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{{Short description|1995 computer graphics card}}
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{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}
{{infobox GPU
| name = Nvidia NV1 / STG2000
| image = NV1 GPU (SGS-Thomson STG2000).jpg
| caption = NV1 chip manufactured by SGS-Thomson under the model name STG2000
| codename = NV1
| created = {{start date|1995|5|22}}<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.nvidia.com/corporate/prnv.html|title=Multimedia Accelerator From NVIDIA Corporation Transforms PC Into The Ultimate Multimedia Machine|author=Nvidia Corporation|author-link=Nvidia|date=May 22, 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961112163303/http://www.nvidia.com/corporate/prnv.html|archive-date=November 12, 1996|url-status=dead|access-date=April 14, 2020}}</ref>
| successor = [[RIVA 128]]
| support status = Unsupported
| manufacturer = [[STMicroelectronics|SGS-Thomson Microelectronics]]
| designfirm = [[Nvidia]]
| marketed_by = [[Diamond Multimedia]]
| process = [[600 nm process|500 nm]]
}}

The '''NV1''' was [[Nvidia]]'s first [[graphics accelerator]], introduced in May 1995 and released later that year as a multimedia [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] card.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.nvidia.com/corporate/prnv.html|title=NVidia, Links to other Press Releases|author=Nvidia Corporation|author-link=Nvidia|date=May 22, 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970228082337/http://www.nvidia.com/corporate/press.html|archive-date=February 28, 1997|url-status=dead}}</ref> Manufactured by [[STMicroelectronics|SGS-Thomson Microelectronics]], sometimes under the model name '''STG2000''', the chip was sold in retail by [[Diamond Multimedia|Diamond]] as the '''Diamond Edge 3D''' card. The NV1 stood out for its use of [[quadratic texture mapping]], a departure from the triangular [[Geometric primitive|primitives]] favored by competitors. The use of quadratics made it possible to port games from the [[Sega Saturn]], however, after the NV1 was introduced, Microsoft announced that [[DirectX]] would exclusively support triangle primitives.<ref name="Peddie">{{cite news |last1=Peddie |first1=Jon |date=September 23, 2019 |title=Nvidia's RIVA 128 |url=https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded/article/21131077/jon-peddie-research-nvidias-riva-128 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119155034/https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded/article/21131077/jon-peddie-research-nvidias-riva-128 |archive-date=January 19, 2024 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |work=Electronic Design}}</ref> As a result, the NV1 failed to gain traction in the market.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Tae |title=The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant |date=2024 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-324-08672-7 |edition=1st |location=}}</ref>

In addition to its [[2D computer graphics|2D]]/[[3D computer graphics|3D]] graphics core and [[Video RAM]] or [[DRAM|FPM DRAM]] memory, the NV1 card also integrated the functionality of a 32-channel playback-only [[sound card]], and had a [[gameport|joystick port]], along with ports for two Sega Saturn controllers. As such, it was marketed as a "multimedia card" that was a replacement for both a graphics card and a [[Sound Blaster]]-compatible audio card in [[IBM PC]] compatible systems. However, this made it more expensive, and with many computer owners owning a sound card, the all-in-one design further hurt its market appeal.

The '''NV2''' was a follow-up chip developed for Sega's [[Dreamcast]], but was ultimately abandoned. Nvidia shifted focus with its next product, the [[RIVA 128]], which adopted triangle primitives and dropped the audio functionality. This alignment with Direct3D and a more streamlined design made the RIVA 128 a success.

== History ==
Several Sega Saturn games saw NV1-compatible conversions on the PC such as ''[[Panzer Dragoon (video game)|Panzer Dragoon]]'' and ''[[Virtua Fighter (arcade game)#Virtua Fighter Remix|Virtua Fighter Remix]]''. However, the NV1 struggled in a market place full of several competing proprietary standards, and was marginalized by emerging triangle [[Polygon (computer graphics)|polygon]]-based 2D/3D accelerators such as the low-cost [[ViRGE|S3 Graphics ViRGE]], [[Matrox]] Mystique, [[ATI Rage]], and [[Rendition (company)#Vérité V1000|Rendition Vérité V1000]] among other early entrants. It ultimately did not sell well, despite being a promising and interesting device. {{Peacock inline|date=March 2024}}

