HardOCP recently had the opportunity to sit down with NVIDIA face-to-face and discuss its next generation GPU, codenamed "GF100" which is based on the "Fermi" architecture you have likely heard so much about for the last few months. Currently NVIDIA is not sharing GF100 based video card specifics. This is NOT a product launch! This is a look into the GF100 GPU's inner workings and how that relates to gaming. The "GF" in "GF100" stands for a "Graphics" solution based on the "Fermi" architecture. The "100" denotes that it is the high-end part of the current GPU family.
The GF100 is NVIDIA's next big investment, and it is yet to be seen if it will pay off for them. The GF100 is more than just a GPU for gaming; we all know that based on the recent information that has been given. However, don't let this GP-GPU nonsense fool you, NVIDIA made it clear to us...finally…the GF100 is built for gaming.
MSI celebrates the 20th anniversary of Monster Hunter with this unique bundle that features a matching RTX 4060 Ti and game controller.
Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.
i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.
its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.
They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.
They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid
The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.
And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.
Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.
THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.
The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?
There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.
Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.
Nvidia is allegedly testing GPU coolers to handle up to 600W for the 50 series, reigniting discussion of melting 16-pin connectors.
I'm really excited after reading what Kyle Bennett had to say.
"We have come away more excited about GF100 (Fermi) than we have ever been. The design of the Fermi architecture is very innovative and NVIDIA engineers get big kudos for thinking outside of the box, or in this case, the traditional graphics pipeline. This thing has got several magazine covers in its future and an engineering award or two for sure."
Read the part where tesselation is said to be a 'function'. There is no dedicated tesselation hardware. When nvidia showed the uniengine benchmark and it was faster than a 5870, then it was no real surprise. It also didnt tell the whole story. GF100 is a much more expensive card to make and no doubt sell, more in the region of a 5970 which of course has twice the tesselation performance of a 5870.
In some ways it is similar to the scenario when shaders became unified. 7900 v 8600. You could run both vertex or pixel on unified shaders so when a unified card like a geforce 8600 was initially shown in vertex tests, it ran ONLY vertex. Thus the entire cards shaders were employed for its maximum vertex fillrate, thus making it appear considerably faster than a DX9 generation card with a split architecture and for example a mere 8 vertex shaders running the same test. However, its just an artificial benchmark. Ideal case scenario stuff. Games arent all vertex OR pixel shaders. More like a mixture. Which (partly) explained when running games of the time then 8600 was typically slower than say a 7900GTX with split architecture, because despite the unified advantage of higher maximum fillrates, typically games would require more of a balance alongside more bandwidth of course.
ANYWAY. To round this point off in this case GF100 running this bench is running ONLY tesselation at its absolute peak. It may very well have 8 times the MAXIMUM geometry performance of GT200, much like an 8600 boasted three or four times the maximum vertex performance of a 7900. In an actual real world DX11 game scenario, the 'polymorph engines' are employed for functions besides mere tesselation. They are not dedicated hardware, they are a shader subset....Thus although the Ati design appears significantly slower, it actually has full on dedicated hardware for the function. When deployed outside of a synth bench, nvidia will not be able to boast such impressive figures. Nvidia's implementation makes the design more flexible in that they will be scalable for midrange parts. Good thing? Maybe in ease of design for nvidia, but it also means that the midrange nvidia cards will have cut down tesselation performance as 'polymorph engines' are removed for the midrange/low end. ATi cards all have the same unit and tesselation performance. ATi's design means that the tesselator is always free to do its thing, not sometimes busy being something else....
As always though, the Real world tests will be the ones that actually matter
Well this is the thing. People need to see behind the numbers. Nvidia claiming more tesselation performance in a synthetic benchmark is one thing, but in the real world of games it looks much bleaker. As i have said in other posts most of the consumer money from gamers is poured onto the midrange parts, rather than high end enthusiast parts. Midrange cards derived from this architecture will almost certainly have sliced up tesselation performance for a start, three quarters or maybe only half the top dog. But something like a radeon 5750 retains similar tesselation performance as a 5870. The other thing is if nvidia actually manage to pull out some new midrange parts. The question is when? 5750 has been around three months or so now. How long til a proper midrange DX11 nvidia part after this? June? later?? More recycled DX10 parts will not be attractive against ATi's top to bottom DX11 lineup...
GF100 is going to be massive if the rumours and indications hold true and they seemingly are to date. It will cost nvidia an absolute fortune to manufacture just like GT200. I honestly have no idea how nvidia expect to make any money with this chip. 5870 is much smaller, much cheaper to make, almost certainly wont be massively slower especially in DX11 and is actually profitable for ati. That is quite important considering they are businesses trying to make money! Nvidia absolutely must have a successful midrange and low end lineup derived from this architecture asap. They cant keep afloat with only high end chips like this, you cant balance a pyramid on its point.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
With all this news about fermi, I wonder if its damage control.