[H]ardocp - gtx 680 reviewer's press guide posted

[blackened23]

You're confusing "grey-out" with "maxed-out."

You can freely bench it yourself, messing with the slider affects IQ once you get lower (I believe it was around 16x, below that you can see the changes in the vines, trees, and cobblestone - you start getting that pop-up thing I mentioned.)

If the game is set to use 16pixels, setting it 64x won't do anything. If the game is set to use 1pixels setting it to 64x versus 32x will show you a difference (this is evident in Crysis 2.)

The only thing i'm comparing is "use application preference" versus "AMD optimized". Yes, the slider is greyed out with application preference, just noticed. There's either no performance difference, or in some cases "app preference" is actually faster for some reason, I don't get it.

 

[railven]

I'm in favor of the slider and effort to have more options to adjust your experience. I just don't think , it should be a default implementation.

Agree, the more options - the better. However, when comparing 1:1 the settings have to be identical as best as possible.

Otherwise turn on PhysX on games that have it and watch the AMD crowd cry foul. Hey, it's an option right? Might as well flick it

 

[railven]

The only thing i'm comparing is "use application preference" versus "AMD optimized". Yes, the slider is greyed out with application preference, just noticed. There's either no performance difference, or in some cases "app preference" is actually faster for some reason, I don't get it.

Application Preference should be default, ie no monkeying from the driver. Optimizations aren't always improvements to FPS, they are sometimes improvements to alogirthims that help the end product look better (IQ).

Turn on the new AF and see how much better it takes cares of shimmeries, but also notice how much more of a performance hit you get. That is an improvemed (optimized) algorithim from AMD.

 

[Spikesoldier]

I'm surprised that they would post this. If I was NV I'd be pissed at somebody for doing that. Maybe Kyle will stop getting cards from NV going forward...he and Apoppin could compare notes I guess...

this.

im sure the last 5 pages pruned out from the whole enchilada had something that entailed: include all recommended TWIMTBP titles, and do exactly as this guide says, or you'll never receive cards for review ever again.

 

[AtenRa]

I'm surprised that they would post this. If I was NV I'd be pissed at somebody for doing that. Maybe Kyle will stop getting cards from NV going forward...he and Apoppin could compare notes I guess...

After the NDA ends you can publish the PDFs.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

this.

im sure the last 5 pages pruned out from the whole enchilada had something that entailed: include all recommended TWIMTBP titles, and do exactly as this guide says, or you'll never receive cards for review ever again.

Then they'll burn your house down and eat your children.

 

[SirPauly]

It's a slippery slope and a long and winding road when a developer asks for something in their gaming title and the IHV changes it for performance at the expense of image quality -- no matter how subtle or slight.

Where does one draw the line?

nVidia may have learned their lessons from the past. Hopefully these kinds of optimizations simply fade to be distant memories. AMD has robust tessellation now, and with both having great tessellation, both their developer relations can offer much more of it.

I'd like to see more IQ enhancing features than optimization features.

 

[djsb]

It's a slippery slope and a long and winding road when a developer asks for something in their gaming title and the IHV changes it for performance at the expense of image quality -- no matter how subtle or slight.

Where does one draw the line?

Since it is configurable in drivers, it's rather the user that's choosing performance over image quality. I think of it like antialiasing. Would it make sense to be forced between 8xMSAA or none at all? If you recall back when people were just starting to get on board with DX11, one of the supposed advantages to tesselation was the ability to dial in a level of geometry detail that suited the user. If I were an owner of Nvidia hardware, especially a lower midrange card like the 550, I would want that ability too.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

You have it backwards though, the drivers default to lower imagine quality.. It's been this way for awhile.

 

[blackened23]

You have it backwards though, the drivers default to lower imagine quality.. It's been this way for awhile.

The driver default is "AMD optimized" which obeys tessellation level specified by the application. Unless there is a games profile that specifies otherwise, which CCC doesn't include tessellation profiles.

 

[blastingcap]

I noticed that Epic Games signed up for TXAA, which is potentially very important considering how many games used Epic's Unreal game engine in the past (and present, and perhaps future). Less important is Crytek. I wonder if EA/Frostbite will sign up as well.

Also, AMD needs to get off its butt and do multi-monitor the right way--without the need for DP->VGA/HDMI/DVI adapters.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

The driver default is "AMD optimized" which obeys tessellation level specified by the application. Unless there is a games profile that specifies otherwise, which CCC doesn't include tessellation profiles.

So they release Tess profiles for games as they come out as a separate download?

Can you link to the download page, I can't seem to find it.

 

[(sic)Klown12]

So they release Tess profiles for games as they come out as a separate download?

Can you link to the download page, I can't seem to find it.

They have yet to release any. They've done all the work to include this option in the drivers, but it's sat idle ever since. With the improved tessellation of GCN, there's a chance they might not bother with making any profiles and just let the end user decide what to run.

 

[SirPauly]

Since it is configurable in drivers, it's rather the user that's choosing performance over image quality. I think of it like antialiasing. Would it make sense to be forced between 8xMSAA or none at all? If you recall back when people were just starting to get on board with DX11, one of the supposed advantages to tesselation was the ability to dial in a level of geometry detail that suited the user. If I were an owner of Nvidia hardware, especially a lower midrange card like the 550, I would want that ability too.

Not me. AMD can keep that optimization.

 

[boxleitnerb]

I think it is useful for lower end cards, but the optimization needs to be off at default settings.

 

[railven]

I noticed, for example in WoW, setting the CCC to Catalyst AI to HQ produces a performance hit I'd say about 5-10FPS (if I were to guess, least that what I notice using v-sync dips into the 50's more often.)

With the middle option, Balance?, I'm most often pegged at 60 FPS. The IQ to my dying eyes is I'd say 1:1 (I'm sure if I stared enough I'd see something.)

So I run WoW in Balance mode, but I'd never suggest to bench in balance mode. Clearly there are some optimizations that help with the load work. So it wouldn't be 1:1.

And I think Balance is the default option now too?

Haha, listening to my GF saying "I got 40FPS, you?" In WoW Beta was getting to me. My epeen hurt Fix yo shit AMD! haha.