Starcraft 2 & Diablo 3 -- ati 4850 sufficient?

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: HOOfan 1
Diablo 3 has already been announced and it does not look that demanding to me

Note it may take a wile to load the site

I agree. It's laughable that people are worrying about upgrading based on the footage that's out there.

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: Wreckem
DX 11 will be completely revolutionary step for desktop graphics.

Just like DX10 was supposed to be?

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Wreckem:

They are working with Intel and Havok on doing it, but its not for current cards. They are working on it for the future.

The 48xx cards WILL NOT EVER accelerate Havok. Future ATI and Intel discrete graphics will in all likelyhood move Havok to the GPU, but thats probably not going to happen until sometime in 2009.

No, they do and will. From Guru3d

It's work in progress and during a recent press-briefing we asked when we can expect driver support for GPU HAVOK physics. The answer was unfortunately a bit cold. It could be a matter of two months, yet also easily be the end of the year. Fact remains though that the Series 4000 do support the feature and AMD's driver team is working on it.

Hardware Canucks also mention Havok Here

Wreckem:

As for DX 10.1, by the time Starcraft 2 comes out Nvidia will have a DirectX 11 part. DirectX 11 is coming before Windows 7. DX 11 is said to be released sometime next spring/summer.

Starcraft 2 is expected to turn up H1 09 if not Christmas this year, there will be no DX11 or Windows 7- you have no idea when Nvidia or ATI will have support for DX11 so it's silly to propose this information as fact, it is likely that they will have support at around the same time given what we have seen in the past.

Wreckem:

DX 10.1 is fairly worthless. It is a microevolutionary step over DX 10 that only a hanful of games will ever use. DX 11 will be completely revolutionary step for desktop graphics.

There are plenty of articles out there on this, DX10.1 is not worthless and it is very important since it makes the developers job easier. Not to mention it has the potential to run alot faster due to one less render pass, we saw this evident in Assasins Creed.

Wreckem:

Unreal 3, and all future games based off of the Unreal Engine, will be PhysX enabled.

Unreal Engine 3 does not mean guaranteed PhysX- the engine has the potential to but does not support it on every title. Mass Effect does not have PhysX, Gears of War and Bioshock are the same, infact UT3 is the only UE3 game for the PC that supports hardware accelerated Physics, with the others it is up to the developer to implement it.

DX11 is being demo'ed to developers at Nvision '08. Windows 7 will not require DX 11 or DX 10 for that matter, but DX 11 is still on its way.

DX 10.1 is worthless, because well, its barely going to be developed for. Both Nvidia and ATI are working on DX11 parts(see ATI's raytracing stuff).

As for SC being released this year, keep dreaming, Summer 09 is probably more like it. We shall know for sure next month. As for DX10.1 in Starcraft II, we shall see, Blizzard did say they were developing a DX10.1 game but, that could just be Diablo III. The Starcraft II website still has their FAQ saying they are unsure if they will be supporting in DX10 exclusive features.

 

[Sylvanas]

DX11 is being demo'ed to developers at Nvision '08. Windows 7 will not require DX 11 or DX 10 for that matter, but DX 11 is still on its way.

Yes it's on it's way but it is not next year or anytime near the expected SC2 launch that you alluded to earlier.

DX 10.1 is worthless, because well, its barely going to be developed for. Both Nvidia and ATI are working on DX11 parts(see ATI's raytracing stuff).

It's obviously not worthless since two very large developers EA and Sega have Signed on recently

there are at least two coming in within the next six months to nine months that take advantage of DirectX 10.1: BattleForge developed by Phenomic and published by Electronic Arts as well as an unnamed title from Sega.

and then of course we have the rumors of a Blizzard title signing. Developers are not going to drop everything and use DX11 as soon as it launches, DX10/10.1 games will remain in development for quite a while after it's release, as we have seen in the past.

As for SC being released this year, keep dreaming, Summer 09 is probably more like it. We shall know for sure next month.

I agree we most likely won't see it this year but it has not entirely been ruled out just yet, as you say it will probably arrive halfway through 09.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

DX11 is being demo'ed to developers at Nvision '08. Windows 7 will not require DX 11 or DX 10 for that matter, but DX 11 is still on its way.

Yes it's on it's way but it is not next year or anytime near the expected SC2 launch that you alluded to earlier.

DX 10.1 is worthless, because well, its barely going to be developed for. Both Nvidia and ATI are working on DX11 parts(see ATI's raytracing stuff).

It's obviously not worthless since two very large developers EA and Sega have Signed on recently

there are at least two coming in within the next six months to nine months that take advantage of DirectX 10.1: BattleForge developed by Phenomic and published by Electronic Arts as well as an unnamed title from Sega.

and then of course we have the rumors of a Blizzard title signing. Developers are not going to drop everything and use DX11 as soon as it launches, DX10/10.1 games will remain in development for quite a while after it's release, as we have seen in the past.

As for SC being released this year, keep dreaming, Summer 09 is probably more like it. We shall know for sure next month.

