display You can also enter a precise Gamma value rather than use the slider when you know which value is appropriate for your monitor and ambient li...

Page 22: ... the specified application You can also click Select optimized application in the Configuration Manager and select your application from that pop up list The Add new button lets you create a new setting with a user specified name Remove Setting will remove user created settings but will not remove the default settings created at driver installation time Default will restore the factory default set...

Page 23: ...he alternatives available on cards with large amounts of memory For best performance this option should only be enabled for applications that will not operate correctly otherwise Disable D 3D Gamma Controls lets you turn off DirectX gamma control if you experience an extremely dark screen potentially caused by an application s use of an incorrect default No wait for Vblank lets you achieve the hig...

Page 24: ... Configuration Manager and select your application from that pop up list Click New to add an application to the list and customize its settings Remove Setting will remove a user created setting but will not remove default settings created at driver installation time Number of DMA Buffers lets you configure the number of visible 3D windows that can be supported with full speed acceleration For most...

Page 25: ...plication menu cause the correct mode to be set automatically The Dynamic setting should be chosen for all other cases Wait for Vblank lets you determine whether the OpenGL driver will attempt to synchronize screen updates to the vertical blanking interval Smooth animation of 3D applications can be achieved by rendering drawing to an off screen window desktop sized color buffer and copying or swap...

Page 26: ...ected to a DDC type monitor If so the available modes will be displayed It is possible however for the display settings to fall out of sync This can happen for example if you hot swap monitors The Detect DDC monitor button lets you manually tell your system to look for the DDC monitor again The Type section shows which type of monitor was detected when you opened the control panel and allows you t...

Page 27: ...C h a p t e r 3 Tr o u b l e s h o o t i n g ...

Page 28: ... Chapter 1 Installation in this document Solution Your card might not be seated properly in the AGP slot Remove and reinstall your card as described in Chapter 1 Installation Remember to use the anti static wrist strap when opening your system and handling the card Question The performance of and or the available resolutions for my Oxygen card are not what I expected Solution The Oxygen driver may...

Page 29: ...se Exit and Save Settings 5 Shut down remove your old graphics card and reinstall your Oxygen card Solution Make sure that you are not using an old graphics board driver and that you have uninstalled any other graphics drivers particularly those provided by other companies using 3Dlabs chipsets Solution Please see the System Integration Guide in the FAQ section at http www 3Dlabs com Solution You ...

Page 30: ...C h a p t e r 4 G l o s s a r y ...

Page 31: ...slates the instructions from the application program into device commands that are specific to the screen s display controller the graphics board Atmospheric Effects The effect derived from adding one or more layers around an object Bilinear Sampling The process whereby texture mapping is done through filtering Bit Depth Bit depth is another way of expressing the numbers of colors available A colo...

Page 32: ...pheral and the operating system EVGA Extended Video Graphics Array EVGA runs at 1024 x 768 Flat Shading The simplest method of shading Each triangle is assigned one single color resulting in a faceted appearance of the surface Floating Point The portion of the mathematics execution unit of a processor generally associated with multiply and divide operations Frame Buffer A 24 bit true color frame b...

Page 33: ...ry of advanced 3D graphics functions developed by Silicon Graphics Inc Perspective Correction A function that allows an object to maintain its 3D textural features as it moves away from the viewer into the background Pipelining A basic hardware tool for accelerating processes Pixel The smallest addressable element of a cathode ray tube display More simply put the individual dots that make up the s...

Page 34: ...rapped around or pasted on to a 3D primitive Perspective correction and lighting calculations allow for added realism Transformation The change in rotation size and perspective of an object in 3D space Transparency A function that refers to the rendering of transparent non opaque objects Transparency is generally accomplished on a polygon rendering system using either screen door transparency or a...

Page 35: ...A p p e n d i x A S p e c i f i c a t i o n s ...

Page 36: ...0 25 W 3v3 1 0 W 5V Geometry processing PowerThreads SSE Rasterizer GLINT R3 rasterization engine RAMDAC chip Pixel frequency 3Dlabs 300 MHz Memory 32 MB SDRAM Feature Function Implementation Card size Three quarter size AGP single slot Power requirement 14 4 W 3v3 6 46 W 5V Geometry processing GLINT Gamma G1 with PowerThreads SSE Rasterizer GLINT R3 rasterization engine RAMDAC frequency 300 MHz M...

Page 37: ...A p p e n d i x B S o f t w a r e L i c e n s e ...

Page 38: ...recorded FEATURES all copies thereof and all intellectual property rights therein No title to the SOFTWARE FEATURES any copies thereof or any intellectual property rights therein are transferred to you You are hereby granted for your own internal use only a nontransferable nonexclusive perpetual revocable license to use one 1 copy of the SOFTWARE and FEATURES on the computer on which the SOFTWARE ...

Page 39: ...ECIAL INCIDENTAL INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES HOWEVER CAUSED OR ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY WHETHER OR NOT 3DLABS INC ITS LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE OR LOSS IN NO EVENT SHALL 3DLABS INC ITS LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS LIABILITY ARISING UNDER THIS LICENSE EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR THE PRODUCTSOFTWARE GIVING RISE TO SUCH LIABILITY THIS LIMITATION IS...

Page 40: ...al This AGREEMENT will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of California without regard to conflicts of law principles or the UN Convention on the Sale of Goods If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of this AGREEMENT or portion thereof to be unenforceable that provision of the AGREEMENT shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as...

Page 41: ...A p p e n d i x C R e g u l a t o r y S t a t e m e n t s ...

Page 42: ...IEC801 4 1987 following the provisions of the 89 336 EEC Directive San Jose California September 30 1998 3Dlabs Inc We 3Dlabs Incorporated 480 Potrero Avenue Sunnyvale CA 94086 Phone 408 530 4700 Fax 408 530 4701 United States of America declare under our sole responsibility that the products 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1 Oxygen GVX1 comply with Part 15 of FCC Rules Operation is subject to the following two c...

Page 43: ...C statement 33 flat shading 23 floating point 23 frame buffer 23 G gamma adjustment 12 geometry 23 GLINT Gamma geometry processors vi MX vi Gouraud shading 23 graphics accelerator 24 H Heidi 6 24 I installation agp slots 3 anti static procedures 2 back up first 2 before you start 2 Oxygen GMX card 3 removing old cards 3 software drivers 6 tools 2 M mapping mip 24 texture 25 memory RAM vii SDRAM 24...

Page 44: ...25 shading flat 23 Gouraud 23 sideband addressing vii SoftEngine vii 6 software installation 6 setup 10 software partners ix specifications 27 static electricity 2 stencil buffer 25 stipple masking 25 SVGA 25 system requirements viii T tessellation 25 texture mapping 25 texture processing 24 transformation 25 transparency 25 troubleshooting monitor problems 19 network problems 20 resolution proble...