X800 PRO launch on 4th of May + specs

[flexy]

Originally posted by: XBoxLPU
When will DX 9.0C be out ?

THIS Summer, according to NV specs the DX90c SDK wil be there summer, the runtime i ASSUME too maybe even earlier.

Other words: 2 months or so after ATI puts a PS2.0 card into retail we will have DX9.0c in Windows....makes much sense, eh ?


"2007" nope, wishful thinking We will also very likely have a bunch of PS3.0 utilizing games end of this year.

Edit: And "this summer" can be as soon as only two or three months from now

 

[Luthien]

Well, the NV40 line may have more headroom for increased clock since it is lower to begin with so we may actually see a 6900U like someone already stated used to shut the door this round on ATI. Then again...

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: PorBleemo
I wonder if the lower end NV40 cards will have the encoder also. It's starting to look to me that nVidia might win this round.

-Por

The video encoder is not a fixed function unit. It's just drivers taking advantage of fully programmable PS 3.0 shaders. As long as the lower end NV4x cards support PS 3.0, there's no technical limitation why they shouldn't support video encoding.

Nvidia's Video encoder doesn't use the shader pipeline (although they CAN use it if they desire) ATI's current solution uses the shader pipeline, but NVidia chose to use a seperate programmable video processor. The codecs will be coded into the processor and the dx calls will be intercepted by the processor. As far as I've seen, none of this is working except perhaps MPEG-2 decoding. I'm now hearing that the decoding will be transparent, but the encoding will require special software, and that Adobe is readying a special version of After affects. I'm not liking the sound of that as it seems to indicate hardware acceleration for real-time preview, not hardware encoding of your video files. Looks like its capablilities are wait and see.

 

[Alkali]

Thats very interesting...

I am wondering what ATi's X800 series will have in terms of video features. Radeon 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800 series used fullstream technology to push video through shader pieplines, so surely they would have either;
a). made it more efficient through shader pipelines
b). moved into supporting more video features such as 1080i and such...
c). scrapped video acceleration alltogether <<-- which I don't think is likely at all concidering the fact they brought fullstream tech in the first place.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Alkali
Thats very interesting...

I am wondering what ATi's X800 series will have in terms of video features. Radeon 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800 series used fullstream technology to push video through shader pieplines, so surely they would have either;
a). made it more efficient through shader pipelines
b). moved into supporting more video features such as 1080i and such...
c). scrapped video acceleration alltogether <<-- which I don't think is likely at all concidering the fact they brought fullstream tech in the first place.

I'm anxious to see myself. Just to guess, I'd have to think they will continue with utilizing the shader pipeline, but the current implementation is somewhat lacking. 1080i is already supported(I use it myself), although interlaced resolutions do have some issues. There needs to be vast improvement on custom timings for alternative display devices like projectors and Digital displays IMHO. They won't be scrapping Video acceleration...count on that.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: flexy

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: UlricT
AIWGuru... 1.x shaders are from DirectX 8!
I think the argument here is DX9b vs. DX9c!!!

Yes, but what we're talking about is PS 3.0 being able to do the same ammount of work in 1/10th the ammount of time as PS 2.0.
Saying PS 2.0 = PS 3.0 just because it's capable of producing the same visuals EVENTUALLY (with much more work) is stupid.
It can't be PRACTICALLY done because it's MUCH MUCH slower.

..EXCEPT (like HB does or some other people) PROOF me that NV's implementation is 'slow', buggy etc. like they say. Uh !!!! Its amazing how brand-loyality or wishful thinking can distort a healthy view on reality

It's impossible to prove right now that Nvidia's PS3.0 implementation is slow or buggy because no current game has actually been run by any review site while using 3.0. Even if Far Cry permits the use of 3.0 with the patch, the 6800Ultra does not use the shaders properly as seen Here and here at the bottom of the screenshot.

When others have said that the current cards are much slower at running PS3.0 than 2.0 they are just refering back to ATI's comments so they are not making it up. Of course believing ATI can be in itself misleading since they do lack 3.0 support it seems so they are going to do everything they can to take away the attention of everyone from the feature that they lack. But they could also be right so it is hard to tell right now.

Like I said it's impossible to say if PS3.0 will run slower than 2.0 on NV40 right now but in 6 months you'll be able to judge much better. They do have other current driver problems as there is no way their powerful card can perform this poorly in this game.

You are right there are a lot of fanboys out there who will fight for either brand no matter what but some people actually try to find honest information even if it is negative information about the product. Trust me if ATI has problems i wont praise it and will assess the pros and cons of both products before making a purchasing decision. And I am sure many others will do the same; as for the fanboys, let them be happy.

 

[Alkali]

To put it blunty...

I trust what ATi engineers say about technology more than nVidia simply because the last 2 years has taught me to be very wary of nVidia 'tactics' while they tell you something is the gods honest truth..

 

[edmundoab]

I say NVidia are just overly desperate to get back to #1 that they are willing to do anything to get extra points in benchmarks...
win over sales & performance again.

 

[wizdum]

He who holds the crown holds the market.

Groov

 

[XBoxLPU]

EDIT

April 20 weblog Anand says

quote:
I've got less than two weeks left of regular class before exams start...



April 21 weblog Anand says

quote:
...while I'm taking exams you all will be reading about what Derek and I met with ATI about.

So the NDA should be lifted on May4th.....