A few questions about nv40 and r420

[DAPUNISHER]

1. The nv40 has a dedicated programmable video processor, and we are evidently waiting for software support to see what it can do, but it sounds promising. Does r420 have something similar?

2. I read nV stated that their new cards are optimized to actually perform best with a nV nforce based board, did anyone test nv40 on a nF3 250gb board? or even a 150 for that matter, in order to evaluate that claim?

3. Has Ruby got back or what? :laugh:

 

[Rellik]

1. the R420 has programmable pixel shaders, and offers MPEG,DIVX,REAL und WMV-HD decoding (WMV-HD needs a 3Ghz PC to play, with ATI´s card a 2-2,5 will do. That is a major feature compared to NV40 who CAN´T decode WMV-HD)

2. I checked out some reviews(I think it was AT) and the NV boards where faster on NForce boards. So it seems to be a valid point.

3. Hell yeah!

 

[Edge3D]

1. Not that I know of. I doubt it though.

2. Yes. About a 35% improvement with the FX series.

3. Aye! Its the war of the animated sluts!

You forgot a 4th question. Does the X800 Pro have anything to counter shader model 3.0 support? As benchmarks between the two seem to be neck and neck, mostly with an NV win.

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: Edge3D

You forgot a 4th question. Does the X800 Pro have anything to counter shader model 3.0 support? As benchmarks between the two seem to be neck and neck, mostly with an NV win.

Only that the RV420 also supports longer shader instructions compared to the RV3x series and has as much registery's to store them in as Nvidia. It has extended functionality of PS2.0 with a few added features. But It just doesn't support all the "bells and whistles" of PS 3.0 like the NV40 core. I sensed even Anand reveiwed it like it wasn't a big deal.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Edge3D
1. Not that I know of. I doubt it though.

2. Yes. About a 35% improvement with the FX series.

3. Aye! Its the war of the animated sluts!

You forgot a 4th question. Does the X800 Pro have anything to counter shader model 3.0 support? As benchmarks between the two seem to be neck and neck, mostly with an NV win.

I wonder if #2 hold true with the newer cards (and other cards, ie: lower end models).
And I wonder how much of a difference there would be testing X800XT vs 6800U on both AMD and Intel platforms (ie: both cards on both platforms).
It might be that one card performs better on one setup (like nVidia with AMD, judging by the previous link).

 

[Regs]

Hmk Edit for now..

 

[DAPUNISHER]

1. the R420 has programmable pixel shaders, and offers MPEG,DIVX,REAL und WMV-HD decoding (WMV-HD needs a 3Ghz PC to play, with ATI´s card a 2-2,5 will do. That is a major feature compared to NV40 who CAN´T decode WMV-HD)

Can you elaborate on the advantage here? I just looked and MS doesn't show any preference for ATi to accomplish the task link They are obviously referring to Intel for the mhz rating and I'm certain my A64@2.4ghz can handle it Besides anyone who buys either the r420 or nv40 and has a CPU that isn't up to a P4@3ghz performance level is going to be severly CPU limited when not playing@16x12 with AA/AF and eye candy all turned up right? If so, then what will the decoding benefit me if my CPU can handle it already?

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, they wouldn't have updated yet, would they?

Well, here's what ATI says about it:

X800 Specs

Which I'm sure you've already read.

 

[Rellik]

to Edge3d: Normally I refrain from going into posts like yours, but please try to read before you make statements like that (I am refering to point 1). Saying
"Not that i know of" doesn´t strike you as being ignorant? Just read the whitepapers or detailed reports before making such a ridiculous statement.

