Xbox to receive "Near Perfect Port" of HL2

[Pharlap]

-:Nighthawk:- wrote..

Well, from ATI you can pick up:

9800SE 128meg -- around $135

9600XT 128meg -- about $145

9800 Pro 128meg -- around $170

9800 Pro 256meg -- about $265

9800XT 256meg -- around $380

X800 Pro 256meg -- at least $415

X800XT 256meg -- seems to be just shy of $600

nice list. although i dont see any benefit from having a 256mb frame buffer whatsoever. 128mb is fine for now.

[tibi08]

Pharlap wrote..

although i dont see any benefit from having a 256mb frame buffer whatsoever. 128mb is fine for now.

If you love top-notch graphics, the only real question is how much power you can afford.

[-:Nighthawk:-]

Pharlap wrote..

nice list. although i dont see any benefit from having a 256mb frame buffer whatsoever. 128mb is fine for now.

On the lower end cards there, I'd agree with you -- you don't have enough computational power to utilize the features that the extra ram can help with. On the top-end cards, though, I'm seeing reviews with people playing at 2048x1536 at 128bit color with maximum FSAA and 8 or 16-tap anisotropic filtering turned on.



With those settings, you're looking at 48meg buffers for every finalized frame. Now add in the added memory load of a good FSAA routine, multiple rendering passes, etc, and you've got some massive memory requirements for every frame. Then consider how many frames you want to render in advance...



Depending on the complexity of the game and how many passes you're doing on the frame buffers... I can definitely imagine actually making use of that 256megs.



Still, most of us likely won't really make use of it for quite a while, as even your higher-end gamer likely only has a 19" monitor, and is probably running something closer to 1600x1200 or a step down while playing games, often still just at 32bit color with 2x AA. If you want the best of the best, though... 256megs can help.

[0 Tolerance]

smooth-running 2048x1536 @ 128bit color. *sigh* ...that'd be rather nice (though, of course, not needed).

[Pharlap]

-:Nighthawk:- wrote..

On the top-end cards, though, I'm seeing reviews with people playing at 2048x1536 at 128bit color with maximum FSAA and 8 or 16-tap anisotropic filtering turned on.



With those settings, you're looking at 48meg buffers for every finalized frame.

1. if youre gonna play at those rediculous max settings on, then dont expect good performance. every system has got a "sweet spot" in terms of performance where qualityerformance ratio is the highest. running at max settings is just a waste. sure there are those who do it, but the majority play at the "sweet" spot.



2. with memory<->graphics chip transfers in excess of 10GB/s for the top end cards (for reference i think the ati 9800 has a ~15GB/s transfer rate), 48mb per frame isnt going to scare the memory. its only when the memory OVERFLOWS into system RAM (no more than ~2.5GB/s, limited by the AGP transfer speed and memory speed of course) that we run into performance trouble.



i sure we both feel that increase in frame buffer memory is just a marketing tool to appeal to those who think "bigger numbers = bigger performance".

[Wee_G]

What the hell is all the arguing and proving your point crap about? can any of you remember the topic? IF YOU WANT HL2 FOR XBOX..THEN BUY IT. IF YOU RATHER HAVE IT FOR PC BUY IT.

S.I.M.P.L.E



this post will probably make an argument for some1 with NOTHING BETTER TO DO

[Supersonic^]

n8bowa wrote..

A new console system costs somewhere around $200-$300 and lasts for many years (About four). A decent video card alone costs $300, and are now reaching as high as $400 for the best. Now, to keep up with games, I find myself having to atleast get a new video card ($300), upgrade of RAM ($80), Sound Card ($100), and CD-ROM ($60 -- they go to shit so fast) every 2 years. This is excluding harddrive, mouse and other occassional wear outs.

Sound card upgrades aren't necessary, and neither are CD-ROM upgrades. Hell, CD-ROMs are barely used anymore unless you're installing something. Also, $60 for a CD-ROM drive? I take it you buy your CD-ROM drives from a supermarket or something. Most CD-RW drives are cheaper than that. Video cards need upgrading maybe every 3 years, RAM maybe 2 years, but you get what you pay for.



PC's do so much more than consoles, and not to mention the fact that they do everything better. Console graphics soon become dated. PS2 graphics looked dated 1 year ago, now they just look awful.



With a console, you get one stupidly under-priced console, with stupidly over-priced peripherals, and over-priced games. Oh, and there's the TV too. You can't play them without a TV.



Anyway, staying on-topic, isn't the HL2 engine supposed to be scalable? They're saying it will be able to run (with minimal detail) on a low end computer, then surely it can run with low detail on a PS2 (with 30fps I expect).

[Pharlap]

Supersonic^ wrote..

PC's do so much more than consoles, and not to mention the fact that they do everything better. Console graphics soon become dated. PS2 graphics looked dated 1 year ago, now they just look awful.



With a console, you get one stupidly under-priced console, with stupidly over-priced peripherals, and over-priced games. Oh, and there's the TV too. You can't play them without a TV.

graphics arent as important as gameplay. but ok i see what youre saying.



dont forget real life friends, you will need those too if you want to play multiplayer games.

[FPSDavid]

I play FPS with consoles, but its easier on PC.