Next Generation Graphics - GameCreators Forum

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Shadow Robert

21

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Joined: 22nd Sep 2002

Location: Hertfordshire, England

Posted: 5th May 2004 03:08 Edited at: 5th May 2004 03:10

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As i'm sure some have noticed there are 2 posts about the new,
nVIDIA 6800 (nv40) and ATi X800 (R400) Graphics Cards...

Simple question is down to what does the Geforce 6-Series and Radeon X8-Series actually offer you as a gamer.

Well first here are the technical overviews... comparing the last generation to the current generation (for thier high end cards)

Geforce FX 5900 Ultra

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Micron Process:			0.13 40x40mm BGA Flip-Chip
Graphics Core:			256-bit
Memory Interface:		256-bit
Memory Bandwidth:		30.4GB/sec
Core Clock Rate:		475MHz
Memory Data Rate:		950MHz
Texture Pipelines:      	8
Vertex Pipelines:               4
Textures per Pixel:		16
RAMDAC:				400MHz 
Max Vertex Shader:		2.0a
Max Pixel Shader:		2.0a
Max AA / AF:			8x / 8x
Max Pixel Program:		1,024 instructions
Max Vertex Program:		256 Static / 65,536 Dynamic
Texture Floating Point:		8-bit / 16-bit
Texture Filtering/Blending:     32-bit / 32-bit
Native Render Modes:		32-bit / 64-bit / 128-bit
DirectX:			9.0 (and earlier)
OpenGL:				1.5 (and earlier)

6800 Ultra

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Micron Process:			0.13 40x40mm BGA Flip-Chip
Graphics Core:			256-bit
Memory Interface:		4x256-bit
Memory Bandwidth:		35.8GB/sec
Core Clock Rate:		400MHz
Memory Data Rate:		1.1GHz (supports upto 1.6GHz)
Texture Pipelines:        	16
Vertex Pipelines:               4
Textures per Pixel:		16
RAMDAC:				400MHz 
Max Vertex Shader:		3.0
Max Pixel Shader:		3.0
Max AA / AF:			8x / 16x
Max Pixel Program:		Infinite*
Max Vertex Program:		Infinite*
Texture Floating Point:		16-bit / 32-bit
Texture Filtering/Blending:	64-bit / 64-bit
Native Render Modes:		32-bit / 64-bit / 128-bit
DirectX:			9.0c
OpenGL:				1.5

*limitations may be imposed by Operating System or API

(as I cannot find these values for ATi cards, this is just so you can see the speed difference on the Geforce:

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FX 5900 Ultra:
Memory Bandwidth:   30.4 GB/sec
Fill Rate:          3.8 billion texels/sec
Vertices/Sec:       395 million

6800 Ultra:
Memory Bandwith:    35.8 GB/sec
Fill Rate:          6.4 billion texels/sec
Vertices/Sec:       600 million

Radeon 9800 XT

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Micron Process:			0.13 40x40mm BGA Flip-Chip
Graphics Core:			256-bit
Memory Interface:		256-bit
Memory Bandwidth:		28.5GB/sec
Core Clock Rate:		525MHz
Memory Data Rate:		900MHz
Texture Pipelines:       	8
Vertex Pipelines:               4
Textures per Pixel:		16
RAMDAC:				400MHz 
Max Vertex Shader:		2.0
Max Pixel Shader:		2.0
Max AA / AF:			6x / 16x
Max Pixel Program:		256*
Max Vertex Program:		65,280
Texture Floating Point:		24-bit
Texture Filtering/Blending:	24-bit / 24-bit
Native Render Modes:		32-bit / 64-bit / 128-bit
DirectX:			9.0
OpenGL:				1.5

*F-Buffer allows for Unlimited Instructions

Radeon X800 XT

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Micron Process:			0.13 40x40mm Low-k
Graphics Core:			256-bit
Memory Interface:		4x256-bit
Memory Bandwidth:		28.5GB/sec
Core Clock Rate:		520MHz
Memory Data Rate:		1.15GHz
Texture Pipelines:       	16
Vertex Pipelines:               6
Textures per Pixel:		16
RAMDAC:				400MHz 
Max Vertex Shader:		2.0
Max Pixel Shader:		2.0b
Max AA / AF:			6x / 16x
Max Pixel Program:		1,536*
Max Vertex Program:		65,280
Texture Floating Point:		24-bit
Texture Filtering/Blending:	32-bit / 24-bit
Native Render Modes:		32-bit / 64-bit / 128-bit
DirectX:			9.0
OpenGL:				2.0

*F-Buffer Allows for unlimited instructions

next post will cover the demo's available from each company:

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Lord Ozzum

20

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Joined: 29th Oct 2003

Location: Beyond the Realms of Death

Posted: 5th May 2004 03:17 Edited at: 5th May 2004 03:17

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I see....but at least you said there are 2 others, cuz I would've complained...but this info means nothing to me...cuz I am an idiot

You forgot to read your fortune cookie. It says you're sh!t out of luck.
Welcome to the Electric Funeral!!!

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Ian T

22

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Joined: 12th Sep 2002

Location: Around

Posted: 5th May 2004 20:42

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This is more useful for developers than gamers. The average gamer will be more interested in the benchmarks at varying antialiasing levels than anything else! And in this community, we're not exactly on the bleeding edge of technology, so the information really dosen't pertain to anything that many people are working on. Interesting nevertheless.

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Shadow Robert

21

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Joined: 22nd Sep 2002

Location: Hertfordshire, England

Posted: 6th May 2004 11:19

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I am currently looking into getting an independant body to perform real-world benchmarks.

Right now I do currently have an idea for new benchmarking software, so that you can know exactly what your graphics card can push; as well as seeing how much the new technology can affect your card.

Although we're not on the bleeding edge of technology in DarkBASIC Professional land, what current on-line benchmarks are showing is the X800 is faster are Shader Operations; No doubt due to it's 4:1 16x Pipeline which is 2 more Superscaler's than the 6800's 2:1 16x Pipeline, but more interestingly that the 6800 has much faster polygon rendering as well as texture rendering.

When you think about how it is running between 75-120MHz less than the Radeon X800, which is still only outperforming by a large margin at Full Scene Anti-Aliasing & Aniostropic Filtering;
Unfortunately I have yet to see some overclocking results.

Should have more conclusive information once the benchmarks are complete

If what I have seen so far from the Geforce 6800 is anything to go by, I would say that new versions are going to definately be able to push the envelope.

At the very least you can finally create shaders exactly how you would with C.
Subroutines, Branched Programs, etc...
With Shader 3.0 Basic for Graphics actually looks almost exactly like your coding in DarkBASIC

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Geek Culture / Next Generation Graphics