Graphics cards being held back or not?

[rippling]

What is holding gfx cards back now adays ?. I mean look at the past nvidia , ati, and power vr broke moulds and delivered fantastic cards well ahead of the comp. But all the cards AMD and Nvidia come out with are mostly give or take a few fps between them.....
So is the problem current tech?
Or is the problem ati and nvidia have got lazy and are taking the safe option and know what each other are doing ?
Or is directx holding them back ?
Would there be bigger advances if developers use open gl rather than directx?

 

[DitsHavoc]

If technology is being held back, it's the same fact that it always has been. If the market does not need it or have any use for it then it will not be sold or developed for mass consumption. Sure some labs have probably created chips that can go 10 times the speed we are now but whats the point in selling now, nothing needs it.

Simplest way to make money is to sell what the majority want

 

[fowler002]

consoles holding back pc games so nvidia and amd don't need to push the 'envalope' would be my guess.

 

[EVGA_Nick]

There are a lot of games coming this last quarter of 2011 which will be pushing the existing hardware. I think this upcoming year of PC game development is the most exciting in a long time!

 

[Emphacy]

If there's a market, it will be done. Tech revolves around the consumer or in other words, the income.

 

[rippling]

If technology is being held back, it's the same fact that it always has been. If the market does not need it or have any use for it then it will not be sold or developed for mass consumption. Sure some labs have probably created chips that can go 10 times the speed we are now but whats the point in selling now, nothing needs it.

Simplest way to make money is to sell what the majority want

I disagree that games don't need it there is at least 6 or 7 games out there just now that kills gfx cards if run at max and aa applied etc take metro 2033 there is no way you can run this game at 60 fps with full effects and aa applied ?

 

[LanceCrossfire]

I reckon most manufactuars are holding back to get as close as possible to the Windows 8 release, so they can slap 'Windows 8 approved/compatible' or 'DX11.1 or 12' just to help shift some more units

I reckon we'll see the next gen around Jan/Feb with a refresh coming in September 2012 which is when I reckon Windows 8 will be released.