Slashdot Mirror

This is the same Creative that used patent extortion against ID software. These guys are one step removed from SCO. I launched my personal boycott of creative products that day.
http://3dgpu.com/archives/2004/07/28/john-carmack- on-creative-patentn/

Anyone using dubious patents to extort as a buisness model deserves to get crushed. I wish ID had played hardball against these slimeballs.

Game demos are now being hoarded into exclusive deals by the file-download-subscription-we-sell-your-address-to -spammers-to-break-even sites, and when that can't happen they just take over their competition.

Soon it looks like you'll have to pay to access demos. I wouldn't be surprised if one day people are paying to watch TV commercials, too.

http://www.3dgpu.com/modules/wfsection/article.php ?articleid=74&page=0

Now, im sure most of you have read Gabes recent comments regarding the detonator 51.75s, and Nvidia's offical response but I really do have to say, having seen this first hand it confirms to both myself and Veridian that the new detonators are far from a high quality IQ set. Alot of negative publicity is currently surrounding Nvidia, and here at driverheaven we like to remain as impartial and open minded as we possibly can, but after reading all the articles recently such as here coming from good sources and experiencing this ourselves first hand, I can no longer recommend an nvidia card to anyone. Ill be speaking with nvidia about this over the coming days and if I can make anything public I will.

The Detonator 51.75 drivers loses even more details over the 45.33 drivers. Especially note how the green on the foreground landrover is darker than the other two shots. Now, these drivers are beta, and not available to the public, so let's hope by the time they're released, the lowered image quality won't be in them. Because frankly, I'm just shocked how much better the Radeon 9800 Pro looks over the new Detonator 50 drivers on a GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, and any self-respecting gamer will choose the image quality on the Radeon 9800 Pro anyday. The amount of visual quality loss is not worth the, on average, 2-3fps that are shown to have been gained with these drivers in AquaMark 3.

http://www.3dgpu.com/modules/wfsection/article.php ?articleid=74&page=0

I wonder why they had to decrease IQ if their shader support was as good as you claim.

I've also been playing the game for a few days with a Geforce 3,Athlon 1.3, 256 DDR and platinum sound card. This guide was very interesting to me, because my fps keeps dropping to unbearably low levels any time things are happening which makes it impossible to play. When I turn textures and particles all the way up I get a whopping 2-5 fps, but otherwise usually get around 15 fps which is still pretty weak. And, yes I have all the latest drivers and patches.

For my two cents on the game.. the downside is that the gameplay is very linear and the level load times are extremely unbearable--'quick' load takes about two minutes. EAX is also buggy as hell. However, the eye candy is definitely incredible. There are very realistic volumetric particle affects like rain, flame, and billowing smoke and dust, incredibly detailed alien landscapes and actual realistic fingers on hands instead of square blobs.

Here's one positive review and a great screenshot of the bad guys.

I've also been playing the game for a few days with a Geforce 3,Athlon 1.3, 256 DDR and platinum sound card. This guide was very interesting to me, because my fps keeps dropping to unbearably low levels any time things are happening which makes it impossible to play. When I turn textures and particles all the way up I get a whopping 2-5 fps, but otherwise usually get around 15 fps which is still pretty weak. And, yes I have all the latest drivers and patches.

For my two cents on the game.. the downside is that the gameplay is very linear and the level load times are extremely unbearable--'quick' load takes about two minutes. EAX is also buggy as hell. However, the eye candy is definitely incredible. There are very realistic volumetric particle affects like rain, flame, and billowing smoke and dust, incredibly detailed alien landscapes and actual realistic fingers on hands instead of square blobs.

Here's one positive review and a great screenshot of the bad guys.

