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This is a reconstruction of original Radius support documentation. All links on this page are now defunct. For more information, refer to the document Vintage Radius Documents.

Radius Tempest Q&A

Download a PDF version of this document here.

1) What are the main hardware features of Tempest and why are they important?

The Tempest hardware consists of three key components.

1: 3Dlabs PERMEDIA Processor
2: 3Dlabs GLINT Delta pipeline preprocessor
3: 8MB High Speed SGRAM

1: 3Dlabs PERMEDIA
Radius is the first to develop and market the 3Dlabs PERMEDIA processor on a graphics accelerator card for the Mac OS market. The PERMEDIA processor is the first fully integrated, single-chip 2D/3D processor that combines mainstream no-compromise 64-bit 2D functionality and performance with stunning 3D graphics. PERMEDIA delivers fast QuickDraw acceleration and QuickDraw 3D performance of over 600,000 polygons/sec (textured, bilinear filtered with per pixel perspective). PERMEDIA is ideal for accelerating standard graphics applications, 3D plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as well as 3D modeling, animation and virtual reality modeling language (VRML) tools.

2: 3Dlabs GLINT Delta
The GLINT Delta is a pre-processor, providing even more 2D/3D graphics acceleration for demanding applications. By off-loading up to 70% of the 3D geometry processing load from the PERMEDIA, the GLINT Delta increases the PERMEDIA's performance by a factor of three. With the combination of PERMEDIA and GLINT Delta, Tempest provides incredible raw 2D and 3D performance at an incredible price point.

3: 8MB SGRAM
Tempest has 8MB of Synchronous Graphics Memory (SGRAM) which provides data throughput up to 600 Mbytes/sec. With 8MB, Tempest is capable of displaying resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 @ 16-bit color, accelerating 2D up to 1360 x 1024 @ 16-bit or 1152 x 870 @ 24-bit color. For 3D acceleration, Tempest supports up to 1152 x 870 @ 16-bit color or 832 x 624 @ 24-bit color. Whichever resolution or color depth you chose, Tempest always accelerates 32-bit texture mapping, supports transparency and provides up to a maximum of 4MB with a 15-bit z-buffer. This all equates to incredibly high performance 2D & 3D with great image detail and quality.

2) What can Tempest do that I can't do with built in video?

Adding Tempest to your Mac OS based system provides three key benefits:

1: Tempest allows modeling, visualization, animation and other 2D/3D applications to create higher quality, more realistic models and images. It also allows you to work and visually see superior lighting effects, anti-aliased shape edges, and higher resolution texture mapping.

2: Faster overall performance: models rotate and resize faster, animations are smoother and the third dimension is responsive. Tempest is up to 4x faster than 9600/200 built-in video.

3: Tempest lets QuickDraw 3D provide transparency -- making it possible to render objects interactively such as bubbles and glasses. It also enables game effects such as fog, smoke, and explosions.

3) How does Tempest compare to the competition?
The chart below compares similar priced 2D/3D Graphics accelerators available as of 9/97.

2D/3D Graphics Accelerator	Radius Tempest	Ati XClaim 3D	#9 Imagine 128 version 2
Graphics Processors	PERMEDIA & GLINT DELTA	ATI 3D RAGE II	#9 Imagine128-2
Memory Configuration	8MB SGRAM	8MB SGRAM	8MB EDO VRAM
SRP Price	$399	$299	$799
QuickDraw 2D Support
Max. Resolution in 16-bit color	1600 x 1200	1600 x 1200	1920 x 1200
Max. Resolution in 24-bit color	1152 x 870	1152 x 870	1920 x 1080
QuickDraw 2D Performance
Real World Performance over 9600/200	3x	1.5x	4x
QuickDraw 3D Support
Max. Resolution at 16-bit color	1152 x 870	1152 x 870	1152 x 870
Max. Resolution at 24-bit color	832 x 624	832 x 624	800 x 600
z-buffer depth at all resolutions	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit
Maximum texture memory available	4MB	N/A	None
QuickDraw 3D Features
32-bit texture support	Yes	No	No
Transparency Support	Yes	Yes	No
Bi-linear filtered texture mapping	Yes	Yes	No
Nearest-neighbor mapping mode	Yes	No	No
Perspective-correct texture mapping	Yes	No	No
3D Performance
Real World Performance over 9600/200	3x-4x	1.5x	1.5x

3) How does Tempest compare to Radius' Thunder 3D and Thunder TX-1152 cards?