[[File:Diamond EDGE 3400 NV1.png|thumb|left|[[Diamond Multimedia|Diamond]] EDGE 3D 3400]]

NV1's biggest initial problem was its cost and overall quality. Although it offered credible 3D performance, its use of quadratic surfaces was not popular, and was quite different than typical polygon rendering. The audio portion of the card received merely acceptable reviews, with the [[General MIDI]] receiving lukewarm responses at best (a critical component at the time due to the superior sound quality produced by competing products). The Sega Saturn console was a market failure compared to Sony's [[PlayStation]] or Sega's earlier [[Sega Genesis]], and so the unique and somewhat limiting support of these gamepads was of limited benefit. [[Nvidia]], by integrating all of these usually separate components, raised their costs considerably above what they would have been if the card had been designed solely for 3D acceleration.

During the NV1's release timeframe, the transition from [[VESA Local Bus|VLB]]/[[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] ([[80486|486s]]) to PCI ([[Intel P5 (microarchitecture)|Pentiums]] and late model 486 boards) was taking place, and games often used [[MIDI]] for music because PCs were still generally incapable of large-scale digital audio playback due to storage and processing power limitations. Reaching for the best music and sound quality, and flexibility with [[MS-DOS]] audio standards, often required 2 sound cards be used, or a sound card with a MIDI [[daughtercard]] connector. Additionally, NV1's 2D speed and quality were not competitive with many of the high-end systems available at the time, especially the critical-for-games DOS graphics speed. Many customers were simply not interested in replacing their often-elaborate system setups with an expensive all-in-one board and so the heavy integration of NV1 hurt sales simply through inconvenience.

[[File:Dedge3d.jpg|thumb|Diamond EDGE 3D 2120]]

Market interest in the product quickly ended when [[Microsoft]] announced the [[DirectX]] specifications, based upon triangle polygon rendering. This release by Microsoft of a major industry-backed [[application programming interface|API]] that was generally incompatible with NV1 ended Nvidia's hopes of market leadership immediately. While demos of quadratic rendered round spheres looked good, experience had proved working with quadratic texture maps was extremely difficult. Even calculating simple routines was problematic. Nvidia did manage to put together limited Direct3D support, but it was slow and buggy (software-based), and no match for the native triangle polygon hardware on the market.<ref name="vintage3d">{{Cite web |title=Nvidia NV1 Diamond Edge 3D review |url=https://vintage3d.org/nv1.php |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=vintage3d.org}}</ref>

Subsequent NV1 quadratic-related development continued internally as the NV2.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100px">
File:NVIDIA@500nm@Fixed-pipeline@NV1@STG2000X B A22FN9609 MALTA DSC05885 (27662108651).jpg|The NV1
File:NVIDIA@500nm@Fixed-pipeline@NV1@STG2000X B A22FN9609 MALTA Stack-DSC05980-DSC06005 - ZS-DMap (27671715841).jpg|[[Die shot]] of the NV1
</gallery>

==NV2==
NV2 was to be NVIDIA's second PC [[3D accelerator]] graphics chip, but it was cancelled before completion. It was planned to succeed the NV1.

NV2 built upon its predecessor's unusual quadratic 3D-rendering architecture. It was initially considered for use in Sega's Dreamcast console, due to the relationship cultivated between NVidia and Sega over the porting of Sega arcade and Saturn console titles over to the PC platform, where the similarity in NV1's and Saturn's 3D-rendering architecture aided in the porting process. (The NV1 graphics cards had 2 Sega Saturn gamepad ports integrated so that Saturn titles could be easily ported over to the NV1 cards and have an equal gameplay experience.) However, experience with both Saturn and NV1's 3D-rendering architecture in the Saturn ultimately led the company to abandon quadratic 3D-rendering architecture altogether, in favor of a more traditional architecture that operated on [[triangle primitives]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Dang, Alan |url=http://www.firingsquad.com/features/nv2/ |title=NVIDIA NV2 Report |publisher=FiringSquad |date=February 16, 2001 |access-date=2008-06-15}}</ref>

