The future looks like Nvidia's

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: flexy
Even more...we're dealing with two main game engines (D3/HL2) and each of these is specifically optimized FOR one brand of hardware.

In defense of The Carmack, I'm not so sure that I'd call the D3 engine optimized for any brand. We know that the Nvidia cards do tend to perform better, that it's part of Nvidia's TWIMTBP promotion, and that Nvidia added a feature to the NV3x chipset to speed up D3 style games(Ultra Shadow), but Carmack's shader code is all there, and there's nothing in it that appears to explicitly favor Nvidia. Unless some sort of scandal breaks later on, I have a hard time believing Carmack did anything purposely to optimize the D3 engine, other than put in the API hooks for Ultra Shadow.

 

[jpeyton]

This certainly can't hurt Nvidia's PR machine.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: flexy

What DID i say that you are disputing?

your sentence:
"
Far Cry is an extremely complex game and it runs faster on ATi hardware, even with a SM3 patch.
"

Ok...you are RIGHT so far that the 800XT owns all other cards - but a comparison Corolla <--> ferrari F50 doesn't make a lot of sense either.

The first thinbg i did was looking at the benchies 4xAF and 8xAF (everything else is not interesting) and the two cards in the same price segment, NOT the ultra high-end cards

So i looked at the 6800GT and the 800Pro, and the 6800GT is MUCh faster than the Ati card.

Dont get me wrong, i dont post that to flame....i just looked at the comparable cards !

Actually I was the one who posted that about Far Cry. I stand by my statement. The X800XT is faster than the 6800U in that game. It is not comparing a Ferrari to a Corolla at all and I have no idea where you would get that impression from. Both cards retail for $499 the last time I checked, and are directly competing with one another. Depending on how technical you want to get, you could even go as far as comparing the 6800U with the PCI-E version of the X800XT (if you care about ~20mhz and maybe 2% performance). You may be correct that the 6800GT is faster than the X800PRO, but that's not what I said. The GT has 16 pipes vs. only 12 on the PRO, so it is the superior card in most situations (not only because of the pipelines).

So, in a nutshell:

-the X800XT and the 6800U are approximately equal by most accounts
-the X800PRO is not as fast as the 6800GT in most benchmarks

That's not such a horrible picture IMO; certainly not as bad as the NV30 fiasco where their entire lineup tanked for a bit. At least the X800's image quality is up to par with the competition; NV30 looked worse AND performed worse.

All that is likely to happen (and from what I hear has already happened) is that the X800PRO cards will get very cheap very fast. I don't mind getting one so long as it's at least 25% cheaper than the 6800GT, which it appears it will be. It's certainly not the type of dire situation that could put ATi out of business like some people are suggesting.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: flexy

What DID i say that you are disputing?

your sentence:
"
Far Cry is an extremely complex game and it runs faster on ATi hardware, even with a SM3 patch.
"

Ok...you are RIGHT so far that the 800XT owns all other cards - but a comparison Corolla <--> ferrari F50 doesn't make a lot of sense either.

The first thinbg i did was looking at the benchies 4xAF and 8xAF (everything else is not interesting) and the two cards in the same price segment, NOT the ultra high-end cards

So i looked at the 6800GT and the 800Pro, and the 6800GT is MUCh faster than the Ati card.

Dont get me wrong, i dont post that to flame....i just looked at the comparable cards !

NOT MY QUOTE



:roll:

thanks, SB for clarifying the quotes . . ..

and the 6800GT really stands out as the BEST bang for buck

 

[everman]

I'm just waiting for the next round, my 9800 is doing just fine even in Doom3 and CS:S.
But if I was forced to make a choice, I'd go with a 6800GT because I think the long term outlook seems better and is a solid performer.

Discounting the HL2 engine in that article seemed rather stupid to me though.

 

[imported_pak9rabid]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: flexy
Even more...we're dealing with two main game engines (D3/HL2) and each of these is specifically optimized FOR one brand of hardware.

In defense of The Carmack, I'm not so sure that I'd call the D3 engine optimized for any brand. We know that the Nvidia cards do tend to perform better, that it's part of Nvidia's TWIMTBP promotion, and that Nvidia added a feature to the NV3x chipset to speed up D3 style games(Ultra Shadow), but Carmack's shader code is all there, and there's nothing in it that appears to explicitly favor Nvidia. Unless some sort of scandal breaks later on, I have a hard time believing Carmack did anything purposely to optimize the D3 engine, other than put in the API hooks for Ultra Shadow.

actually, carmack has been known to favor OpenGL over Directx. I remember reading an article that he wrote way back when, stating his distaste of trying to code with the direc3d api. please don't ask me to find a link to that lol, it was sooo long ago. so, indirectly, i do believe doom3 is optimized more for nvidia cards, since as of now, nvidia cards do tend to render OpenGL-based games/apps more efficiently than ATI. this is not to say that this was done on purpose, just that his preference lays with OpenGL, thus indirectly making the doom3 engine more nvidia friendly.

 

[Bovinicus]

Originally posted by: n7
After skimming that article, i think there is far too much fanboism in this world.

Last round, generally speaking, ATI had the better card in terms of price/performance.
This round, generally speaking, nVidia has the better card.

Does it need to be beat to death?

Well said. However, for the past few generations, both companies prodcued cards that had their place in certain systems. Buy what works for you, not what works for fanboy douche bags.

 

[gxsaurav]

Whatever, I m in India &amp; hardware are really cotly here, &amp; takes a lot of time to show up, &amp; fall in price, 6800GT is available for Rs, 30,000 in that money we can buy a whole PC

I just baught my FX5900XT &amp; Happy with it, I will be keeping it until it can't play games at all at 1024X768, 85 Hz, 2XQ AA &amp; 2X anis, this gives the quality I preer on my 17" monitor

What good is 450 frames if U can't go over 85 FPS, Doom3 is running fine even Far Cry is running fine,so Y should I got for something rite now

This is only my choice

 

[Raspewtin]

I think the article extrapolates too much

 

[freeject]

Well this just solidifies my fear that SLI is going to break ati's back. They haven't even announced dual-gpu development yet and nVidia's platform is almost out the door. Once dual pci-e becomes publicly available, nvidia is going to have a massive advantage - normally you wouldnt spend $400+ for a card thats maybe 25% faster than a $250 card, but spending $800 for a setup thats quite literally TWICE as good as a $400 setup sounds reasonable. Thats when you actually start getting a lot of value out of those high end cards and value is something people want. Unless ati announces dual-pci-e plans immediately, nVidia is going to be the only player in that field for quite a while.