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DOOM
12-04-2001, 10:05 PM
Thank you David Kirk, Chief Architect of Xbox at NVIDIA for offering to participate in this interview, we are really pumped about the Xbox and it's developers.

FunXbox: Can you describe for us the specifications of the Xbox Graphic Processing Unit?
David Kirk: The xgpu is based on nvidia's graphics technology for the next product beyond geforce3. The graphics pipeline is capable of rendering over 100 million shaded, antialiased polygons per second.


FunXbox: Technically, How does the XGPU differ from Nintendo's Flipper, or the GPU in the Playstation 2, and how will it enhance the general gameplay experience?
David Kirk: Both the flipper chip and the gpu chip in the Playstation 2 use simple texture blending technology, and embedded dram provides the speed and fill rate. so, the fill rate (ability to draw pixels) is extremely high, although the complexity of the rendered pixels is relatively low. Although the performance is great, the rendering technology is comparable to nvidia's tnt2 graphics processor, which was state-of-the-art for PC graphics in 1998.Nvidia's xgpu uses shader technology and multitexture to drastically enhance the quality of the pixels being drawn. Each pixel rendered by the xgpu is carefully calculated, using up to 4 textures, and lots 'o' math, allowing highly realistic materials, shadows, lighting, and reflections. this is just not possible on Playstation 2 or Flipper.


FunXbox: Can you explain to our readers how nVidia is involved in the audio horsepower for the Xbox?
David Kirk: Nvidia designed the entire directx audio engine, 3D positional audio, and dolby digital encoder for the xbox. all of this circuitry is part of the mcpx chip. Never before has there been such extensive, dedicated hardware support for high quality audio on anything less than professional studio equipment. Xbox audio will bring home entertainment to an entirely new level of realism and involvement.


FunXbox: How long has the development process of the XGPU and the MCPX been?
David Kirk: 14 months, from start to finish. That's got to be a world speed record for developing a 50+ million transistor chip (the xgpu)!


FunXbox: There have been rumors about how the XGPU is just a buttoned down GeForce 2 or 3, how would you respond to this?
David Kirk: The xgpu is based on the next generation of geforce3 architecture, but is far more powerful - it incorporates technology that is in development for the next generation beyond geforce3. Ffor example, geometry processing performance is 2-3x that of geforce3. xgpu and mcpx also incorporate technology that was developed for our nforce platform processor product line, including the directx audio hardware, 3D positional audio, dolby digital encoding, and broadband support.


FunXbox: How would you describe the relationship between nVidia and Microsoft during the development process?
David Kirk: Nvidia and Microsoft developed a very close working relationship during the time of the xbox development. since the system as a whole (box, motherboard) and the software and semiconductors were all developed in parallel at the same time at different physical locations, there is no way we could have built this box without working very closely together. During the development, at various times nvidia people have worked on site at microsoft and vice versa, to make sure that everything happened as quickly and efficiently as possible. Xbox is an awesome product, and getting it done is a truly amazing achievement.


FunXbox: Does nVidia forsee any future relationship with Microsoft and the Xbox, should the time come for when the next Xbox is under developement?
David Kirk: Nvidia continues to support Microsoft very closely in terms of developer tools and developer relations, as well as in many other unseen ways. I think that the relationship has been very successful and continues to be very strong. Who knows what the future will hold? (you don't really expect that we could reveal any future plans, do you? :-)


FunXbox: Which developer(s) do you feel has made the best use of the Xbox's extensive graphical and audio power in their games?
David Kirk: I think that there are many exciting xbox games, including project gotham, oddworld, but I have to say that halo and doa3 really stand out. The level of realism in both characters and environments for doa3 is truly astounding, and the play is really great. Halo is beautiful and captivating and really draws you into the experience. These titles look awesome now, but I also believe that the second generation xbox games will be even more amazing. Xbox first generation games already far surpass the visual and audio quality of second and third generation games on other consoles, so the future for xbox titles is very exciting.

l Maximus l
12-05-2001, 12:35 PM
Man, that last quote makes me even more pumped! Thanks, Doom :p

JeremyX
12-05-2001, 10:24 PM
Great post!:D