NVIDIA's strong desire to stick with their maturing quadratic [[forward texture mapping]] technology was a great cause of friction between Sega and NVIDIA. One part of the equation was undoubtedly that Sega's PC games division. A quadratic 3D [[game engine]] would be very difficult to port over to just about any other contemporary 3D graphics hardware, all of which used triangle primitives and [[inverse-texture mapping]]. More importantly, although consumer 3D hardware was still in its infancy, there was general consensus within the industry that triangle primitives with inverse-texture mapping would be standard going forward. Sega ultimately selected [[NEC]]/[[Imagination Technologies|VideoLogic's]] [[PowerVR]]2 to power the 3d-graphics in its Dreamcast console.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.techspot.com/article/653-history-of-the-gpu-part-2/|title = History of the Modern Graphics Processor, Part 2| date=4 December 2020 }}</ref>

Because the demand was not there from Sega, and the PC market had drastically changed direction away from QTM due to the popularity of the triangle polygon-based [[OpenGL]] and [[DirectX]], NVIDIA abandoned further development of the NV2 and started on a new architecture, a.k.a. "NV3" or [[RIVA 128]].

== Supported games ==
* ''[[Battle Arena Toshinden]]''
* ''[[Daytona USA (video game)|Daytona USA]] (Japanese releases)
* ''[[Descent (video game)|Descent: Destination Saturn]]''
* ''[[NASCAR Racing (video game)|NASCAR Racing]]''
* ''[[Panzer Dragoon (video game)|Panzer Dragoon]]''
* ''[[Sonic X-treme]]'' (cancelled)
* ''[[Twisted Metal (1995 video game)|Twisted Metal]]'' (Japanese releases)
* ''[[Virtua Fighter (arcade game)#Virtua Fighter Remix|Virtua Fighter Remix]]''
* ''[[Virtua Cop]]''

==Chipset table==
{{Row hover highlight}}
{| class="mw-datatable wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom" {{Vert header|Model}}
! rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: bottom" {{Vert header|Launch}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Code name]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Semiconductor device fabrication|Fab]] ([[nanometer|nm]])<ref name="vintage3ddbn">{{cite web |title=3D accelerator database |url=http://vintage3d.org/dbn.php |website=Vintage 3D |access-date=30 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023222614/http://www.vintage3d.org/dbn.php |archive-date=23 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Transistors (million)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Die size (mm<sup>2</sup>)}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|[[Computer bus|Bus]] [[I/O interface|interface]]}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Memory clock ([[Hertz|MHz]])}}
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|Core config{{efn|name=geforce 256 1|[[Pixel pipeline]]s: [[texture mapping unit]]s: [[render output unit]]s}}}}
! colspan="4" |[[Fillrate]]
! colspan="4" |Memory
! rowspan="2" {{Vert header|TDP (Watts)}}
! colspan="2" |Latest [[Application programming interface|API]] support
|-
!{{Vert header|MOperations/s}}
!{{Vert header|MPixels/s}}
!{{Vert header|MTexels/s}}
!{{Vert header|MVertices/s}}
!{{Vert header|Size ([[Megabyte|MB]])}}
!{{Vert header|Bandwidth ([[Gigabyte|GB]]/s)}}
!{{Vert header|Bus type}}
!{{Vert header|Bus width ([[bit]])}}
!{{Vert header|[[Direct3D]]}}
!{{Vert header|[[OpenGL]]}}
|-
! style="text-align:left" |STG-2000
|May 22, 1995
|NV1
|[[STMicroelectronics|SGS]]<br/>[[600 nm process|500 nm]]
|1<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-nv1.g596|title=NVIDIA NV1 GPU Specs &#124; TechPowerUp GPU Database|date=30 August 2024 }}</ref>
|90
|PCI
|12<br/>75
|50<br/>60
|rowspan="1" |1:1:1
|12
|12
|12
|rowspan="1" |0
|1<br>2<br/>4
|0.4<br/>0.48
|FPM<br/>EDO<br />VRAM
|64
|?
|1.0
|n/a
|}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Nvidia}}

[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1995]]
[[Category:Nvidia graphics processors]]
[[Category:Sega Saturn]]
[[Category:Graphics cards]]