16 bit vs. 32 bit in 3dmark

[davekaro]

hi everyone,
i wanted to see if i could tell a difference b/t 16bit v. 32bit sooooooooo
i took two screenshots in 3dmark 2000 at the same spot in the helicopter scene
(one in 16 bit, and one in 32 bit) then when i look at them side to side,
i cannot tell one single difference except for the sky is a *LITTLE* better in 32bit,
but not worth the framerate loss
i have a geforce 2 gts (hercules) 32mb
is this just 3dmark, should i try this with quake 3??
why is 32 bit gameing so hyped??
what differences should i look for??
thanks
-dave

 

[Subversal]

Some games you can notice the difference... what games these are I have no idea. I can't tell the difference in Q3, UT, or Counter-Strike. But what I notice is the FPS loss All three games look good to me and not worth it to look a little better.

 

[kylebisme]

32-bit give a lot mor depth to the 3d image, look at the trees as the helicopter flys by, they look much more full in 32-bit. by chance were your screenshots 16-bit .jpgs? alice is a great example of beutiful 32-bit, have you checked out the demo?

 

[Deeko]

Hmm...was ready to yell at you for promoting 3DMark not all games have as big a difference, but some games do really take advantage of 32-bit color and they look great.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

GF2 not know for attention to detail and colour vibrancy.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

evil donnyboy please shutup. You have no idea what you are talking about. In terms of 3D quality, no card is THAT much better than the other. All these Radeon owners saying that the 3d quality is sooo much better are lying. It IS a little bit better, but not enough to go crazy about. If you properly configure the geforce for optimum picture quality it is very comparable to the radeon. Anyways back to the topic, i can see a noticeable difference in things like fog. 16bit makes it look really ugly and i can see major banding and artifacts, but 32bit smooths everything out. For the majority of games, i cant tell the difference, however there is a noticeable difference in quake3. quake 3 looks like crap in 16 bit mode.

 

[themadmonk]

There is visible difference between 16bit and 32bit in all fairness.

 

[BFG10K]

There is a large difference between 16 bit versus 32 bit colour. Just fire up any game that supports 32 bit colour (Quake 3 is a good choice! ) and look at the sky/fog/smoke/lights/explosions. Anything with alpha blending will especially benefit from 32 bit colour.

 

[Bartman39]

I have to agree UT in 32 bit color is a lot better, everything is sharper & more detail. As more games are written for 32bit it will be taken advantage of more & more, so in the future why hold back for older graphics. BTW the Geforce that you have will not look as well in 32bit as compared to a Radeon in 32bit nor will it perform as well either (been there done that...) Also I have to agree with Deeko... 3dMark2000 is only good for checking how different settings affect your system Not For Comparing Sytems... Games are what really make the difference and 32bit color is cool & a step beyond 16bit color...