Different memory architectures:
Tempest is based on 3Dlabs PERMEDIA while Thunder 3D and Thunder TX-1152 are based on 3Dlabs high-end GLINT 500TX processor. The Thunder 2D/3D cards have dual memory architectures that provides even higher resolution support while supporting more texture memory allocation at the higher resolutions. Unified memory architectures require trade-offs between displayed resolution, color depth and amount of memory available for textures.

Different levels of performance:
Although Tempest's 2D/3D performance is up to 3x built in video performance of a 9600/200, Thunder 3D and Thunder TX-1152 will provide from 2x up to 8x more 2D/3D performance than Tempest.

Different levels in color quality & accuracy:
Thunder 3D and Thunder TX-1152 include 30-bit DACs on board, providing support for Radius color calibration technology called ChromaFlow. This allows the Thunder cards to provide more accurate color on-screen for color critical work.

Different maximum resolutions, color depths and texture memory supported:
Tempest is optimized primarily for 17" displays working at 832x624 up to 1152x870.
Thunder TX-1152 is optimized for 20" and 21" displays working at 1024x768 to 1600x1200.
Thunder 3D is optimized to work in 24-bit color at all resolutions up to 1600x1200.

Below is a chart of resolutions, color depths and texture memory supported by Radius cards.

	Tempest	Texture Memory	Thunder TX-1152	Texture Memory	Thunder 3D	Texture Memory
Maximum Resolution	1600 x 1200	N/A	1600 x 1200	6MB	1600 x 1200	12MB
QuickDraw 2D Accelerated Resolutions
Thousands colors	1360 x 1024	N/A	1600 x 1200	6MB	1600 x 1200	12MB
Millions colors	1152 x 870	N/A	1152 x 870	6MB	1600 x 1200	12MB
QuickDraw 3D Accelerated Resolutions
Thousands colors	1152 x 870	2MB	1152 x 870	6MB	1600 x 1200	12MB
Millions colors	832 x 624	2MB	832 x 624	6MB	1152 x 870	12MB
Thousands colors	832 x 624	4MB	832 x 624	6MB	1600 x 1200	12MB

4) On which systems can I use Tempest?

Tempest is optimized for a broad range of Mac OS based systems, but it works best in systems with "interleaved" (128-bit wide) memory configurations. Interleaved 128-bit memory configurations can improve 3D performance up to 50%. Please consult your system manual to determine if your system supports interleaved memory.

Recommended systems include:
Apple PowerMac 7200/120, 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500, 9600 systems
Apple Macintosh 6400, 6500 series
Daystar Genesis QUAD MP series (slots D2,E2,F2 only) and Dual MP series
UMAX S900 and C600 series

And other systems based on same motherboard designs

Supported Mac OS:	Supported QuickDraw 3D:
Mac OS System 7.6.1	QuickDraw 3D 1.5.1
Mac OS System 8.0	QuickDraw 3D 1.5.3

5) Which applications can Tempest accelerate?

Tempest will accelerate any graphics-intensive application that supports QuickDraw, QuickDraw 3D and or QuickDraw 3D RAVE. Some of the most popular applications are listed below in alphabetical order. Please be aware that as QuickDraw 3D developments improve, Tempests performance will also improve. Also note that not all QuickDraw 3D applications take equal advantage of the acceleration features in QuickDraw 3D, and so some applications have better speed gains than others.

QuickDraw based applications	QuickDraw 3D based applications
Adobe Photoshop	Adrenaline Numbers & Charts
Adobe PageMaker	auto•des•sys form•Z
Adobe FrameMaker	Artifice DesignWorkshop
Adobe Acrobat	Electric Cafe ModelShop
Adobe Persuasion	Intervista Worldview VRML browser
Adobe PageMill	MetaCreations Infini-D
MetaCreations Painter	MetaCreations Ray Dream Studio 5
Macromedia Freehand	Microspot 3D World
Microsoft Word	NewTek LightWave
Microsoft Excel	Strata StudioPro
Microsoft Powerpoint	Valis Group Pixel Putty
QuarkXPress	Vidi Presenter 3D

© 1997 Radius, Radius logo, Thunder and Tempest are registered trademarks or trademarks of Radius Inc. Macintosh, Mac OS, and QuickDraw are registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.