SM3 Thread

[SickBeast]

Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

 

[compgeek89]

Far Cry
Better performance by a LOT in source HDR
Splinter Cell
Riddick

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: compgeek89
Far Cry
Better performance by a LOT in source HDR
Splinter Cell
Riddick

I remember reading a Lost Coast preview where the ATI cards were neck-and-neck w/ the nVidia cards, and they actually took *less* of a hit enabling HDR. Where do you get your info from?

 

[nRollo]

The SM3 games I have are Far Cry, Lego Star Wars, Painkiller, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

AFAIK the only "SM3 effect" that cannot be done in SM2 is displacement mapping, and that is not used yet, also AFAIK.

BTW- if you have little kids, Leggo Star Wars is awesome. My 5 year old loves it.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

To put this in a nicer form (and sorry for the original form):

There are some IQ improvements that it does offer, which plays a big role in next gen graphics. For now, no, there are no real IQ improvements. Next gen, yes, it is used.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

I'm not posting here.

Kinda defeats the purpose????

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

I'm not posting here.

Kinda defeats the purpose????

LOL, good catch

 

[EightySix Four]

actually the main thing about SM3 is that it would make the SM2 stuff faster, not many new features involved. The HDR stuff is a side affect of another nividia implementation, and I don't believe it's part of the SM3 protocols.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

I'm not posting here.

Kinda defeats the purpose????

I agree. Rollo agrees with me, and he's known to prefer nVidia anyways. I didn't know about displacement mapping, but really for all intents and purposes, SM2 is capable of generating the same visual output as SM3, whether fanboys like hans like to admit it or not.

Essentially, hans, I'm letting you know that you're warped and need to stay out of this thread as you're WRONG and posting BS. You're the idiot. Someone decree this pwnage already.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

You're an idiot. I'm not posting here.

how about you READ ON GOOGLE about it. It can do PLENTY of things that SM2 cant do

but seriously, you should read on your own. I dont think anyone wants to argue with someone that can't pull of a true fact in their OP.

Ban this idiot.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Avalon

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

You're an idiot. I'm not posting here.

how about you READ ON GOOGLE about it. It can do PLENTY of things that SM2 cant do

but seriously, you should read on your own. I dont think anyone wants to argue with someone that can't pull of a true fact in their OP.

Ban this idiot.

I agree. If you're gonna call me an idiot, hans, at least make sure you're correct in what you're saying before doing so. In this case you made yourself look like an idiot. :beer: Cheers to that.

 

[shinzwei]

Originally posted by: Avalon

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

You're an idiot. I'm not posting here.

how about you READ ON GOOGLE about it. It can do PLENTY of things that SM2 cant do

but seriously, you should read on your own. I dont think anyone wants to argue with someone that can't pull of a true fact in their OP.

Ban this idiot.

:thumbsup:

 

[johnnqq]

aka the games people actually spend hours playign? far cry...

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: johnnqq
aka the games people actually spend hours playign? far cry...

I don't know. My son plays Lego Star Wars hours. I'm playin gPainkiller now with him watching and laughing at the old man's slow reflexes. Far Cry and Splinter Cell are good- and I think people into that sort of thing play Pacific Fighters.

Splinter Cell is the only current game I know of with visual differences, although Lego Star Wars says it has some as well.

Splinter Cell has been SM2 patched to look close to the same.

I think the bigger differences are with EXR HDR and soft shadows, and are upcoming in games like Unreal 3. My $.02.

NOW, all that said, I think it's better to have Sm3 than not, just because it's better to have any check box feature, even if only a game or two currently exploits it. My thought is that when a game with displacement mapping comes out, I'll want to see it, just to check it out.

 

[gac009]

Hans, I personally think you telling everyone who ask advice about cards to buy anything that has SM 3.0 without reguard to their actual needs helps no one on this board. I know you like your 6600gt and I like SM 3.0 but it is not the End-All-Be-All of features that you would like to mislead people to believe and it should not be your topic of nearly every single of your post here.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Well, the point of this thread is really to list any games that use SM3 to do things that the best SM2 cards cannot do. I can only think of Far Cry as an example, but I'd like to hear of others.

