FarCry 1.2 patch - up to 33% improvement for NV40 (w/benchmarks)

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Then explain the screenshot Bar81 posted. They pimped that a lot.

Thats PS2.0/3.0 with HDR and VDM, when we will see that, who knows.

I expect it'll make it's debut in the 64bit version of FarCry. A64+6800 series looks to be the combo for this title. Can't remember when I've seen a game come out of nowhere and push the evelope multiple times the way that FarCry is doing. Wether you love the game play or hate it, you have to enjoy what it's doing to help create a more immersive experience in the PC gaming scene right now.

 

[9ball]

no need to go trumpeting SM3.0 when it does nothing but allow the card to render faster.

And I suppose you would like to pay good money for a new card so that it can render slower?

 

[BChico]

gts instock at outpost, 399.00 + 11.00 overnight get it tomorrow.

 

[Ackmed]

FS review; http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/far_cry_sm30/

Pretty different results from Anand.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: BChico
gts instock at outpost, 399.00 + 11.00 overnight get it tomorrow.

That's a damn solid price for overnight :beer: Mine ships on the 6th hopefully.

 

[BChico]

Did you order from best buy DAPUNISHER?

If so i just got off the phone with them and they told me that BFG has not yet shipped cards to DC shipment center, and that it could be a few more weeks.

I canceled and payed 80 more from outpost.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
FS review; http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/far_cry_sm30/

Pretty different results from Anand.

This could be it

Originally posted by: Firingsquad



System Setup

AMD Athlon 64 3800+

ASUS A8V Deluxe

1GB Corsair XMS3200 DDR SDRAM

ATI RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition
ATI RAEON X800 PRO
Driver version CATALYST 4.6

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
Driver version Forceware 61.45

250GB Maxtor Hard Drive Maxline III SATA Hard Drive w/16MB Cache

Windows XP Professional SP1

DirectX 9.0b

SM3.0 doesnt work too well without XP SP2 RC2 which has 9.0c which enables SM3.0 functionality.

Although they do mention they have it earlier in the review.

I was also going to site motherboard differences, but they are both based on the same VIA chipset.

Im wondering why we dont see any Nforce 3 250GB benchies, wouldnt that give NVIDIA a decisive lead?

 

[Leon]

Pretty different results from Anand.

System setup - DX 9.b

Hmmmm...

 

[Ackmed]

Im aware of that, I think its a typo. He probably just cut/pasted a templet from another review. Why I think that is;

So what do you need if you?re a GeForce 6800 user and you want to get SM 3.0 up and running in Far Cry? First, you?ll need the 1.2 patch. We?ve been told that Ubisoft will be releasing it on July 5th, next Monday. Next, you?ll need a copy of DX9.0c. Currently, the only way to obtain DX9.0c is to download Microsoft?s Service Pack 2 release candidate. Finally, you?ll need an NVIDIA display driver with SM 3.0 support. NVIDIA provided us with a copy of ForceWare 61.45 for our testing.

He said you need DX9.0c. Also, there is a difference in speed from SM2.0 vs. SM3.0. If it wasnt working, there wouldnt be any difference.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Im aware of that, I think its a typo. He probably just cut/pasted a templet from another review. Why I think that is;

So what do you need if you?re a GeForce 6800 user and you want to get SM 3.0 up and running in Far Cry? First, you?ll need the 1.2 patch. We?ve been told that Ubisoft will be releasing it on July 5th, next Monday. Next, you?ll need a copy of DX9.0c. Currently, the only way to obtain DX9.0c is to download Microsoft?s Service Pack 2 release candidate. Finally, you?ll need an NVIDIA display driver with SM 3.0 support. NVIDIA provided us with a copy of ForceWare 61.45 for our testing.

He said you need DX9.0c. Also, there is a difference in speed from SM2.0 vs. SM3.0. If it wasnt working, there wouldnt be any difference.

The driver update alone with the bug fixes from the patch could account for the speed differences, it doesnt have to neccesarily have to be SM3.0.

Edit: AT also used 16x12 for all their benches, FS used 10x7 and 12x10 (edit2actually theres some 16x12 in there too

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: BChico
Did you order from best buy DAPUNISHER?

If so i just got off the phone with them and they told me that BFG has not yet shipped cards to DC shipment center, and that it could be a few more weeks.

I canceled and payed 80 more from outpost.

