Editing GeForce FX series (section)

==Overview==
Nvidia's GeForce FX series is the fifth generation of the [[GeForce]] line. With [[GeForce 3]], the company introduced programmable shader functionality into their 3D architecture, in line with the release of Microsoft's [[DirectX]] 8.0. The [[GeForce 4|GeForce 4 Ti]] was an enhancement of the GeForce 3 technology. With real-time [[3D graphics]] technology continually advancing, the release of DirectX 9.0 brought further refinement of programmable pipeline technology with the arrival of [[Shader Model]] 2.0. The GeForce FX series is Nvidia's first generation Direct3D 9-compliant hardware.

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:nVidia Dawn.jpg|left|thumb|The ''[[Dawn (demo)|Dawn]]'' demo was released by Nvidia to showcase the new programmable shader effects of the GeForce FX series]] -->
The series was manufactured on [[TSMC]]'s 130 [[nanometer|nm]] fabrication process.<ref name="anand5800preview">{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand|url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/1034 |title=Nvidia Introduces GeForce FX (NV30) |publisher=Anandtech |date=November 18, 2002|access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref> It is compliant with Shader Model 2.0/2.0A, allowing more flexibility in complex shader/fragment programs and much higher arithmetic precision. It supports a number of new memory technologies, including [[DDR2 SDRAM|DDR2]], [[GDDR-2|GDDR2]] and [[GDDR-3|GDDR3]] and saw Nvidia's first implementation of a memory data bus wider than 128 bits.<ref name="ixbtlabs5900">{{cite web |last1=Barkovoi |first1=Aleksei |last2=Vorobiev |first2=Andrey|url=http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/gffx/5900u.html |title=Nvidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256MB Video Card Review |publisher=X-bit labs |year=2003 |access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref> The anisotropic filtering implementation has potentially higher quality than previous Nvidia designs.<ref name="anand5800preview" />  Anti-aliasing methods have been enhanced and additional modes are available compared to GeForce 4.<ref name="anand5800preview" /> Memory bandwidth and fill-rate optimization mechanisms have been improved.<ref name="anand5800preview" />  Some members of the series offer double fill-rate in [[Z-buffering|z-buffer]]/stencil-only passes.<ref name="ixbtlabs5900" />

The series also brought improvements to the company's video processing hardware, in the form of the Video Processing Engine (VPE), which was first deployed in the GeForce 4 MX.<ref name="nvvpefx">{{cite web |url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_vpe.html |title=Video Processing Engine |publisher=NVIDIA |access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref> The primary addition, compared to previous Nvidia GPUs, was per-pixel video-[[deinterlacing]].<ref name="nvvpefx" />

The initial version of the GeForce FX (the 5800) was one of the first cards to come equipped with a large dual-slot cooler. Called "Flow FX", the cooler was very large in comparison to ATI's small, single-slot cooler on the 9700 series.<ref name=TRGFFX5800U>{{cite web |author=Wasson, Scott |url=http://techreport.com/articles.x/4966 |title=NVIDIA's GeForce FX 5800 Ultra GPU |publisher=Tech Report |date=April 7, 2003 |access-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref> It was jokingly referred to as the "Dustbuster", due to a high level of fan noise.<ref>[http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/graphics_extravaganza_ultimate_gpu_retrospective?page=0%2C6 From Voodoo to GeForce: The Awesome History of 3D Graphics]</ref>

The advertising campaign for the GeForce FX featured the ''[http://www.nvidia.com/coolstuff/demos#!/geforce-fx/dawn Dawn]'', which was the work of several veterans from the computer animation [[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_dawndemo_home.html |title=Dawn Demo |publisher=NVIDIA |access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref> Nvidia touted it as "The Dawn of Cinematic Computing".<ref name="nvdawncinematic">{{cite web|url=http://www.nor-tech.com/solutions/dox/PO_GFFX_5600_5200.pdf |title=Cinematic Computing For Every User |publisher=NVIDIA |access-date=August 25, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714194445/http://www.nor-tech.com/solutions/dox/PO_GFFX_5600_5200.pdf |archive-date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref>

Nvidia debuted a new campaign to motivate developers to optimize their titles for Nvidia hardware at the [[Game Developers Conference]] (GDC) in 2002. In exchange for prominently displaying the Nvidia logo on the outside of the game packaging, the company offered free access to a state-of-the-art test lab in Eastern Europe, that tested against 500 different PC configurations for compatibility. Developers also had extensive access to Nvidia engineers, who helped produce code optimized for the company's products.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ferret, Wily |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39402 |title=Post-Nvidia man writes in |publisher=The Inquirer |date=May 4, 2007 |access-date=June 14, 2008 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922175438/http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39402 |archive-date=September 22, 2007 }}</ref>

Hardware based on the NV30 project didn't launch until near the end of 2002, several months after ATI had released their competing DirectX 9 architecture.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lal Shimpi, Anand|url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/1062 |title=Nvidia GeForce FX 5800 Ultra: It's Here, but is it Good? |publisher=Anandtech |date=January 27, 2003|access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref>