Intel E3-1220L v3 CM8064601481914 User Manual

The VS stage performs shading of vertices output by the VF function. The VS unit

produces an output vertex reference for every input vertex reference received from

the VF unit, in the order received.

The GS stage receives inputs from the VS stage. Compiled application-provided GS

programs, specifying an algorithm to convert the vertices of an input object into some

output primitives. For example, a GS shader may convert lines of a line strip into

polygons representing a corresponding segment of a blade of grass centered on the

line. Or it could use adjacency information to detect silhouette edges of triangles and

output polygons extruding out from the edges.

The Clip stage performs general processing on incoming 3D objects. However, it also

includes specialized logic to perform a Clip Test function on incoming objects. The Clip

Test optimizes generalized 3D Clipping. The Clip unit examines the position of

incoming vertices, and accepts/rejects 3D objects based on its Clip algorithm.

The SF stage performs setup operations required to rasterize 3D objects. The outputs

from the SF stage to the Windower stage contain implementation-specific information

required for the rasterization of objects and also supports clipping of primitives to

some extent.

The WIZ unit performs an early depth test, which removes failing pixels and

eliminates unnecessary processing overhead.

The Windower uses the parameters provided by the SF unit in the object-specific

rasterization algorithms. The WIZ unit rasterizes objects into the corresponding set of

pixels. The Windower is also capable of performing dithering, whereby the illusion of a

higher resolution when using low-bpp channels in color buffers is possible. Color

dithering diffuses the sharp color bands seen on smooth-shaded objects.

The Video Engine handles the non-3D (media/video) applications. It includes support

for VLD and MPEG2 decode in hardware.

The 2D Engine contains BLT (Block Level Transfer) functionality and an extensive set

of 2D instructions. To take advantage of the 3D during engine’s functionality, some

BLT functions make use of the 3D renderer.

The 2D registers consists of original VGA registers and others to support graphics

modes that have color depths, resolutions, and hardware acceleration features that go

beyond the original VGA standard.

Intel

®

 Xeon

®

 Processor E3-1200 v3 Product Family

June 2013

Datasheet – Volume 1 of 2

Order No.: 328907-001

29