Tech Shout!

ATI Technologies Inc. is introducing a ‘boundless gaming’ experience, which loosens the ties that bind gamers to their physical realities by immersing them in a simulation more realistic than anything they’ve seen before. Gamers will be able to enjoy scenes with 20,000 to 30,000 distinct objects that can now be accurately simulated and rendered at real-time frame rates, providing a more immersive experience.

ATI has created this experience by combining the rendering horsepower of two ATI graphics cards with a third devoted to modeling the environment. This asymmetric CrossFire configuration fuses the best looking, highest performing graphics available with physics performance beyond anything available on a PC before.

ATI said traditional PC games face two principal constraints: they’re sometimes CPU-bound, limited by how much the processor can handle; or they’re sometimes GPU-bound, limited by the amount of information the graphics cards can process. The same processing limitations also impact how well games can imitate reality.

The company said its CrossFire X1900 multi-GPU solution, in combination with Intel Core 2 Duo processors effectively addresses both the CPU and GPU-bound scenarios producing the best image quality and performance in games, while a single ATI GPU works to deliver realistic physics. The result is ‘boundless gaming’.

CrossFire offers gamers a choice of physics configurations rather than being locked into symmetrical setups. This flexible architecture allows asymmetrical configurations as unlike cards can be used for physics processing in both 1+1 and 2+1 setups where one or two graphics cards are used for game rendering, while another card is used for physics. This open architecture accommodates all gamers, whether they want to use a high-end graphics card for physics, or a mainstream card.

ATI also announced that it is working with Havok, the leading middleware provider for the game industry. Havok FX is the brains behind the brawn of ATI’s GPU, helping to deliver the most immersive game experiences yet. Using Havok FX, developers can enable more convincing environments that include richer, more detailed explosions, smoke, debris, fluids and cloth.

“By unleashing Havok FX on ATI GPUs, we’re opening the door for some of the most compelling game experiences ever seen,” said David O’Meara, CEO, Havok. “Imagine explosions so realistic that thousands of pieces of shrapnel blanket the area dealing damage to characters and objects nearby. Imagine swirling mist and smoke so interactive that it washes behind you as your character runs through it. With the power of ATI GPUs and the ingenuity of the Havok FX engine, these are the type of in-game experiences gamers can expect.”