ATI XPERT@Work

The two latest 2D/3D ATi cards are the consumer-orientated Xpert@Play and the business-focused Xpert@Work. The differences between them are minor; there's no 2Mb option or graphics apps for the former, but two games and a TV connector are standard across the board.

Both are based on the excellent ATi Rage Pro chip, a 64-bit graphics accelerator optimised for 3D and motion video playback; it also includes MPEG-2, so it's ready for DVD. Drivers are available for Windows 3.1 and above, with NT users getting the best deal - full OpenGL support is available to NT 4 but not Windows 95 users. ATi is apparently working on updated drivers that will support OpenGL, due in 1998. For those who want OpenGL support soon, upgrade to NT.

Installation was simple, with the supplied drivers bang up to date. This is just as well, because the ATi Web site doesn't have a complete set of downloadable drivers. This is apparently to prevent users installing inappropriate drivers, but it's irritating if you use the Web to keep up to date.

The 3D functions offered by the card are excellent. It has an integrated triangle setup engine which reduces CPU requirements, and notably a 4Kb on-chip cache for buffering textures which speeds large triangle manipulation considerably. Full single-pass bilinear and trilinear filtering that ensures the quality of textures close up is improved.

All-round performance is extremely good, especially under Direct3D. Its Moto Racer benchmark score was higher than the Apocalypse 5D and Number 9 Revolution 3D. With the ATi card fitted, Jedi Knight ran noticeably faster on a Pentium/200, cruising past the PowerVR-based Apocalypse 5D, with a performance comparable to Voodoo-based 3Dfx cards.

The frame rate and texture quality were both high. It's a shame that OpenGL isn't supported by the current Windows 95 drivers; it also seems unlikely that an ATi-enhanced OpenGL will be offered as an option with the Quake 2 engine, which has generic OpenGL support, but improved PowerVR and 3Dfx OpenGLs. On the other hand, Direct3D performance is as good or better than other cards, and this alone should guarantee that nearly all 3D accelerated games will run well. It's no 2D slouch either; benchmark results revealed it to be faster than the Diamond Viper 330 and equal to the Matrox Millennium II.

The only puzzling error that occurred was on one machine where Microsoft's Direct3D test refused to acknowledge that the drivers supported the Direct3D HAL. This was odd, as games requiring Direct3D support ran without any problems on the same machine.

The card carries an ATi Multimedia channel connector, which allows the card to be upgraded to include the highly regarded ATi-TV tuner and video capture system. It will also allow connection to future ATi products developed with DVD in mind.

The ATi card is an excellent all-rounder. With OpenGL support promised for next year and superb Direct3D and 2D performance with the current drivers, it's good value for money. It's a popular choice as an OEM product, and it's easy to see why.

Author: Tim Ponting