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DirectX 10.1 levels playing field between Nvidia and AMD
Shader Model 4.1’s multi-sampling anti-aliasing patterns will make benchmark comparisons more ‘meaningful,’ says AMD
Microsoft has released a BETA SDK for its forthcoming API revision, DirectX 10.1, which includes Shader Model 4.1, and AMD claims this will help to make fairer benchmark comparisons between Nvidia and ATi cards.
Among Shader Model 4.1’s features is ‘The ability to select the MSAA sample pattern for a resource from a palette of patterns, and retrieve the corresponding sample positions,’ which has made AMD very excited indeed. Richard Huddy, head of AMD’s European Developer Relations team, told Custom PC that ‘the fact that 2x, 4x and 8x multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA) all have to be supported (and with exactly the same sampling patterns)’ would be a ‘big gain for consumers.’ Huddy claimed that this would ‘allow “exact” comparisons of images rendered with MSAA enabled, so that direct benchmark comparisons will now always be meaningful.’
Huddy said that the new API ‘eliminates one of the minor but annoying differences between different vendor's hardware,’ but also described the changed in some of Shader Model 4.1’s other graphical features. ‘The two most obvious changes to affect games programmers will be in the enhancement of the Vertex Shader,’ saids Huddy, ‘which is now allowed to export up to 32 elements instead of the previous maximum of just 16.’ Huddy said that this ‘will generally reduce the number of passes that hardware takes to render complex surfaces.’
As well as this, games that used deferred rendering, such as Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, will be helped along by the ability to have individual blend modes per target when using multiple render targets. Huddy said that ‘AMD welcomes all of these changes and will be enthusiastic in its support of DirectX 10.1.’ He then cryptically added: ‘Expect timely announcements from us...’
As well as the addition of Shader Model 4.1, DirectX 10.1 also adds a replacement for DirectSound called XAudio2, which we’re currently investigating.
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I would just save the money for Xbox360 or a PS3 lol. Don't have to worry about all this BullS*** because we know all games made for consoles will work on their systems :P
Comment by halagaten at 8:06pm 6th November 2007
AMD need to sort it's drivers out for the HD2900XT before bragging about a more level playing field. I'm still using the BETA drivers for my card, as all the latest drivers are soooooo unstable.
Comment by GurR338 at 11:23am 6th August 2007
as i see it there is nothing wron with XP and DX9, there is actually more wrong with Vista and DX10. Myabe DX10 and Vista look a little better, wow, i would rather have decent looks and good performance rather then great looks and really bad performance.
Comment by dimasoft at 9:05pm 5th August 2007
what alot bmufff its us the hardcore gamers that demand the best preformance but alas the companies responsible all have fell into the intel trap they dont give a monkeys and we will all buy there substandard gear cos were all fanboy sheep bahhh bbahh
Comment by GUMBANATOR at 7:50pm 5th August 2007
Lets just say that for the meantime, those with low-end gfx card systems and windows xp should stick with them for at least a year or so..... Then go to the directx10.X wagon along with some giant 8000 series gpus and big ass 6 core cpu's :D
Comment by Lightning_Pete at 5:00pm 4th August 2007
Blah, blah, blah. I agree with jjs113, its nothing more than marketing babble. DX10 compatibility means nothing to me. I have absolutely no intention of installing Vista, unless something like Crysis can return playable frame rates on my GTS 320 in DX10. The early test results from CPC on the first DX10 games do not give me a great deal of hope. But, as I intend to stick with XP, its irrelevant. It is a very nice DX9 card, and thats all that really matters at the moment.
Comment by Spreadie at 9:28pm 3rd August 2007
Not really "News". With a headline like that I was hoping for evidence rather than marketing speak. All hot air until there is actually anything worth doing with DX10 or 10.1 to make a meaningful comparison...
Comment by jjs113 at 5:23pm 3rd August 2007
Cue in Nvidia's 8900 series and ATi/AMD's 2950 series before the years out. This has pissed me off somewhat, as i expect my graphics card to last me at least 2 years maybe more if overclocked. And for my 8800GTX to only have a years life span before than release another more power card just to support the new API is a joke. They simply slapped on the DX10 sticker onto the 8800 series and the X2900 to try and capitalise on windows new OS and the new API.
Comment by halagaten at 2:51pm 3rd August 2007
Sorry, Custom PC comments are now closed.
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