Tech Link (Industry): 3DMark 11 Sneak Preview

Lost Circuits has a nice sneak peak of the upcoming "de facto" 3D benchmark software "3D Mark 11". Michael Schuette goes over the features quickly. Since it's a preview, don't expect a lengthy article, but it's enough to wet your appetite (be forewarned, for some odd reason, that article is under an ATI/AMD article group, brrr).

Tech Link (Graphics): NVIDIA Leaks GeForce GTX 480 Unigine Benchmarks, 3D Surround Vision Demo

The folks at HotHardware has put up a report about the upcoming video card from nVidia. Apparently, nVidia has leaked out info of their own technology ahead of time. Go check it out...

Tom Peterson over at NVIDIA gets all the chicks. I mean with his technical know-how, witty banter and boyish good looks, it's easy to see why. Okay, maybe that's not why. Maybe it's because he gets daily hands-on time with the soon to be released but not yet, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, otherwise known as GF100. Not only that, he also has the ability to defy and breach NVIDIA's very own NDA embargo launch times for the product, well ahead of us here in the lowly Tech Press community. I mean really Tom; do you have to steal all our thunder? Well, there is still plenty more to see in the weeks ahead, as we take our turn at the test bench with the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, but in the mean time, take a look at what Tom has cooking in the NVIDIA lab. You can almost here the groupies up front chanting "Free Bird" and holding up lighters. Wait, that's just his florescent green test rig...

Source:HotHardware

Tech Link (Benchmark): Rydermark Benchmark Preview

Looks like there's an upcoming contender for FutureMark when it comes to 3D benchmarking standard. I haven't tested it personally, but from the pictures, I find the interface ugly. Madshrimps posted their review and they even posted a nice short video clip of the said application. Check it out....

The minimum requirements for the Rydermark benchmark are set at:

# 3.0GHz Single Core CPU
# 1Gb system RAM
# DirectX 9-class GPU with 128Mb RAM
# Sound card with support for DirectSound 3D
# Windows XP & DirectX 9.0c

For the time being Rydermark is a Windows XP/DX9 only benchmark, maybe DX10 in the future under Vista.

Rydermark comes with an interesting readme which gives a bit of background information on the benchmark:

# Can we relate the benchmark performance to actual games performance?

Absolutely. RyderMark is a technology demonstration of a racing game currently in development. It is NOT a synthetic benchmark. Just like the game, in addition to the GPU, the benchmark also stresses the CPU, audio and memory subsystems.

The graphics is powered by Sahara, our in-house DirectX 9 graphics engine. Audio is provided by FMOD Sound System (www.fmod.org) which has already been used in dozens of games titles. Therefore, every technology used in the benchmark is directly relevant to the game.

# Do you have different shaders for GPUs from different manufacturers?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is something we wish to make crystal clear. We run IDENTICAL shader code on GPUs from all hardware manufacturers.

To reiterate the point, one of the main reasons we can stake the claim for creating a truly impartial and fair benchmark is the fact that we do not favor any hardware manufacturer over another by supporting obscure or optional texture formats or features in DirectX.

# How is the final RyderMark score calculated?

The final benchmark score is calculated as follows:

RyderMark Score = 20X Maximum Frame Rate + 40X Minimum Frame
Rate

# Why do you value the minimum frame rate much more than the maximum frame rate?

From our perspective as a games developer, we place a very high value on smooth gameplay. This requires a minimum of 30 frames per second at all times. At the same time, peak frame rates over 60 frames per second make no discernible difference to the gameplay experience.

Therefore, we urge users to look closely at the minimum frame rate as well as the overall score. PCs which fail to deliver a consistent minimum 30 frames per second may not provide an enjoyable gaming experience in next generation games.

# Can you describe some of the different shaders and technologies used in RyderMark?

These are some, but not all of the techniques used in the benchmark:
- Parallax Occlusion Mapping
- Motion blur
- Depth of field
- Soft shadows
- 32-bit and 64-bit HDR Lighting
- Fully dynamic lighting
- Intensive particle effects
- Dynamic reflections
- Refraction
- Normal mapping

Source:Rydermark Benchmark Preview

Tech Link (GPU): AMD's Next-Gen GPU Is Here! (Or Is It?)

Instead of reading thru all the reviews and sorting out the worthy ones from scrap, I found a blog post summarizing most, if not all, of the conclusion and thoughts about the new video card. I will not sugar coat it, the new AMD/ATi video card sucks major behind. Don't get this video card, it's bad for your wallet and your electric consumption. Expand to check out the gathered conclusion from PC World Game On blogger.

* Check the following sampling of conclusions about the HD 2900 XT ($399 MSRP) from a few of the enthusiast sites, with links to their reviews below each quote. (While the HD 2900 XT is available as of today, the lower-end cards are paper launches only, with a July 1 street date.)

"As it stands right now the Radeon HD 2900 XT, in our opinion, is a flop."

- [H]ard|OCP

"If ATI can lick the noise issue, we would recommend this card over all others in its price range, even despite the power requirements."

- Extreme Tech

"[AMD has] delivered a pretty good value in a $399 graphics card, so long as you're willing to overlook its higher power draw and noise output while you're gaming."

- The Tech Report

"AMD might not have retaken the performance crown but that does not mean that the GPU’s [sic] still are not impressive."

