We've already presented a reasonably "in-depth" review comparing the Radeon 8500 to the GeForce3 Ti 500, but now we've got something even deeper for you. Liew Kert Chian has brought his considerable knowledge to bear on the chip called R200, also known as the Radeon 8500. He's gone off the beaten path to provide us with a unique look at the chip. Kert breaks down its most intriguing features bit by bit, examining how they work—from Z-buffer optimizations to pixel shaders to antialiasing and texture filtering.

If you want to understand how a modern 3D graphics chip does its thing, this article is definitely worth your time. Read on to learn more.