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Amazing. Were the 3dfx chips just openly documented enough for this kind of thing to be possible with original information sources, or have these chips been re
by mk_stjames 2y ago
Amazing. Were the 3dfx chips just openly documented enough for this kind of thing to be possible with original information sources, or have these chips been reverse engineered to get to the point where a project like this is possible? I ask because in today's hardware, it's almost laughable to even expect a pinout of a GPU to be publicly disclosed.
- Rinzler89 2y ago>Were the 3dfx chips just openly documented enough All chips have always been documented well enough, since that's the only way for the board partners and system integrators to know how to build cards with them and write drivers for them as was common back then, so everything had to be well documented, same how we have datasheets today with all the low level registers, and application notes with PCB and code samples. The question is always how sticky the NDAs are for you to also get your hands on them, but since 3dfx went bust, the leaks are no longer a problem.
- mk_stjames 2y agoYes of course, hence my word 'openly'- I mean, at some point in the 90's designs started to get locked behind NDA's even just to get the docs. At the time of original manufacture (99/00?), if you were a company making cards, I assume the documentation of the Voodoo 4 was locked behind an OEM agreement? And then at some point that information has leaked out onto the web? Curious to when and how that went down. I fear that so many things now will never get to that point of seeing public light.