Bjorn3D's Cg Article - Programmer's Perspective

Hot Hardware - nVIDIA's "Cg" Language
(Excellent! Includes interview with David Kirk, Chief Scientist - NVIDIA Corp)

ExtremeTech - New Language Revolutionizes 3D Graphics
(includes interview with graphics guru Kurt Akeley)

3DPGU - NVIDIA Cg High-Level Language Preview
(includes short Q&A With Dan Vivoli - Vice President Of Marketing)

nV News - NVIDIA Cg Toolkit Overview
(makes comparisons using COBOL and FOCUS)

It does boost frame rates a little, but what it really allows you to do is crank up the quality without losing any framerate. Carmack had some codes to type in that would "optimize" Q3A for the Geforce... I tried it, it basically made all the curves _really_ smooth and round, and I lost 1 FPS. Darn. :) Check 3dgpu or some other gaming sites, I'm sure they'll have the lines to type in.

Especially over a "Ge-Force" killer (which of course uses benchmarks from unreleased hardware).

First off I'm a bit weary of websites that only evaulate cards by fps tests in video games. I usually distrust most benchmarks .. except for perhaps INDY 3D.

Not everyone will want to play games.. in my case I do 3d Animation and modelling in Lightwave and Maya. Ask any 3d user about ATI's track record for stability and opengl support under NT with any high end application. I had many friends and co-workers who got a ATI card only to return it in short order and buy something along the lines of a Oxygen VX1.

Applications like Lightwave and 3DSmax seem to be more forgiving regarding 3d cards but soon as you introduce Maya or Softimage to the mix.. forget it.. ATI doesn't cut the mustard unless they pull a large rabbit out of their hat.

On a related subject.. I did confirm with my local alias rep that Alias|Wavefront is testing the GeForce 256 for Maya/Alias certification. (no I wasn't told which ge-force card they were testing). This certification will be significant.. as the Geforce will be more than a "gamers" card .. especially when the quadro version of the chip ships later on in a few months.

For me.. its an easy choice... go for the card with has a few fps faster framerate in quake and incoming? Or a card that thats practically just as fast in games *AND* can run all my 3d applications faster then most of the high end 3d cards on the market [using Indy 3D].

== It seems the URL for Indy3d is down.. its http://www.indy3d.com you can compare your cards to a Onxy2 IR if you wish :) ==

GeForce / TNT2Ultra / Voodoo3 Roundup [ Shugashack]
Guillemot GeForce256 3D Prophet Review [Ace's Hardware]
Guillemot GeFroce256 3D Prophet Review [Puissance PC]
nVidia GeForce 256: To Buy or Not to Buy [AnandTech]
Guillemot GeForce256 3D Prophet Review [GA-Source]
nVidia GeForce256 DDR Review [3DGPU]
nVidia GeForce256 DDR Review [Riva Extreme]
nVidia GeForce256 DDR Preview [Thresh's FiringSquad]
nVidia GeForce256 DDR Review [Riva3D]
nVidia GeForce256 DDR Review [Planet Riva]
nVidia GeForce256 DDR Benchmarks [Bjorn3D]
Guillemot GeForce256 3D Prophet Review [CGO]
Guillemot GeForce256 3D Prophet Review [Fast Graphics]
Creative GeForce256 Annihilator Benchmarks [3DHardware]

Anandtech GeForce 256 Review
Ace's Hardware GEForce 256 Review
RivaExtreme GeForce 256 DDR Review
The FiringSquad GeForce 256 DDR Review
GA Source Guillemot 3D Prophet Review
3DGPU Geforce 256 DDR Review
Fast Graphics Guillemot 3D Prophet Review
CGO GeForce 256 Preview
Shugashack GeForce, V3 and TNT2 benchmark roundup
Riva3D Full GeForce 256 DDR Review
GeForce 256 DDR Review at Planet Riva

Did an NDA expire today or something?

Just a couple quick links:

Anandtech GeForce 256 Review
Ace's Hardware GEForce 256 Review
RivaExtreme GeForce 256 DDR Review
The FiringSquad GeForce 256 DDR Review
GA Source Guillemot 3D Prophet Review
3DGPU Geforce 256 DDR Review
Fast Graphics Guillemot 3D Prophet Review
CGO GeForce 256 Preview
Shugashack GeForce, V3 and TNT2 benchmark roundup
Riva3D Full GeForce 256 DDR Review
GeForce 256 DDR Review at Planet Riva

Any others?