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Fully Programmable Architecture

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  • Graphics Cards
  • Chip
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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February 10, 2002 2:41:47 AM

I found <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2103925,00.html" target="_new">this</A> to be interesting.

<i>"Sources close to the company have also suggested that Nvidia will move to a fully programmable architecture with its next chip design. Such a move could mean a much shorter lag time between when new features are introduced into a graphics chip and when they appear in new games. Current chips have their functions fixed in hardware."</i>

"Ignorance is bliss, but I tend to get screwed over."

More about : fully programmable architecture

February 10, 2002 2:53:35 AM

I don't get it, ain't already fully programmable?
If not then I don't understand what they mean by less time to integrate these techniques, given the fact a game takes time anyway to develop!

--
The other day I heard an explosion from the other side of town.... It was a 486 booting up...
February 10, 2002 11:18:46 AM

Hmm, they already have fully programmable shaders/T&L engine.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
February 10, 2002 1:48:45 PM

sweet....then I can program a renderer for 3d s max that uses vid card.....nice!

Only if you let me see the Umpa Lumpa- Homer Simpson.
February 10, 2002 4:26:15 PM

flamethrower, I'm don't have experience in programming games so can you shed some light as to howa programmable card would be helpful?

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
February 10, 2002 8:03:25 PM

The way I understood it (and I could be wrong :lol:  ) was that the pixel and vertex shaders are fully programmable, but the rest of the card is not. A fully programmable GPU would be like a CPU that is heavily optimised for 3D rendering and with a huge amount of bandwidth.
The idea behind having less lag time for developers is that they could start building features into their games before there is any hardware to support it, since they will be able to specify which functions the chip carries out using a firmware image.

"Ignorance is bliss, but I tend to get screwed over."
February 10, 2002 8:09:48 PM

yeah, that's how I thought of it too.

Only if you let me see the Umpa Lumpa- Homer Simpson.
February 10, 2002 9:23:10 PM

So what are the results?
More smooth and awesome games?
I still don't entirely get it, it just doesn't ring a bell to me...

--
The other day I heard an explosion from the other side of town.... It was a 486 booting up...
February 10, 2002 9:28:20 PM

Quote:
So what are the results?
More smooth and awesome games?
I still don't entirely get it, it just doesn't ring a bell to me...

Basically, it means you'll get more sophisticated effects without as much of a toll on performance.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
February 10, 2002 10:32:54 PM

...and you can add new effects with nothing more than a driver update, although they may perform slowly if the GPU isn't optimised for them.
It's more to do with better and more flexible effects than faster operation. With a fixed function graphics chip you’re locked into certain effects, but with a fully programmable GPU you can do anything at all (so long as it’s fast enough).

Of course, we can be certain that the next NVidia card will actually be fully programmable, but it will happen eventually.

"Ignorance is bliss, but I tend to get screwed over."
February 10, 2002 10:52:02 PM

Well, you can DO ANYTHING now through software but that crushes performance. The GF2 is DX8 compatible in software, but it can't compete in performance to a true DX8 card. At least with a programmable GPU, you'll be able to offload some of that work to the GPU.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
!