What happened to the magic 60 fps?

[DaveO]

In days of old when the Voodoo 2 ruled it was accepted that the Holy Grail for frame rates was 60 fps.

These days we are seeing reviewers get dewy-eyed when one card pumps our 140 fps compated to anothers 120 fps.

Some cards even mange to get over the magic 60 fps barrier with all the options turned on.

Given, for example a ti4200 is way over 60 fps in most games what is the point of a ti 4600? Surely the fact it can do another 30 fps or so over its cheaper brother is lost?

If there is a reason to rave at such high frame rates will someone explain why?

Dave

 

[deadcell]

A few reasons off the top of my head. The fact that the card can pump out 100+ fps on current games right off the bat gives a potential buyer an optimistic view on the card for future games. If you see a review for a new card that can barely hold down the "magical 60fps" on current games and benchmarks, that pretty much guarantees you'll be screwed in the near future when a better and badder game engine comes out. Beyond that, the higher the fps numbers, the more slack you get to implement stuff like AA and such. So in essence, the higher the raw fps, the better quality image you can acheive and still achieve a smooth playing experience

 

[deadcell]

I think it all just comes down to future proofing your investment.

 

[AnAndAustin]

I totally agree deadcell. Other reasons are simply down to personal preference, some people demand the absolute highest quality settings while others might prefer a higher resolution or 'eye candy' ... some people will happily play many games 30FPS while others demand 100FPS+.

Technology it seems will always move forward, things will get better, faster and cheaper and as they do there will be plenty of people craving it and also finding ways to take better advanatge of it. Rem back when having a 3D game which wasn't rendered in wire-frame was awesome, or when games could use a whopping 256 colours, then when 16MB system RAM was considered an insane amount (or 640KB FTM), then when 2GB HDs came out, then when people thought 640x480 gaming was awesome let alone 800x600, then when a consumer 12MB gfx cards was released, then when we hit 1ghz ... at each of these points there were always people saying 'that's mad and there'll never be a need for it' ... but then there was wasn't there.

Now-a-days more than ever it is easy to get carried away buying faster kit than you need ... mid-range CPUs and gfx cards are incredibly fast and capable let alone the top-end kit. As gaming in particular has evolved we have come a long way, games look more and more realistic, resolutions such as 1024x768x32 with AA and Aniso and 60FPS are easily done even with mid-range kit but it seems there will always be those striving for 1600x1200x128 with more AA, more Aniso and more details ... we have to rem it's these people who are really fueling the technology and helping manus to keep pushing back the boundries so that the majority of us with more modest finances or needs can have it all just an extra 12 months down the line ... don't knock it LOL!

 

[thefish]

don't forget those who blink faster than the rest of us.