Radeon HD 2900XT vs GeForce 8800GTS 320MB/640MB

HighlandeR · 19 May 2007 at 16:24

LoadsaMoney said:
R650's due August-September, the x2900 is just another x1800.

G90 out only weeks afterwards

Arcane · 19 May 2007 at 18:08

I just hope that ATI can do better with their refresh...

I can't see driver updates making this card fast enough to compete with nvidia's flagship offering, (the odd title aside, with the bechmarks cherry picked from little known sites)....I understand that it's meant to be compared to the GTS but really...where's the competition?

Six month old card's are still obviously better in all ways, by the time there's any sort of parity (by some kind of miracle drivers that people are expecting), then Nvidia's all new, all singing part will be released.

For everyones sake I hope the 2900's replacement is much better, much sooner.

Big.Wayne · 19 May 2007 at 18:16

Richdog said:
why do the STALKER benchies contradict all the other reviews?

Tute said:
when these new shader-AA games come along, they will pull well ahead of the 8800 series right?

Apparently S.T.A.L.K.E.R is one the games that can use 'Shader Based AA'.

Darkwave · 19 May 2007 at 18:19

Big.Wayne said:
Apparently S.T.A.L.K.E.R is one the games that can use 'Shader Based AA'.

Stalker doesn't use AA at all, it just adds a cheap blur effect to soften edges.

Deferred rendering in action, got to love it. :rolleyes:

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 18:35

Ulfhedjinn said:
Stalker doesn't use AA at all, it just adds a cheap blur effect to soften edges.

Deferred rendering in action, got to love it.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R uses shader based AA. Ive definetly found my 2900XT to be performing much better than my GTS ever did.

Darkwave · 19 May 2007 at 19:25

Tom|Nbk said:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R uses shader based AA. Ive definetly found my 2900XT to be performing much better than my GTS ever did.

Tweakguides said:
STALKER's game engine uses a form of rendering called Deferred Shading. This effectively means it cannot support proper Antialiasing which would remove all the jagged outlines in the game world, regardless of which type of graphics card you have. Thus the Antialiasing slider has no real impact on performance or image quality, and also cannot be forced on using the graphics card control panel. You can instead use the r2_aa command, and related commands, to enable and customize a fake form of blurred AA - see the Advanced Tweaking section for details. [source]

Stalker doesn't use antialiasing at all, it uses an edge-softening blurr effect and that's it. It doesn't do a very good job of it either really. The reason it's quicker on your 2900XT than it did on your 8800GTS is because it's still shader based, but it's not even remotely antialiasing.

Then again, it looks like AMD thinks that this sort of horrible technique is the future of gaming.

pegasus1 · 19 May 2007 at 20:37

QUOTE=Ulfhedjinn"Stalker doesn't use antialiasing at all, it uses an edge-softening blurr effect". "but it's not even remotely antialiasing."

Im not saying a thing

Darkwave · 19 May 2007 at 20:42

pegasus1 said:
Im not saying a thing

Hahaha.

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 21:15

Ulfhedjinn said:
Stalker doesn't use antialiasing at all, it uses an edge-softening blurr effect and that's it. It doesn't do a very good job of it either really. The reason it's quicker on your 2900XT than it did on your 8800GTS is because it's still shader based, but it's not even remotely antialiasing.

Then again, it looks like AMD thinks that this sort of horrible technique is the future of gaming.

These websites say otherwise...

http://www.custompc.co.uk/custompc/...ns-radeon-hd-2900xts-poor-aa-performance.html

Custom PC said:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R., already uses shader-based AA

Firing Squad said:
This is why the developer implemented a shader based AA (the slider in the game

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/stalker_mainstream_3d_performance/page2.asp

Darkwave · 19 May 2007 at 21:20

It is shader based, but it's not AA. It's simply a blurring effect to make things look smoother. If you don't believe me, open up the game and take a look at it. It's not AA in the slightest and it's not even multisampled.

It's the same rubbish early Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter used.

But eh, ok. You seem to like it and this "bright future" AMD has for you.

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 21:21

Ulfhedjinn said:
It is shader based, but it's not AA. It's simply a blurring effect to make things look smoother. If you don't believe me, open up the game and take a look at it. It's not AA in the slightest and it's not even multisampled.

Just because its not multisampled dosnt mean its not AA, it is a type of AA but its not the type of AA we all know and love...

Also when have I said I liked this type of AA?.

Darkwave · 19 May 2007 at 21:24

Tom|Nbk said:
Just because its not multisampled dosnt mean its not AA, it is a type of AA but its not the type of AA we all know and love...

You might want to read this.

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 21:26

Ulfhedjinn said:
You might want to read this.

Oh wow a Wiki... :eek:

Big.Wayne · 19 May 2007 at 21:30

Radeon HD 2900XT vs GeForce 8800GTS 320MB/640MB

Guys, go make aof cup of tea and mellow out, don't turn the thread into a mosh pit lol!

Is somebody saying that 'Shader-Based AA' isn't proper AA?

Ulfhedjinn whats up?

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 21:33

Aye shader based AA isnt AA in the sense that its not the traditional method but it's still a form of AA.

Big.Wayne said:
Ulfhedjinn whats up?

Must be that time of the month go easy on him Wayne.

Big.Wayne · 19 May 2007 at 21:41

Tom|Nbk said:
go easy on him

Well he is obviously getting ****** off about something? but I'm not sure what?

[edit] are just saw a BFG 8800GTS 640MB in his sig! :rolleyes:

Lucky guy!!

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 21:45

Big.Wayne said:
Well he is obviously getting ****** off about something? but I'm not sure what?

[edit] are just saw a BFG 8800GTS 640MB in his sig!

Lucky guy!!

He's normally always like this, snapping at people generally thinking hes the big I am, getting sick of it now so are a few other people from what I've gathered. Shame because hes an ok bloke when hes not in one of his little moods :rolleyes:

Big.Wayne · 19 May 2007 at 21:47

OK enough, there is no point in getting personal, it makes for very boring reading.

Lets stick to what facts we know, and in areas we are unsure just state 'your opinion' and move along.

Tom|Nbk · 19 May 2007 at 21:50

Big.Wayne said:
OK enough, there is no point in getting personal, it makes for very boring reading.

Lets stick to what facts we know, and in areas we are unsure just state 'your opinion' and move along.

Ok fair enough, I was originally dealing with the topic when I was given the AA lesson from mr Ulfhedjinn, I know feel wiser and shall continue on my quest for better IQ and AA, cmon ATi don't let us down :rolleyes:

Darkwave · 19 May 2007 at 22:47

Big.Wayne said:
Is somebody saying that 'Shader-Based AA' isn't proper AA?

Ulfhedjinn whats up?

I'm cool.

I'm just saying that the AA in Stalker is not proper AA in the slightest. Just a blur effect.

They might be able to do proper AA through nothing but shaders sooner or later but for the moment AA requires supersampling and resampling of pixels in a very specific way, hence why we have lots of AA modes.

Like I said, could be done through nothing but shaders sooner or later, but Stalker? That's seriously just not AA.

Edit: Still at it I see Tom, sad really. This is why you were blocked and deleted from MSN, so now welcome to my forum ignore. Think it's the only way I'm going to get shut of this childishness.

It's a shame really, you've only been like this since you got that card. You must be super disappointed, and I sympathise, but there's no reason to take it out on me and I'm afraid I won't have any more of it.

Sorry for derailing the topic again.