Received: from watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (watserv1.waterloo.edu) by karazm.math.UH.EDU with SMTP id AA22143 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Tue, 22 Oct 1991 16:58:40 -0500 Received: by watserv1.uwaterloo.ca id ; Tue, 22 Oct 91 17:54:20 -0400 Date: Tue, 22 Oct 91 17:54:20 -0400 From: Dave Stampe-Psy+Eng Message-Id: <9110222154.AA02549@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> To: glove-list@karazm.math.uh.edu Here's a "weird" proposal. Read it and think about it before you reply... Using Amiga 500's as graphics accelerators for IBM PC's ???? The idea is to interface (cheaply) 1 or 2 A500's to a 386 PC. The output of the A500's is NTSC video, perfect for driving those cheap Eyephone displays. The 386 supplies the processing power for modelling, list transversal and I/O; the A500 supplies faster low-level rendering. The BIG advantage here is that binocular 3-D is almost as fast as monocular video. Now, the cost of an A500 without monitor is under $500: about the cost of a very cheap graphics coprocessor card for the PC. Some sort of interface has to be implemented that can transfer data FAST without significant loading of the CPU at either end of the link. The A500 boots and runs off a floppy automatically. I'm not sure where the best place to interrupt the rendering chain for division of labor is. The A500 is capable of 3 or 4 times the graphics performance of the PC in squirting stuff onto the screen; the PC is about 6-10x faster on the database and pre-rendering stuff. Whether to use a repetitive-drawing algorithm using tha A500's faster drawing speed or a scan-line algorithm with the PC passing the A500 shading, texture, and horizontal line segments to draw is another guestion. My answer to "Why not just go with an A3000 right away" is that it's not really a good idea for IBM PC programmers who have a big investment in their environments, etc. Besides, see how VPL has been using a MAC to drive their IRIS workstations: it's a case of software environment in many cases. Anyway, let's discuss it. Is it cost-effective? How much of a speedup will it make? (Oh, come on now. Just think about for 15 seconds or so...) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | My life is Hardware, | | | my destiny is Software, | Dave Stampe | | my CPU is Wetware... | | | Anybody got a SDB I can borrow? | dstamp@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca | __________________________________________________________________________