Just so that people are aware, SM3 cannot generate effects that are not possible on SM2; it just can do them faster.

Actually SM3 can do more than SM2. PS3 has features that make it a LOT easier for developers (from what I've read), features not available in PS2. Displacement mapping is only possible in VS3 (among a couple other things IIRC). That effect is used in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and some HDR games. If you want to see it in action, I had an old thread where I did comparisons, it's probably in archives by now.

Let me double check the displacement mapping thing to make sure it wasn't something else. Actually it is called parallax mapping, an advanced form of displacement mapping. HDR apps use something called tone mapping.

Here was my comparison page: http://www50.brinkster.com/xtknight/sc_sm

 

[coomar]

then why do you compare sm 1 to 3 and not sm 2 to 3?

 

[Pete]

xt, you thinking of *virtual* displacement (aka parallax) mapping, or the real, geometry-deforming thing? I think it's the former, and I believe that's not exclusive to SM3 (or even SM2?). In any case, I'm pretty sure that's a pixel, not vertex shader effect.

AFAIK, the HDR in Far Cry isn't due to SM3 but to FP blends and buffers, which are above and beyond SM3 spec (and yet apparently all SM3 hardware will support them). Otherwise, I don't think SM3 nets FC anything over SM2/b other than perhaps a reduced number of passes (# instructions possible) and possibly higher precision for certain effects (FP32 vs. FP24).

BTW, does SM3 really offer better performance by a lot in HL2 HDR? Is this based on SM2 vs. SM3 tests with a 7800, or comparing a 7800 with a previous-gen X850?

 

[BFG10K]

Like I've said many times SM 3.0 is nice but I don't feel it's a deal-breaker at this stage. I went from a 6800U to using a X800 XL for the last four months and I never noticed any real difference in my SM 3.0 games.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Pete
xt, you thinking of *virtual* displacement (aka parallax) mapping, or the real, geometry-deforming thing? I think it's the former, and I believe that's not exclusive to SM3 (or even SM2?). In any case, I'm pretty sure that's a pixel, not vertex shader effect.

AFAIK, the HDR in Far Cry isn't due to SM3 but to FP blends and buffers, which are above and beyond SM3 spec (and yet apparently all SM3 hardware will support them). Otherwise, I don't think SM3 nets FC anything over SM2/b other than perhaps a reduced number of passes (# instructions possible) and possibly higher precision for certain effects (FP32 vs. FP24).

BTW, does SM3 really offer better performance by a lot in HL2 HDR? Is this based on SM2 vs. SM3 tests with a 7800, or comparing a 7800 with a previous-gen X850?

No, he's right, that's a function performed by the vertex shader units, not the pixel shader units.

 

[Dribble]

The true displacement mapping supported by SM3.0 is something for future generations of cards with the grunt to use it. Virtual displacement mapping (also know as parallax mapping) has been around for ages but is only starting to be used - unreal 3 will make major use of it.

 

[Keysplayr]

Not sure about this, but I saw a CoD2 review that said that the "FeatherSmoke" option could not be used? or run correctly? On SM2.0 cards, A.K.A. X850XTPE which was part of the testing. I believe they said it was a SM3 only thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Not sure about this, but I saw a CoD2 review that said that the "FeatherSmoke" option could not be used? or run correctly? On SM2.0 cards, A.K.A. X850XTPE which was part of the testing. I believe they said it was a SM3 only thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I used the option on my x800pro and it looked great.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: Rollo
The SM3 games I have are Far Cry, Lego Star Wars, Painkiller, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

AFAIK the only "SM3 effect" that cannot be done in SM2 is displacement mapping, and that is not used yet, also AFAIK.

BTW- if you have little kids, Leggo Star Wars is awesome. My 5 year old loves it.

Not only for kids dude! I want that game! 24 years old and I still have my lego collection I still need to pick that up sometime...

 

[Todd33]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Rollo agrees with me, and he's known to prefer nVidia anyways.

Understatement of the year.