ATI Technologies 100-505181 - FireGL 256 MB PCI-Express Card User manual

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FireGL™ X2-256t
FireGL™ X2-256
FireGL™ X1-128
FireGL™ Z1-128
User’s Guide
P/N: 137-50015-40
© Copyright 2004, by ATI Technologies Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction of this manual, or parts thereof, in any form, without the
express written permission of ATI Technologies Inc. is strictly prohibited.
ATI and all ATI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks
of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, performance and specifications are
subject to change without notice. Product may not be exactly as shown in the diagrams.
FireGL, FIRE GL, HYDRAVISION – ATI Technologies Inc.; Athlon – Advanced Micro
Devices. Inc.; Fire Wire – Apple Computer Inc.; Direct3D, Windows 2000, Windows XP –
Microsoft Corp.; IEEE – The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.; AGP
(Accelerated Graphics Port), Celeron, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III – Intel Corporation;
VGA – International Business Machines Corp.; OpenGL - Silicon Graphics Inc.; VESA – Video
Electronics Standards Association.
Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated, which may be registered in
certain jurisdictions.

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Disclaimer
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this
document, ATI Technologies Inc. assumes no liability with respect to
the operation or use of ATI hardware, software or other products and
documentation described herein, for any act or omission of ATI
concerning such products or this documentation, for any interruption of
service, loss or interruption of business, loss of anticipatory profits, or
for punitive, incidental or consequential damages in connection with
the furnishing, performance, or use of the ATI hardware, software, or
other products and documentation provided herein.
ATI Technologies Inc. reserves the right to make changes without
further notice to a product or system described herein to improve
reliability, function or design. With respect to ATI products which this
document relates, ATI disclaims all express or implied warranties
regarding such products, including but not limited to, the implied
warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-
infringement.
Documentation updates
ATI is constantly improving its product and associated documentation.
To maximize the value of your ATI product, you should ensure that you
have the latest documentation. ATI’s documentation contains helpful
installation/configuration tips and other valuable feature information.

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Contents
Getting Started............................................................... 1
Using this Guide ............................................................................................ 2
Viewing the User's Guide Online........................................................... 3
Do you Need a Printout of the Online User's Guide?............................. 3
Customer Care ............................................................................................... 4
FireGL Card Features ........................................................................... 5
System Requirements and Tools ................................................................... 7
Quick Installation .......................................................................................... 8
Installing the Hardware and Software ......................... 9
Installing the Hardware ................................................................................. 9
Preparing your Computer ..................................................................... 10
Installing the Card ................................................................................ 14
Connecting the Cables and Completing the Installation ...................... 20
Installing the Software................................................................................. 23
Before you Start: Information, Tips, and Hints.................................... 24
Software Installation for Windows 2000 and Windows XP ................ 25
Using Your FireGL Card.............................................. 27
Using Two Monitors.................................................................................... 29
Using the DualScreen Tab .................................................................. 30
Changing the Video Settings ....................................................................... 31
How to Switch to the Display Properties ............................................. 31
Setting Resolution, Color Depth and Refresh Rate............................. 31
Adjusting the Monitor Display............................................................. 33
Using Application Profiles and Advanced Functions.................................. 36
Configuring Application Profiles ......................................................... 36
Setting Advanced Functions................................................................. 39
see also
HYDRAVISION™ User’s Guide

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Reference ..................................................................... 41
Removing the FireGL Drivers..................................................................... 41
Troubleshooting........................................................................................... 43
Technical Details ......................................................................................... 46
Product Specifications.......................................................................... 46
Pin Assignments................................................................................... 48
Video Modes ........................................................................................ 49
Warranty Service Information..................................................................... 51
Compliance Information.............................................................................. 53

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CHAPTER 1
Getting Started
Your ATI FireGL card is an advanced workstation 3D graphics
accelerator based on a high-bandwidth, parallel pipeline
geometry and rendering architecture. The card delivers
workstation-class performance to designers, engineers and
animators, running the leading OpenGL and DirectX
applications
Features of your FireGL workstation graphics accelerator:
• Real-time photo-realistic rendering and animation
• Stable and reliable software support for Windows® and
Linux® platforms
• Optimized support for the leading workstation applications
• SMARTSHADER™ technology for creating complex visual
effects
• SMOOTHVISION™ technology for advanced full-scene
anti-aliasing
IN THIS CHAPTER...
■Using this Guide on page 2
■FireGL Card Features on page 5
■System Requirements and Tools on
page 7
■Quick Installation on page 8

