The GeForce3 graphics processing unit (GPU) from Nvidia has received the Innovation Award from Computer Graphics World magazine.
A video card with the GeForce 3 GPU is offered as a build-to-order option on Power Mac G4s. With 57 million transistors, the GeForce3 is more complex in many ways than the CPUs that drive Macs and PCs. Nvidia has also beefed up performance by adding functions that remove common bottlenecks and/or process data more efficiently. The GeForce3 also includes a feature called the nFiniteFX Engine that allows game developers to add custom real-time effects to their titles.
To take advantage of the nFiniteFX Engine, developers must rewrite their game titles — or more precisely, their game development engines — to access its features. However, most of the GeForce3’s enhancements promise substantial performance gains in any game or application that’s based on OpenGL, the 3D graphics standard that Apple has adopted for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.
The editors of Computer Graphics World and a panel of judges annually bestow the Innovation Awards to the products “that best represent the essence of innovation in visual computing.” Details on the award appear in the December 2001 issue of Computer Graphics World and can be viewed online.
“Nvidia’s GeForce3 graphics processing unit, featuring Nvidia’s Shader Technology, marks the first time that game developers have been able to take advantage of the numerous real-time special effects and custom looks that programmable graphics hardware offers,” Phil LoPiccolo, editor-in-chief of Computer Graphics World, said in announcing the award.