Half Life 2 optimised for ATI cards!

[MMhardKy]

http://mirror.ati.com/shopati/promotions/halflife2.html

[PenguinJim]

I bet it's ALSO optimised to run with the latest nVidia cards.

I don't think that link says anything of any substance, it's just typical PR. Time will tell, of course, but I'll wager a date with DigitalWanderer that this is a non-story ;)

edit: Didn't Ati premier the Doom3 demo too? I thought I read somewhere on the forums that Doom3 is optimised for nVidia cards. Anyways.... must... sleep... :D

[Sazar]

Originally posted by PenguinJim
I bet it's ALSO optimised to run with the latest nVidia cards.

I don't think that link says anything of any substance, it's just typical PR. Time will tell, of course, but I'll wager a date with DigitalWanderer that this is a non-story ;)

edit: Didn't Ati premier the Doom3 demo too? I thought I read somewhere on the forums that Doom3 is optimised for nVidia cards. Anyways.... must... sleep... :D

ati did NOT premier the doom3 demo because there is no such thing :)

they did have their product used to premiere a looped viddy thinger of the ALPHA build @ last years E3...

doom 3 is not really optimized for either... nvidia's FX products just run a little faster on their particular path than ati's on its particular path.. mainly due to nvidia using lower precision...

on standard arb2 path ati is faster by almost 2x... aFAIK... unless nvidia has rectified this...

[The Baron]

on standard arb2 path ati is faster by almost 2x... aFAIK... unless nvidia has rectified this...

thought that changed with the NV35? might be on crack, though.

[Sazar]

Originally posted by The Baron
thought that changed with the NV35? might be on crack, though.

thats what I want to know... I am not privy to this knowledge though :(

[yoladude]

it's probably ati trying to get back at nvidia for "proving" that doomIII will run better on nvidia then ati.

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by The Baron
thought that changed with the NV35? might be on crack, though.

You're on crack my friend :p

nvidia CLAIMS that NV35 will run the ARB2 path at full speed(ie at the same speed it runs the NV30 path). But that is unconfirmed, as the ARB2 path wouldn't even run with the tested NV35 drivers(44.03).

[silence]

ok...what's the big deal what path does card use if it's working?
if there is special path for NV cards and they run better on it...good....i like it. also if there are optimizations to make ATI cards work better...good for ATI owners.

if u can't get all featus possible on same path for both manufacturers then why is so bad that they use diff paths?

they DO run same game and they DO bring best IQ and speed when they both run their own paths....which is IMO something completly normal....or i am wrong?

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by silence
ok...what's the big deal what path does card use if it's working?
if there is special path for NV cards and they run better on it...good....i like it. also if there are optimizations to make ATI cards work better...good for ATI owners.

if u can't get all featus possible on same path for both manufacturers then why is so bad that they use diff paths?

they DO run same game and they DO bring best IQ and speed when they both run their own paths....which is IMO something completly normal....or i am wrong?

No, you're wrong. The NV35 or NV30 can run basically any path, with the exception of the R200 path.

The ARB2 path has the highest quality. The NV30 path with an NV30 is twice as faster as the ARB2 path with an NV30, but it has lower IQ.

The whole point is that the IQ between the different paths is not the same. That is why many people are saying the the benchmarks run were unfair, because the ATI card was on the ARB2 path which has higher quality than the NV30 path(which is what all nvidia cards were tested on).

Now, nvidia told Anand or Tom's that NV35 would be able to run the ARB2 path and the NV30 path at the same speed. Which means that NV35 users should use the ARB2 path because it has better IQ.

[PenguinJim]

Originally posted by Sazar
ati did NOT premier the doom3 demo because there is no such thing :)

they did have their product used to premiere a looped viddy thinger of the ALPHA build @ last years E3...


I'm sorry... I'm so old-skool, I still think 'demo' stands for 'demonstration'. When nowadays it obviously stands for... um... playable demonstration :D

[Nv40]

Originally posted by StealthHawk
The ARB2 path has the highest quality. The NV30 path with an NV30 is twice as faster as the ARB2 path with an NV30, but it has lower IQ.

The whole point is that the IQ between the different paths is not the same. That is why many people are saying the the benchmarks run were unfair, because the ATI card was on the ARB2 path which has higher quality than the NV30 path(which is what all nvidia cards were tested on).

Now, nvidia told Anand or Tom's that NV35 would be able to run the ARB2 path and the NV30 path at the same speed. Which means that NV35 users should use the ARB2 path because it has better IQ.


if Nvidia Nv3x's runs in the Nv30 path.. is unfair right? (64bist vs 96bits)
but if they run on the ARB2 is not the same ? (128 bits vs 96bits )
what it is interesting is that id software have told that the diferences
between NV30 and ARB2 will not be noticeable for most people,until
you tell them where to look .and even the diferences between R200 vs ARb2 ,so when ATI is running with extra precision ,is a one that doesnt really matters in Doom3 .since Doom3 is a very *dark* game , diferences there between R200 /Nv30/ARb2 path can be insignificant for most people at most of the time in the game. so since the diferences are minimal ,at least in Doom3 (if any ),i see no problem with using the best IQ performance combo for every card.
the good news is that NV users will have more quality modes to play ,
from Nv20/Nv30/path and for bragging rights in the ARb2 path ,iF the
performance is acceptable for them. :)

about Half-life 2 .. if i remember well Halflife 1 ,supported Directx and
OpenGl. so i dont see any reason why HL2 will not support OpenGl too.
Where Nvidia have more flexibility thanks to OpenGl extensions.

take a look at the HL2 mini FAQ (http://www.planethalflife.com/half-life2/)
for more interesting info.