This is especially bad when you look at how efficiently Transmeta's Crusoe manages to emulate x86 code...wow, an IA-64 core with code-morphing, what a concept!
Back in the dark days of consumer OpenGl support, many vendors like 3DFX, Rendition and Matrox released MiniGL client drivers specifically for Quake/QII engine games.
After they released working ICDs, most of these vendors continued to improve and release MCDs because they simply performed better.
If ATI's drivers were simply doing this seamlessly, ie: activating an MCD for a particular game, this would not be a problem in an sense. After all, what was acceptable a year ago should be acceptable today so long as it doesn't come at the cost of usabaility/features.
However, evidence has ramped up that this "enhancement" actually does affect the image quality negatively.
So, you say, how could ATI do this to us? Its simple really, they've done it before...or have you all forgotten already about ATI's Rage Pro TURBO driverset released early 1998? The drivers that gave an amazing %40 increase in Winbench 98, the Direct3D standard benchmark tool of the time, but came at a substantial cost in real game framerates?
I can remember 6 years back, some of my highschool teachers freaking out because two kids in the class had brand-new HP 48G calculators, complete with an IR interface.
No amount of reasonable discourse could convince the teachers of the hilariously puny transmission distance, so the two were separated across the room during tests.
I imagine that teachers have already jumped on and banned all Palm organizers from use in class, seeing as how every Palm and clone sold in the last two years has shipped with an IR port.
You've got to be kidding me.
My friend paid $500 for an iPaq when it came out...and all he does is stare at it and show friends how it can play mp3s. Forget about hefting it around, the battery dies before the day is done and it weighs a ton.
I got a cheapo Visor 2mb a year ago, and I must say I like it. It feels more intuitive than a cheapo organizer yet its small enough and light enough to fit in your pants pocket. Thats of course all I use it for...addresses and games.
If I want to hear music, nine times out of ten i'm near a computer or stereo, and if I want to go online...I'll wait. I remember what 14.4 was like, and I refuse to torture myself like that again, especially on a 3" 1/2 VGA screen.
These are fringe features, but they manage to hype it to the point where everyone thinks they need them.
Me, I'm happy with a truely pocket-sized device with a readable screen and 30-60 days of battery life. Makes me wonder how many people buying these highend Palms or Pocket PCs actually use them.
Maybe because Apex DVD players don't PLAY DVDs.
I'd describe it as more of a drunken attempt at pissing itself. I took the Apex back and got a real DVD player.
You sound like the fools who boycott nuclear power because it's unsafe and could make mutants out of us all...who boycott hydroelectric power because it destroys habitats and watertables and could cause deadly dam breaks...who boycott hydrocarbon power because of the pollution and the lung cancer, exploding wells and mine subsidences that ensnare the people who slave away to extract it?
Can't you just sit your ignorant ass back for one second and realize that every action has consequences? And with the enormous amounts of energy you're extracting, you would expect the consequences to be just as harsh.
Personally I'm all for a power-generation system thats fairly safe and clean. Considering that a tight microwave beam will mean little radiation exposure to the areas surrounding the beam, and that even the off-chance mistargeted beam will have no lasting effect, I consider that a huge improvement.
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This is especially bad when you look at how efficiently Transmeta's Crusoe manages to emulate x86 code...wow, an IA-64 core with code-morphing, what a concept!
Back in the dark days of consumer OpenGl support, many vendors like 3DFX, Rendition and Matrox released MiniGL client drivers specifically for Quake/QII engine games.
After they released working ICDs, most of these vendors continued to improve and release MCDs because they simply performed better.
If ATI's drivers were simply doing this seamlessly, ie: activating an MCD for a particular game, this would not be a problem in an sense. After all, what was acceptable a year ago should be acceptable today so long as it doesn't come at the cost of usabaility/features.
However, evidence has ramped up that this "enhancement" actually does affect the image quality negatively.
So, you say, how could ATI do this to us? Its simple really, they've done it before...or have you all forgotten already about ATI's Rage Pro TURBO driverset released early 1998? The drivers that gave an amazing %40 increase in Winbench 98, the Direct3D standard benchmark tool of the time, but came at a substantial cost in real game framerates?
Some companies never learn.
I can remember 6 years back, some of my highschool teachers freaking out because two kids in the class had brand-new HP 48G calculators, complete with an IR interface. No amount of reasonable discourse could convince the teachers of the hilariously puny transmission distance, so the two were separated across the room during tests. I imagine that teachers have already jumped on and banned all Palm organizers from use in class, seeing as how every Palm and clone sold in the last two years has shipped with an IR port.
You've got to be kidding me. My friend paid $500 for an iPaq when it came out...and all he does is stare at it and show friends how it can play mp3s. Forget about hefting it around, the battery dies before the day is done and it weighs a ton. I got a cheapo Visor 2mb a year ago, and I must say I like it. It feels more intuitive than a cheapo organizer yet its small enough and light enough to fit in your pants pocket. Thats of course all I use it for...addresses and games. If I want to hear music, nine times out of ten i'm near a computer or stereo, and if I want to go online...I'll wait. I remember what 14.4 was like, and I refuse to torture myself like that again, especially on a 3" 1/2 VGA screen. These are fringe features, but they manage to hype it to the point where everyone thinks they need them. Me, I'm happy with a truely pocket-sized device with a readable screen and 30-60 days of battery life. Makes me wonder how many people buying these highend Palms or Pocket PCs actually use them.
Maybe because Apex DVD players don't PLAY DVDs. I'd describe it as more of a drunken attempt at pissing itself. I took the Apex back and got a real DVD player.
You sound like the fools who boycott nuclear power because it's unsafe and could make mutants out of us all...who boycott hydroelectric power because it destroys habitats and watertables and could cause deadly dam breaks...who boycott hydrocarbon power because of the pollution and the lung cancer, exploding wells and mine subsidences that ensnare the people who slave away to extract it?
Can't you just sit your ignorant ass back for one second and realize that every action has consequences? And with the enormous amounts of energy you're extracting, you would expect the consequences to be just as harsh.
Personally I'm all for a power-generation system thats fairly safe and clean. Considering that a tight microwave beam will mean little radiation exposure to the areas surrounding the beam, and that even the off-chance mistargeted beam will have no lasting effect, I consider that a huge improvement.