Dapunisher:

Gladly. Both the NV40 as well as the ATI cards offer hardware decoding of DIVX and MPEG movies. In the case of ATI´s adaptive de-interlacing, it provides filtering on dvd material for use with a TV-output. WMV-HD is used in the Artisan Extreme DVD´s (T2 for example) These DVD´s offer HDTV resolution (1280/720p and 1920/1080i) and provide a higher quality then standard DVD´s. This is very helpful for owners of projection systems, as resolution is a problem the bigger
your viewing picture gets. The problem is that in order to provide the needed 29.97 fps of the NTSC HDTV 1920i system, a 3Ghz P4 (or similar capable AMD i.e 2800 A64) is needed. But if you use the X800, a lower cpu can be used. And this is good for small pc´s you intend to be quiet. A 2.4Ghz P4 is more likely to be
outfitted with a silent cooler then a 3+ Ghz cpu.

Of course gmaers won´t combine a X800 or 6800 with a "low" cpu, but I wasn´t refering to gamers as they are a horrible home theater crowd.

 

[Acanthus]

There are a total of 8 movie titles available in WMV-HD so i wouldnt consider this a big deal.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Thanks Rellik, I haven't been into serious home theater, I'm the type who's happy with their 5yr old a $500 Sony 5.1 system hooked to Shuttle SN45G SFF with soundstorm and my 9yr old 36" JVC CRT. At least until my son is older and we can build a killer HDTV setup together I can see where it's a sweet feature for your crowd though, al though it sounds like they need to put out a lot more titles that use the WMV-HD if 8 titles are all that's out there.

 

[Rellik]

To be honest, I don´t like MS sticking their nose in Home Theater. While I agree that the codec is good, there is just this strange feeling of a company that has nothing in common with producing high-end for a market that is bound to hardwired quality without compromises. This "software" approach is very unnatural for true home theater.

But hey, the industry also killed the LD in favor of the more profit oriented DVD, so the consumers are
forced to live with it.

 

[rbV5]

There are a total of 8 movie titles available in WMV-HD so i wouldnt consider this a big deal

Its a big deal for a couple reasons. There will be more titles, and any acceleration will help, and more help is better due to the processing power required to just playback the files. WMV HD has excellent IQ for the file size. Your HD movies or HD broadcasts can fit on a single DVD at 1080p using WMV compression compared to the 50GB's it takes for the Superbowl I captured at 1080i. Encoding those files literally can take days using current tools and hardware.

Here's one link I've seen so far:
VIDEOSHADER: Video and HDTV

(Check out that Chromotion engine of S3 DeltaChrome :Q)

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Rellik
to Edge3d: Normally I refrain from going into posts like yours, but please try to read before you make statements like that (I am refering to point 1). Saying
"Not that i know of" doesn´t strike you as being ignorant? Just read the whitepapers or detailed reports before making such a ridiculous statement.

Dapunisher:

Gladly. Both the NV40 as well as the ATI cards offer hardware decoding of DIVX and MPEG movies. In the case of ATI´s adaptive de-interlacing, it provides filtering on dvd material for use with a TV-output. WMV-HD is used in the Artisan Extreme DVD´s (T2 for example) These DVD´s offer HDTV resolution (1280/720p and 1920/1080i) and provide a higher quality then standard DVD´s. This is very helpful for owners of projection systems, as resolution is a problem the bigger
your viewing picture gets. The problem is that in order to provide the needed 29.97 fps of the NTSC HDTV 1920i system, a 3Ghz P4 (or similar capable AMD i.e 2800 A64) is needed. But if you use the X800, a lower cpu can be used. And this is good for small pc´s you intend to be quiet. A 2.4Ghz P4 is more likely to be
outfitted with a silent cooler then a 3+ Ghz cpu.

Of course gmaers won´t combine a X800 or 6800 with a "low" cpu, but I wasn´t refering to gamers as they are a horrible home theater crowd.

So you would rather this guy talked out of his arse and make up some BS rather than being honest and saying he doesn't know? Do you have a problem with someone saying "I dont know"? or "Not that I know of"? Whats the big deal? Nobody knows everything like you think you do. Do us all a favor, please stop being so damn critical. If your not capable of expressing your views without calling someone ridiculous or ignorant, don't post at all. Everyone feels its necessary to compare brain pans around here when all most of us really want is just a little information. Friendly information.