I agree we most likely won't see it this year but it has not entirely been ruled out just yet, as you say it will probably arrive halfway through 09.

Direct X 11, should ship sometime next year. More should be known(publically) about DX 11 around August 26. People took that DirectX 11 being stripped from Windows 7 meant it was scrapped/pushed back. No, the requirement to have DX 11 in Winodws 7 was scrapped.

All the hardware manufactures roadmaps have DX 11 parts arriving next year. Nvidia wouldnt be forgoing 10.1 if they werent releasing an 11 part in 2009.

 

[hans007]

starcraft 2 is supposed to run fairly well on older systems. most blizzard games do, they do not want to alienate most of their fanbase.

from what i read it should run at lower resolutions even on a 7600GT.

diablo 3 probably has just barely started development , so i figure basing a vid card purchase now on diablo 3 as it is is pretty foolish.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Diablo 3 is probably nearly as far along as SC 2, as they had a fairly extensive gameplay video...but still knowing Blizzard, both are probably a long way from release.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: HOOfan 1
Diablo 3 is probably nearly as far along as SC 2, as they had a fairly extensive gameplay video...but still knowing Blizzard, both are probably a long way from release.

Sure they showed some gameplay elements, but that doesnt mean they have a lick of content created.

Developers do that all the time, show off rudimentary gameplay elements, and then its 2-3 years till the game is released.

Honestly I HOPE they use that engine/an improved version of it for their next MMOG.

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: Wreckem
DX 10.1 is fairly worthless. It is a microevolutionary step over DX 10 that only a hanful of games will ever use.

It's not the mass quantity of games that matter, but the few high quality titles.
Titles like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, games that people will be playing for a decade.

I'm upgrading from a 8800GT to a 4870. So not everyone is going to buy your line that it's insignificant and doesn't matter. We've seen this time and time again for the past decade, the people who advocate the older standards over the newer ones, always end up losing when it's all over.

DX10.1 is indeed better to have than DX10 support. Some games, incredibly influencial ones like Blizzard titles will use it, and reap advantages from it as you sit with your DirectX 10 level hardware.

I'll be gaming on a 4870, possibly 2 of them in Crossfire on my X38 rig.. blowing you away and having the latest hardware standard as you talk about DirectX11 because Nvidia doesn't have 10.1 compliance.

Why did you leave out bringing up DX12?

 

[taltamir]

interesting to note, the videos of startcraft 2 and d3 seem to show similar graphics. It would make a lot of sense for them to develop a single graphics engine and then use it in two games at once.
If that is the case, we could expect them both to be DX10.1
it would be nice to see a REAL DX10.1 title (assassin creed had a faulty implementation that was removed, no it was not a plot by nvidia, because all the review sites were crying about the implementation not working right and skipping work before it was done...)

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: taltamir
interesting to note, the videos of startcraft 2 and d3 seem to show similar graphics. It would make a lot of sense for them to develop a single graphics engine and then use it in two games at once.
If that is the case, we could expect them both to be DX10.1
it would be nice to see a REAL DX10.1 title (assassin creed had a faulty implementation that was removed, no it was not a plot by nvidia, because all the review sites were crying about the implementation not working right and skipping work before it was done...)

The implementation in AC that caused the controversy was with regard to one fewer render passes being applied with AA, the fact is DX10.1 allows fewer rendering passes with AA, its all part of the 10.1 spec. The 'rendering anomalies' cited for removal could just as eaisily be on part of the driver or the game and not DX10.1- that is why something is fishy with it's entire removal. See AT here

So why did Ubisoft remove DirectX 10.1 support? The official statement reads as follows: "The performance gains seen by players who are currently playing AC with a DX10.1 graphics card are in large part due to the fact that our implementation removes a render pass during post-effect which is costly." An additional render pass is certainly a costly function; what the above statement doesn't clearly state is that DirectX 10.1 allows one fewer rendering pass when running anti-aliasing, and this is a good thing.

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: NBPTL
eventhough those games aren't out yet but just thinking out loud here.

figured 4850 would definitely affordable by that time.

I currently have q6600 dell system and not a gamer but those games I'll definitely play.

4850 is what i recommend and also blizzard will make sure it runs smooth on it since Diablo 3 is a DX10.1 title and also both game use havok physic which be will be supported by ATI card will support with an driver release.

dell system probably don't have a decent power supply so you may also need something like this :
http://www.thermaltake.com/pro...hPower/w0157/w0157.asp

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: NBPTL
eventhough those games aren't out yet but just thinking out loud here.

figured 4850 would definitely affordable by that time.

I currently have q6600 dell system and not a gamer but those games I'll definitely play.

its already now..given the perf. How cheap should it get? You get a great performing card for $140 ish....

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
Diablo3 -> DX10.1

http://www.planetdiablo.com/fe.../articles/d3-04012008/

Using the latest graphics technology including DirectX® 10.1, its next-generation 3D engine helps create a thrilling, immersive role-playing experience.

april fools?? (look at the date)