ATI Technologies introduced new models in its FireGL workstation graphics-card range at SIGGRAPH. The FireGL X2-256 sits at the top of ATI’s performance range, while the FireGL T2-128 is designed as an entry-level model. Both ship with drivers for Windows XP/2000 and Linux.
ATI’s high-end X2 is based on the FGL 9800 processor. It has 256 MB of DDR-II RAM with a 256-bit bus, four geometry engines and eight parallel rendering pipelines. Two DVI-I ports support multi-monitor operation. ATI promises seamless integration for users of 3ds max, Maya and Softimage XSI, enabling hardware-accelerated rendering and high-quality real-time previews within those applications using either the OpenGL Shading Language or Microsoft DirectX 9 HLSL. The FireGL X2-256 is scheduled to ship in the United States from mid-August for $999.
The entry-level T2-128, available immediately in the United States, differs from the flagship mainly through its lower graphics performance, using an FGL 9600 with only two geometry engines and four rendering pipelines, and a more modest 128 MB of DDR RAM. Instead of two DVI-I ports, it has one DVI-I port and one VGA connector. Its price is correspondingly lower: at $379, it costs only slightly more than one third as much as the flagship.
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