Nvidia Launches Riva TNT2

Nvidia announced the Riva TNT2, combining 32-bit true color rendering, 32-bit Z-buffer and a 32MB frame buffer. The chip boasts the Twin Texel Architecture with per-pixel MIP-mapping precision, combined with the TNT2's fill rate performance of up to 350 million pixels per second. The TNT2 also has the ability to render up to 10 million triangles per second. Customers developing TNT2-based graphics cards include ASUS, Canopus, Diamond Multimedia, ELSA, Guillemot, Hercules, and Leadtek, with more add-in-card and tier one OEM announcements to come, according to the company. Targeting the mainstream performance PC market, TNT2-based boards will feature a 300MHz RAMDAC and 32MB of RAM, and will support resolutions as high as 2048 x 1536 at 32 bps at 85Hz. The TNT2 architecture is Nvidia's fourth-generation integrated 128-bit 3D processor. The TNT2 graphics processor will be priced at $45.00 in 10,000-unit quantities and is expected in production this quarter.