Yes I did, and I just got an e-mail from them saying it's on backorder and they expect to ship to me by the 7th, so it's still a go for me at this point. After all the FUD that's been posted here lately, including some goober telling us our orders were cancelled because a BB rep told him so :roll: I put little credence in what people hear from the CS reps now

 

[BChico]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: BChico
Did you order from best buy DAPUNISHER?

If so i just got off the phone with them and they told me that BFG has not yet shipped cards to DC shipment center, and that it could be a few more weeks.

I canceled and payed 80 more from outpost.

Yes I did, and I just got an e-mail from them saying it's on backorder and they expect to ship to me by the 7th, so it's still a go for me at this point. After all the FUD that's been posted here lately, including some goober telling us our orders were cancelled because a BB rep told him so :roll: I put little credence in what people hear from the CS reps now

The backordered email is a standard email that goes out at like midnight, and just adds a week onto the expected release date, July 1 - to July 7... So that dosent mean anything my account still says the 6th on the website though.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Im aware of that, I think its a typo. He probably just cut/pasted a templet from another review. Why I think that is;

So what do you need if you?re a GeForce 6800 user and you want to get SM 3.0 up and running in Far Cry? First, you?ll need the 1.2 patch. We?ve been told that Ubisoft will be releasing it on July 5th, next Monday. Next, you?ll need a copy of DX9.0c. Currently, the only way to obtain DX9.0c is to download Microsoft?s Service Pack 2 release candidate. Finally, you?ll need an NVIDIA display driver with SM 3.0 support. NVIDIA provided us with a copy of ForceWare 61.45 for our testing.

He said you need DX9.0c. Also, there is a difference in speed from SM2.0 vs. SM3.0. If it wasnt working, there wouldnt be any difference.

The driver update alone with the bug fixes from the patch could account for the speed differences, it doesnt have to neccesarily have to be SM3.0.

Edit: AT also used 16x12 for all their benches, FS used 10x7 and 12x10.

Both used 61.45, and both used 1600x1200 4xAA/8xAF. I dont see what the problem is?

 

[Blastman]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
FS review; http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/far_cry_sm30/

Pretty different results from Anand.

I agree -- Anands results look bogus to me. I?d guess Derek Wilson or someone messed up the settings on the 6800. .

The FS results show that the 6800 takes a bigger performance hit than the X800 with AA/AF (probably the AF component) which is what we have come to expect. It?s like AF wasn?t even enabled on the 6800 in the Anandtech test -- they?re taking much less of a performance hit with AA/AF than the X800?s. That just jumped out at me before I even saw the FS review.

With 4AA/8AF the X800?s still dominate in the FS review. The X800 XT wins all 5 benches over the 6800U -- some by a pretty good margin too.

 

[Ackmed]

Techreports review backs up FS's, where as Anands doesnt have similar results to anyone elses that Ive seen.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: BChico

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: BChico
Did you order from best buy DAPUNISHER?

If so i just got off the phone with them and they told me that BFG has not yet shipped cards to DC shipment center, and that it could be a few more weeks.

I canceled and payed 80 more from outpost.

Yes I did, and I just got an e-mail from them saying it's on backorder and they expect to ship to me by the 7th, so it's still a go for me at this point. After all the FUD that's been posted here lately, including some goober telling us our orders were cancelled because a BB rep told him so :roll: I put little credence in what people hear from the CS reps now

The backordered email is a standard email that goes out at like midnight, and just adds a week onto the expected release date, July 1 - to July 7... So that dosent mean anything my account still says the 6th on the website though.

I recieved a previous e-mail stating it would be the 6th, and now this one saying by the 7th so they synch. Then there's the fact that the rep from BFG confirmed that they were able to fill all the pre-orders through BB, and the fact that the CS rep I spoke to after the goober said my order was cancelled confirmed everything both the BFG rep and e-mails have stated. Look, enjoy your card but forget trying to bug me out about the BB deal because it's never once changed from the pre-order date of 1-7 for me and I'm 99% certain it'll ship by the 7th. No f'in way I'm paying $80 more+shipping until that date has come and gone.

 

[Acanthus]

Far Cry Research Demo - Firingsquad
X800XT 72.1
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 77.6

Far Cry Research Demo - AT
X800XT 69.6
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 77.6

I wouldnt say the differences in results are very dramatic, theres the margain of error + the fact that the mobos are different, firingsquad also used a 3800+, AT used a 3400+.

Far Cry Research Demo - Firingsquad 4xAA 8xAniso
X800XT 51.3
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 44.8

Far Cry Research Demo - AT 4xAA 8xAniso
X800XT 46.0
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 59.3

Here is where the discrenpency is. Are these benchmarks on set paths? AT couldve simply benchmarked a different area of the map.