2 Getting Started
Using this Guide
Many hyperlinks provide easy access to any information you
may want. To make it useful in a printed format, too, a -
hyperlinked - table of contents and page numbers are provided.
Since this guide was designed to be used online and printed, the
quality of some images on screen or in print may be affected.
The organization of this guide is as follows:
Installing the Hardware and Software on page 9 provides
instructions for installing your FireGL card, loading the driver
and connecting video output devices to your card.
Using Your FireGL Card on page 27 explains how you can
take advantage of the advanced features of your FireGL card.
Reference on page 41 provides troubleshooting tips and
regulatory compliance information for your card.
HYDRAVISION™ User’s Guide provides information on
using HYDRAVISION, a multi-monitor and desktop
management utility to control multiple display desktops.

Getting Started 3
Viewing the User's Guide Online
You can easily read the User's Guide online - important
hypertext links, such as Table of Contents entries, World Wide
Web, and E-mail addresses are active.
Place your mouse cursor over Table of Contents entries or main
headings. If the hand icon changes to a pointing index finger,
simply click and you will move to that place in the document.
Displaying the provided bookmark and thumbnail views may
help you with the navigation in the User's Guide. Some E-mail
or Web addresses inside this manual may be active as well. Go
directly to a Web, FTP site, or E-mail program simply by
clicking on an active link.
This manual might be displayed with slightly-reduced
magnification in your Reader. If you experience any difficulty
reading certain files online, use the Reader's Zoom To feature
from the View menu and increase the magnification to about
150%. To view details of some screenshot images you may need
to increase magnification.
Do you Need a Printout of the Online User's Guide?
You can also print this User's Guide to access it off-line. The
manual then will look like any standard document with a table
of contents and page numbers.
For printing the User's Guide, a print resolution of 600 dpi or
higher is recommended.

4 Getting Started
Customer Care
If you require assistance to get the most out of your product, the
following options are available:
•Online: For product information, video drivers, Frequently Asked
Questions and Email support visit:
http://www.ati.com and select CUSTOMER CARE.
•FireGL Workstation dedicated toll free support line:
*866-284-2093
Available Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM EST.
*Access to Telephone Support is available to workstation users at no
additional cost. For complete details please visit:
http://www.ati.com/support/contact.html
•Mail:
ATI Technologies Inc.
Attention: Customer Service
1 Commerce Valley Drive East
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3T 7X6
ATI Customer Care Product Online Registration
By registering your ATI product you will be able take advantage of
driver update notification, technical updates, online store specials and
promotions, contests / giveaway announcements and information
specific to your product.
Product Online Registration is available at:
http://www.ati.com/online/registration

Getting Started 5
FireGL Card Features
• Video memory: DDR SDRAM
- unified frame buffer, Z-buffer, texture storage
- 128-bit floating point precision frame buffer for
photo-realistic renderings.
- 256-bit memory interface for fast 3D graphics
• Pixel pipeline architecture provides enhanced rendering
power.
FireGL VPU Video
Memory
Rendering
Pipelines
FireGL X2-256t FGL 9800XT 256 MB 8
FireGL X2-256 FGL 9800 256 MB 8
FireGL X1-128 FGL 9700 128 MB 8
FireGL Z1-128 FGL 9500 128 MB 4
VPU: Visual Processing Unit
FireGL X2-256t pictured

6 Getting Started
• Supports AGP 3.0 standard (AGP 4X/8X), providing a two
way high-speed interface between the graphics subsystem
and the workstation
• OpenGL 1.3 with 1.4 extensions
DirectX® 9.0 functionality in OpenGL®
• Full DirectX® 9.0 support
• DDC1/2b/2b+ monitor support on all operating system
platforms
• Support for two analog or digital monitors
High resolutions up to 2048 x 1536, 32-bit
Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two
connected monitors
9.1 Mpixel, 3840 x 1240 single-display support
• Application-specific display profile utilities for optimal
performance
• Intel Pentium® 4 Streaming SIMD and AMD Athlon
3Dnow!™ support for Windows 2000, Windows XP and
Linux operating systems.
For more detailed information on features and
performance please refer to the section Technical
Details on page 46.
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