
So, as usual, all we can do for now is sit and wait. Another would be that it won't be until the generation of cards following the one being launched now, that graphics accelerators will be able to cope with the complexity caused by this feature.

One way of reading this quote would be that ATi's upcoming chips are either still too slow for this feature or simply aren't designed for it. Internet forums everywhere are still tied up in all sorts of debates about how this statement should best be interpreted. "Steer people away from flow control in ps3.0 because we expect it to hurt badly. Of course, the question remains whether developers and gamers will see any benefit from such a conversion at this point and whether the NV4x generation will actually be fast enough for longer and more complex shader programs. This should make it relatively easy and painless to convert a game to the newer shader model. All developers need to do is set a few options and voila - they either get a shader optimized for SM2.x or 3.x (Well, I don't think it's that easy in the end.). It seems certain that the changeover will occur faster than that from SM1.x (DirectX 8.x) to SM2.x (DirectX 9), as nowadays most of the optimization work is done by compilers.

Gamers are wondering how long it will take before they see any real benefit from the switch to SM3.0. The new minimum requirement of 32 Bit floating point precision may prove troublesome for ATi if the company is planning on staying with the 24 Bit implementation.ģD developers in forums everywhere are also debating the potential that the new shader model brings to the table for game development. At this point, the most interesting question is therefore what ATi will do. There's a good chance the same will hold true for the rest of the NV4x family.


We do know, however, that the GeForce 6800 fulfills all requirements of the new shader model. : Image Quality - Anisotropic, ContinuedĪt present, that question is rather hard to answer.: Possible Applications And Other Peculiarities.: ROP Pixel Pipelines (Raster Operations).: The GeForce Compared To The Rest Of Its Class.