On the other hand, ATis scores may be higher in the FS review here beacuse of the higher cpu, and the AT review has higher results from SM3.0 being enabled correctly.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Far Cry Research Demo - Firingsquad
X800XT 72.1
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 77.6

Far Cry Research Demo - AT
X800XT 69.6
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 77.6

I wouldnt say the differences in results are very dramatic, theres the margain of error + the fact that the mobos are different, firingsquad also used a 3800+, AT used a 3400+.

Thats one instance. Look at the Volcano results.

AT:
6800U: 61.8
XT/PE: 45.4

FS:
6800U: 45.2
XT/PE: 47.8

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Ackmed

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Far Cry Research Demo - Firingsquad
X800XT 72.1
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 77.6

Far Cry Research Demo - AT
X800XT 69.6
GeForce 6800U SM 3.0 77.6

I wouldnt say the differences in results are very dramatic, theres the margain of error + the fact that the mobos are different, firingsquad also used a 3800+, AT used a 3400+.

Thats one instance. Look at the Volcano results.

AT:
6800U: 61.8
XT/PE: 45.4

FS:
6800U: 45.2
XT/PE: 47.8

ATis scores may be higher in the FS review here beacuse of the higher cpu, and the AT review has higher results from SM3.0 being enabled correctly.

(not repeating to be a jerk, in case you missed the edit)

 

[Ackmed]

How do you know SM3.0 is not enabled correctly? If it wasnt enabled at all, why are their scores in SM3.0 higher than in SM2.0? What if the DX9.0b is a typo? If its not, then the whole review is invalid.

FS's XT/PE scores are about 2fps higher than Anands on the Volcano level, which is about right for having a faster CPU. But then the 6800U's scores are about 16fps lower?

I would like some clarification if it was a typo on FS's part, or if they just screwed up. Techreports review backs up FS's numbers though.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
How do you know SM3.0 is not enabled correctly? If it wasnt enabled at all, why are their scores in SM3.0 higher than in SM2.0? What if the DX9.0b is a typo? If its not, then the whole review is invalid.

FS's XT/PE scores are about 2fps higher than Anands on the Volcano level, which is about right for having a faster CPU. But then the 6800U's scores are about 16fps lower?

I would like some clarification if it was a typo on FS's part, or if they just screwed up. Techreports review backs up FS's numbers though.

Well i assumed that the "SM2.0" were patch 1.1, and the "SM3.0" benches were (obviously) 1.2. If there were IQ/performance bug fixes for the 6800 series in patch 1.2, that would account for the discrepency you see between the 2.0 and 3.0 tests.

 

[GeneralGrievous]

I would like some clarification if it was a typo on FS's part, or if they just screwed up. Techreports review backs up FS's numbers though.

Interesting observation. This will lead to another huge argument. It seems to me that anand's x800 benches are always lower than the rest of the world for some reason.

 

[Blastman]

It looks like Anandtech didn?t get 4AA enabled ? (on the 6800) ...

beyond3d

To address your questions on performance, it looks to me like AT is running his "4xAA/8xAF" Far Cry scores with AA disabled. My bet is he is using the control panel to set AA, which doesn't properly apply AA, you have to set it in the app via "r_FSAA_samples" or boot the game up and adjust it manually. In fact, once I try to set 4xAA in the control panel my scores mirror his exactly. I'll go back and re-run those numbers with just 8xAF so you can all see.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: GeneralGrievous

I would like some clarification if it was a typo on FS's part, or if they just screwed up. Techreports review backs up FS's numbers though.

Interesting observation. This will lead to another huge argument. It seems to me that anand's x800 benches are always lower than the rest of the world for some reason.

Nah im not really going to debate it, im just looking at the facts and trying to come up with a scenario where the numbers match the explanation.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Blastman
It looks like Anandtech didn?t get 4AA enabled ? (on the 6800) ...

beyond3d

To address your questions on performance, it looks to me like AT is running his "4xAA/8xAF" Far Cry scores with AA disabled. My bet is he is using the control panel to set AA, which doesn't properly apply AA, you have to set it in the app via "r_FSAA_samples" or boot the game up and adjust it manually. In fact, once I try to set 4xAA in the control panel my scores mirror his exactly. I'll go back and re-run those numbers with just 8xAF so you can all see.

That would make sense, but the screenshots clearly have AA running (in some form, they dont say the resolution or settings of the screenshots, but it doesnt look bad. Its certainly not 1600x1200 4x8x SSs though.)