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Rage 128 ImpressionsOn December 7, 1998 at 10:00AM PST , as I was studying for my finals, I received a knock on my door and then heard the shout "FedEx!" I already knew what the was being delivered and I rushed to the door and signed the package. Thus began my journey with the Rage128. ATI's package contained a Rage Fury AGP board, a press kit (brochures, pamphlets, etc.), S-VHS, and RCA Composite cables, and a special edition Earthlight DVD-Video/DVD-ROM (85 min/Color/DD). The card is well designed. It's small and has a very clean layout with no chips on the back. There is an unusual riser card for the SVHS and Composite TV outputs which appears to contain nothing more than a few resistors and the connectors. Since the riser card is attached to an 26 pins header, I would assume that this is provided for future upgradability to LCD flat panel support or HDTV out. There is also an AMC connector for ATI-TV owners. Unlike other reference boards, this one contains a metal backplate, which indicates that this is probably identical to the final shipping product. The memory used is high quality Samsung -G8 SDRAM that is rated at 125Mhz 64-megabit density. That means that there are no chips on the back, it's faster, and identical to the PC-100 SDRAM you have in your PC. Thus, ATI has maintained its integrity and refused to shipped an overclocked and unstable card. Oh, and one more thing. There is no heatsink on the Rage128. ATI has developed an excellent .25 micron design that does not need additional cooling and runs cool to the touch. ATI is even able to place a blanket over the chip (the sticker) without worrying about stability. I don't think I'll have the smell of burning TNT in my system. Simply put, the Rage128 is a killer product. Even though the Rage128 offers top-notch 2D, 3D, and DVD acceleration, memory configurations of 16 and 32 MB of SDRAM, and a superb software bundle of Moto Racer 2, Expendable, and Half-Life: Day One. ATI has somehow managed to keep the prices below their competitors. If Buycomp offering the Rage Fury 32MB for $150 and the Xpert128 16MB for $110 is not enough, ATI is also offering a $20 mail-in rebate. Simply put, when compared to the RivaTNT or 3Dfx Banshee you are getting faster 3D, true hardware DVD-video decoding, top-notch TV out on the Rage Fury, and an impressive software bundle for a rock-bottom price. I don't know how ATI is doing it, but I don't think anyone will be complaining. Gamers have often humorously compared ATI to BMW's cars. The hardware is excellent, capable of performing feats most others cannot, but the experience is ultimately limited to the quality of the drivers. As the Rage Pro had is fair share of driver delays and bugs, ATI promised better drivers for the Rage128, and they have delivered. ATI ships the Rage 128 products out of the box with a full OpenGL ICD allowing you immediately both the ability to play OpenGL games like Quake II, and to work with professional applications. The Direct3D support is very robust with only a few issues as a result of the beta drivers. These drivers are far found better than those of the older Rage Pro, and I have encountered no major problems with the Rage128.
Software DVDThe Rage128's Software DVD is excellent. A closer look at the DVD is available in the latter parts of Rage128 Revealed. The Rage128 is a very strong product with amazing performance at an amazing price. The chip is not only an excellent 3D card, but also provides full hardware MPEG-2 acceleration, superior multimedia features such as DTV and HDTV support, solid drivers, and on top of all that, offers an amazing low price.
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