The Oxygen 202 delivers top-notch 3-D graphics performance inless space.
Robert L. Hummel
While high-performance 3-D graphics-accelerator cards aren't yet commodities, the era of proprietary graphics adapters is nearly over. The latest entry into this burgeoning field is Dynamic Pictures' new
Oxygen 202
, a $2795 single-slot PCI card that delivers competitive performance.
The 202 accelerates 3-D graphics functions, and it includes 24-bit z-buffering and perspective-correct texture mapping. As a slim three-quarter-length card, it's smaller than competing cards. Equipped with two of Dynamic Pictures' scalable Oxygen processors running in parallel and 16 MB of synchronous DRAM (SDRAM),
the 202 is a more powerful version of the single-chip, 8-MB Oxygen 102 ($1495). Dynamic
Pictures has also announced the four-chip, 32-MB Oxygen 402 ($4995).
The 202 supports a wide range of video resolutions and refresh rates. At a 32-bit pixel depth, the 202 resolves 1280 by 1024 pixels at a 75-Hz refresh rate. Dropping the pixel depth to 15 bits (32,000 colors) boosts the resolution to 1600 by 1200 (60-Hz refresh).
Dynamic Pictures provides OpenGL and Heidi drivers for Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0, and it promises Windows 95 drivers for early this year. The 202 contains its own VGA subsystem, but you can still use a separate card for two-monitor operation if you change a jumper on the 202 card. The card also has a connector that supports stereoscopic viewing equipment.
To gauge the Oxygen 202's performance, we ran Viewperf 5.0 with the DX 3.0 and CDRS 3.0 view sets in true-color mode at 1024- by 768-pixel resolution. (This industry-standard OpenGL graphics-performance benchmark is available from
http://www.specbench.org/
.)
We tested
under the same conditions we recently used to compare 3-D graphics workstations (see "Affordable 3-D Workstations," December 1996 BYTE). The host system was a Tri-Star dual 200-MHz Pentium Pro system with 128 MB of memory running NT 3.51. With the DX view set, the Oxygen 202 left Glint 500TX-based cards in the dust, and it was tied with a similarly priced 16-MB Intergraph Intense 3D card. With the CDRS view set, the 202 beat several Glint cards, but it lagged about 10 percent behind Accel's Glint card and about 15 percent behind the Intense 3D.
The Oxygen 202 doesn't break new price/performance ground among 3-D graphics accelerators. But it provides excellent performance at a price comparable to that of other high-end offerings -- and in a compact form factor.
Where to Find
Oxygen 202.......................$2795
(with 16 MB of SDRAM and
two Oxygen chips)
Dynamic Pictures, Inc.
Santa Clara, CA
Phone: (800) 464-3348
Phone: (408) 327-9000
Fax: (408) 327-9010
Internet:
http://www.dypic.com/
Circle 1097 on Inquiry Card.
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The Oxygen 202 is part of Dynamic Pictures' scalable 3-D graphics-accelerator family. The 202 uses two Oxygen chips in parallel.
Robert L. Hummel (Sullivan, NH) is an electrical engineer, programmer, and consultant. You can reach him at
rhummel@monad.net
.
3-D Mighty Mite
