there is no such in when it comes to the computer industry.
I sat back last night thinking to myself about the parallels between the DX9 cards and the DX7 card releases. Geforce256 cards were barely faster than the TNT2 Ultras back in the day. People bought the cards thinking eventually when T&L games come out their cards will show their worth over those pesky TNT2 Ultras.
The simple fact was by the time any games came out that really used T&L those Geforce 256s were about as worthless for said game as tits on a bull. And the GF2 Ultras were the cards you needed to get in order to run the games with anything that could resemble playable.
Fast forward to 2001 when the DX8 card hit the streets. GF3 was a little faster than the GF2 Ultras and offered DX8 pixel shader technology. Now I think the GF3 was worthy to mention that is was a pretty good card but the simple fact is by the time we saw any real games that make extensive use of pixel shaders the thing is not looking very pretty. But those GF4s and now even 5900 and 9800s sure made a splash.
Now onto the DX9 lvl technology. I always hear the non-stop banter about 9800 Pros being more futureproof for DX9 games. People point to HL2 as proof. The problem I have with this is I have heard HL2 is more a DX8 game with some DX9 shaders tacked on. Meaning, we have'nt and won't see a really intensive DX9 lvl game for some time and when we do all our 5900s and 9800s will be junk compared to the video cards that will be able to run said game.
So now you are probably asking yourself "Wtf is this guys point?". My point is, make a decision on which card you are purchasing based on the games you play today. Because as I have shown above if you are basing it on games of the future you will be saddened to know you have to shell out more money to get a video card that can actually make use of the features you bought your original video card for today.
Bottom line is I like my 5900 NU but when a true DX9 based game comes out it will be replaced by the next or 2 generations from video card that will be able to handle the load.
I sat back last night thinking to myself about the parallels between the DX9 cards and the DX7 card releases. Geforce256 cards were barely faster than the TNT2 Ultras back in the day. People bought the cards thinking eventually when T&L games come out their cards will show their worth over those pesky TNT2 Ultras.
The simple fact was by the time any games came out that really used T&L those Geforce 256s were about as worthless for said game as tits on a bull. And the GF2 Ultras were the cards you needed to get in order to run the games with anything that could resemble playable.
Fast forward to 2001 when the DX8 card hit the streets. GF3 was a little faster than the GF2 Ultras and offered DX8 pixel shader technology. Now I think the GF3 was worthy to mention that is was a pretty good card but the simple fact is by the time we saw any real games that make extensive use of pixel shaders the thing is not looking very pretty. But those GF4s and now even 5900 and 9800s sure made a splash.
Now onto the DX9 lvl technology. I always hear the non-stop banter about 9800 Pros being more futureproof for DX9 games. People point to HL2 as proof. The problem I have with this is I have heard HL2 is more a DX8 game with some DX9 shaders tacked on. Meaning, we have'nt and won't see a really intensive DX9 lvl game for some time and when we do all our 5900s and 9800s will be junk compared to the video cards that will be able to run said game.
So now you are probably asking yourself "Wtf is this guys point?". My point is, make a decision on which card you are purchasing based on the games you play today. Because as I have shown above if you are basing it on games of the future you will be saddened to know you have to shell out more money to get a video card that can actually make use of the features you bought your original video card for today.
Bottom line is I like my 5900 NU but when a true DX9 based game comes out it will be replaced by the next or 2 generations from video card that will be able to handle the load.
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