voucher from ati isnt worth much anymore?

[DagFxStudios]

This article i read at
http://megagames.com/news/html/hardware/nvidiasm30listincludesh-l2.shtml

:flame: :angry: seems like that voucher from ati isnt worth much anymore ;(
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how much of an impact will this make to a shader 2.0 card?
and is there a way to update it to 3.0 or is it a hardware issue

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i have an ati 9600 256 ddr
Am i still good to go?> or back to the store to get yet another 3dcard
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\/ Article \/

nVidia seems to have made good use of its multimillion dollar investement in securing games. Much of that money has gone into getting games to adopt Shader Model 3.0 and a list, revealed on NVNews and subsequently removed, indicated that quite a few titles will support the controversial SM 3.0.

If this extensive list of titles proves to be correct then ATIs main argument, that it is too early to adopt SM 3.0 and that SM 2.0b is good enough, will no loger be valid. This list however, also puts ATIs choice to unleash the R520 in 2005 with SM 3.0 support into perspective. The Canadians, it seems, plan to use nVidias investment to their advantage.

The plot thickens however as one title is, controversially, included in nVidia's SM 3.0 list: Half-Life 2. It could be that since Valve will release the game in late September and since 3-4 months later ATI will support SM 3.0, the companies have agreed to use it in H-L 2. If that is the case nVidia will get a good 6 month window of being the only company with boards available that fully support Half-Life 2. Unless, of course, SM 3.0 support is released as a patch only after ATI releases its R520 boards. Confused? They probably want you to be, makes choosing a card a more emotional process than it should be.

However Half-Life 2 SM 3.0 support works out, nVidia seems to have made very good use of its money and the list of games was impressive. Titles included Lord of the rings: Battle for the middle earth, Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl, Splinter Cell 3, Tiger Woods 2005, Vampire: Bloodlines, Tiger Woods 2005, Madden 2005, Driver 3.0, Grafan, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, Patched Painkiller and patched Far cry.

If ATI makes the slightest mistake in the timing and supply of the R520, it stands to fall behind nVidia in a way which could severly damage its challenge on its rivals marketshare.

 

[DarkStar]

Like I said in another thread, I've beed running Far Cry in SM3.0 on my 6800GT for awhile now. There really isn't any noticable increase in image quality but I do get about 5-10 extra FPS with it turned on. So I guess its pretty cool that HL2 is gonna support it.

 

[Maxi]

Iirc there's already a thread on this list. But if you notice, it says games that will use SM3.0. Valve haven't said that they will use it from the begining, they might add it in a patch later on. But one thing is sure. SM3.0 isn't something spectacular, it does the same things as SM2.0 only faster, which means that you can do more stuff, so it basically runs things faster then with 2.0.

 

[Krynn72]

Whats this have to do with the voucher? Did I miss something?

 

[Chris D]

What's it gotta do with HL2?

Moved to Hardware and Software.

Welcome to the forums

 

[DannoHung]

With new games that have a chance to implement a good Shaders 3 path, you'll see some pretty tricky stuff. I think early 2005 is probablly a good target for when we might see some schway Shaders 3 games.

Right now the Shaders 3 support is pretty much limited to avoiding have to run the same fragment program over and over again because Shaders 3 supports looping.

Personally, this is why I see the 6800 as a better investment if you're going to buy a card right now. The X800 might have better performance in some areas, but you're not going to have as long of a lifespan with in terms of eyecandy.

 

[spitcodfry]

I saw some video back when E3 was happening where Far Cry was running under PS 3.0. The one feature which was of most noticeable change from standard Far Cry graphics settings was the inclusion of displacement mapping, which I'm sure most of you have seen to great effect from the Unreal Engine 3 video. For those that don't know, displacement mapping allows textures to give off a three dimensional appearance from every angle, such as a wall texture made up of bricks seeming to have depth when viewed at an angle other than head on. Anywho, from that FC video I certainly noticed a difference. Maybe the PS 3.0 implementation on the 6800 was not utilizing displacement mapping due to Far Cry not having the proper patch to enable it? Someone clear this up whether Far Cry needs a patch for this to work or if it's already built in (displacement mapping).

 

[DagFxStudios]

is there a way to update it to 3.0 or is it a hardware issue?
(radeon 9600 256ddr)
sorry if this was already answered but im no computer genius so if someone would wanna quote it or answer it...

im trying not to spend money on another 3d card unless i have to

 

[Maxi]

it's a hardware thing, only the nvidia 6800 series has it afaik.

 

[spitcodfry]

is there a way to update it to 3.0 or is it a hardware issue?
(radeon 9600 256ddr)
sorry if this was already answered but im no computer genius so if someone would wanna quote it or answer it...

im trying not to spend money on another 3d card unless i have to

I'm in the same boat, I have an AIW 9800 Pro. From what I've read it's hardware compatibility-related, so unfortunately no patch will allow us to use it with our cards. Like others in this thread have mentioned, however, there are hardly any current games that will be utilizing it to great effect. I would assume the one that takes it to the edge the most would be Epic, and their engine isn't meant to be used by any current GPUs (not recommended anyway) until a game running under it is released (sometime in 2005-06 is it?). From that video I suppose we can infer that current hardware is simply not meant to run it (well at least).

 

[Asus]

Epic has said that their UE3 only uses virtual displacement mapping which your card supports. Otherwise the polycount is high enough where they do not need true displacement mapping.

They also said most of their shaders are pixel shaders and not vertex shaders (which is where displacement mapping falls).
It was in an interview on Beyond3D with Tim.