Q&A between B3D and nVIDIA

[Bopple]

Nods. I wasn't prudent.

Link

 

[BFG10K]

Link.

Next time please post a link and maybe just a small quote. It's not a good idea to copy the whole article as most websites copyright their work and forbid duplication without their permission.

It's interesting that nVidia does not support HOS though you could argue that they're justified in their stance as ATi has had two generations of Truform and barely any games support it. IMO the performance hit is too high and the image quality gain is negligable.

 

[Rand]

NVIDIA believes the FXFlow thermal solution will be reliable as designed under operating conditions that meet the specification.

Kinda twisted answer isnt it?
So ah... what exactly are those "conditions that meat specifications"?

To quote Joe Defuria....
'Could be anything from "As long as you don't shave your cat in front of the intake port" to "as long as you're in a clean-room envrinonment like our labs..."


No 10/10/10 desktop output, disappointing though not surprising. Likely wouldnt matter much in any case as software developers seem reluctant to release plugins for anything beyond Matrox's implementation in any case.

No Gamma Correct rendering without Pixel Shading is IMHO a definite disappointment. I was fully expecting at LEAST gamma corrected AA.


Beyond that I didnt get much out of it, the answers seemed even more heavily PR filtered then usual.

 

[Rand]

IMO the performance hit is too high and the image quality gain is negligable.

For TrueForm or HOS in general?
I'd argue HOS is WELL worth it and can most definitely lead to substantial quality gains. That may not necessarily be true for TrueForm though it's hard to tell given that few designers are doing anything more then hacking in TF.
As much as I dislike to admit it, nVidia's probably right that HOS arent really needed with current consumer level products though.... still the implementation is nice to have even ifarguably pre-mature.

Next time please post a link and maybe just a small quote. It's not a good idea to copy the whole article as most websites copyright their work and forbid duplication without their permission.

He didnt quote the whole article, merely the first page. I'd agree just a few choice quotes would be preferable though.

 

[Bopple]

We know that NV30 supports the ability to produce two FP16 (64-bit) shader instructions in the time it takes to do one FP32 (128-bit instructions), however the number of cycles these take is unclear. At one launch presentation an NVIDIA representative mentioned that 32bit integer instructions can be done at two per clock, which was twice as fast as an single FP16, which suggests that FP16 instructions operate in one clock cycle, hence FP32 instructions would take two clock cycles. Is this the case?

We have not disclosed these details of our architecture.

I don't like this part.

 

[Deeko]

Damn cocky considering how sh!tty the card is.

 

[BFG10K]

For TrueForm or HOS in general?

Both although with other forms it's harder to tell since AFAIK they have even less support than Truform does, if any at all.

I think devs should increase the polygon counts on their models for better curves and shapes instead of relying on vendor-specific HOS routines to help them out. That way they can get a more consistent look and they know exactly what performance to expect.

He didnt quote the whole article, merely the first page.

That nitpick wasn't really necessary.

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

He didnt quote the whole article, merely the first page.

That nitpick wasn't really necessary.

Well when people read your comment they may be under the impression that the entire article was quoted above, and there was no reason to go to Beyond3D...thereby depriving themselves of half the article unaware they'd missed it and Beyond3D of deserved hits.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Taken from article: In the past, 2D and filter/circuitry quality varied greatly depending on the manufacturer of the card and how far they strayed from reference component levels. Has anything been done with GeForce FX to better ensure consistent quality?

Yes, GeForce FX includes a new generation of Digital Vibrance Control (DVC) that features the ability to sharpen photographs, colored text and many elements of the GUI. This will help to maximize image quality across all GeForce FX boards. However, there will still be variation based on the quality of output filter components. NVIDIA recommends you choose a board supplier that meets your personal preferences.

So the answer was "Yes, and by yes, I mean no."

Taken from article: How many GeForceFX GPUs could theoretically operate in parallel?

GeForce FX requires an AGP interface, so only one can operate in a PC.

Ok this is either a totally clueless answer or a total copout!