- Bjorn 3D

"Not the fastest video card in the market for sure, but definitely holds it's [sic] own at it's [sic] current price-point."

- VR-Zone

"Everybody was expecting and hoping for a product that would wipe the floor clean with NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX/Ultra. That's just not the case. Performance wise the Radeon HD 2900 XT has a very hard time coming even close to these product [sic] in a lot of scenarios."

- Guru 3D

Source:AMD's Next-Gen GPU Is Here! (Or Is It?)

Press Release: New NVIDIA GeForce® 8800 Ultra Enables World's Fastest Gaming Platform

It's a bit late I know, one day late but better later than never. NVIDIA* released their newest card in preparation to combat whatever AMD/ATi has up their sleeves to release this month. But this new Ultra is going to cost uber high, up there with a high end Intel CPU. For some reason, it is priced so high even with just a frequency bump with no difference compared to existing and current 8800GTZ model in temrs of stream processors (128), texture mapping units (32), raster operations (24) and same memory bus width of 384. Expand to read the official press release...

New NVIDIA GeForce® 8800 Ultra Enables World's Fastest Gaming Platform

For further information, contact:

Brian Burke
NVIDIA Corporation
(512) 401-4385
bburke@nvidia.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SANTA CLARA, CA—MAY 2, 2007

News Facts:

• Today NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) introduced the world's fastest graphics processing unit (GPU), the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra.


• The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra performs an average of between 10 and 15% fasteri than the GeForce 8800 GTX GPU, previously considered the fastest GPU on the planet,ii across a wide range of top games and applications.


• NVIDIA nForce® 680i SLI-based motherboards for Intel processors provide the fastest and most feature-rich platform for the GeForce 8800 Ultra. NVIDIA refers to these systems as the "definitive gaming platform."


• Consumers will be able to experience high-resolution, visually rich gaming and high-definition video playback with support for Blu-ray and HD DVD content.


• Definitive gaming platforms built with any nForce 600 Series motherboard are forward compatible with the new Intel processors with support for 1333FSB technology.

Product Facts:

• Graphics cards equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU and 768MB of video memory will be available at e-tailers and retailers worldwide by May 15th. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card launch partners include Asus, BFG, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision, Leadtek, MSI, PNY, Point of View, Sparkle and XFX.


• Prices range from $829 and higher. GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the first shipping DirectX 10 GPUs and are the reference GPUs for Microsoft DirectX 10 API development.


• GeForce 8800 GPUs are the developer's platform of choice for this year's top DirectX 10 titles, including Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Crysis, Age of Conan, Hellgate: London, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, World in Conflict, BioShock, PT Boats, and Cryostasis.


• Developers creating next-generation OpenGL titles, such as Enemy Territory: Quake Wars are also using GeForce 8 Series as their development platform of choice.


• GeForce 8 Series GPUs include all required hardware functionality defined in the Microsoft Direct3D® 10 specification, with full support for the DirectX 10 unified shader instruction set and Shader Model 4 capabilities.


• DirectX 10 is included with Microsoft Windows Vista and delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects for games, all rendered in real-time on a GeForce 8 Series DirectX 10-capable GPU.

Quotes:

Attribute to Ujesh Desai, general manager of desktop GPUs at NVIDIA:
"The definitive gaming platform is built around the fastest components available and today there is no disputing those components include the GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU and an NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI-ready motherboard. The graphics industry evolves extremely quickly and it is quite an achievement when you can leapfrog your own performance milestones in succession like we have done with these GeForce 8 Series GPUs."

Attribute to Glen Robson, general manager of Dell gaming products
"Dell is deeply committed to designing PCs that cater to gamers' needs and desires and offering the latest and greatest GPUs is a key technology differentiator. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPUs deliver stunning performance gains today and support the key features that will facilitate an awesome visual experience on DirectX 10 titles."

For more information, please visit http://www.nvidia.com or listen to the NVIDIA podcast located at http://download.nvidia.com/podcasts/pr/050207_geforce_8800_ultra.mp3.

Source:New NVIDIA GeForce® 8800 Ultra Enables World's Fastest Gaming Platform

Misc: 8600gts released in australia today!

A forum member apparently got hold of a retail graphics card based on NVIDIA* 8600GTS engine from a retail shop. Well, it could have been just normal news, except that, this card is yet to be released, and is scheduled no ealier than April 17, 2007 in the US. So today is April 06, 2007 (April 05, 2007 in the US) so that is 11 to 12 days earlier from release! NDA for benchmarks isn't even allowed to be posted yet! You can click on the image for the bigger pic, and expand to see more pictures of the card, and of course, bench result.

Confirmation:
One
Two
Three
Four
Five

Just picked it up, whim me for shop!!!

Got to stuff it in my pc and run some benchies!

Added pics:
Six
Seven
Eight

Screenshot of benchie:
Nine

With drivers supplied on cd:

E6600
250gb 16mb cache Sata 3gb/sec
2gb 6400 Gskill ram

3dMark06...
Main Test Results

3DMark Score 5542 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 2284 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 2036 Marks
CPU Score 2605 Marks

Detailed Test Results

Graphics Tests
1 - Return to Proxycon 17.534 FPS
2 - Firefly Forest 20.532 FPS

CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.834 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 1.302 FPS

HDR Tests
1 - Canyon Flight (SM 3.0) 18.063 FPS
2 - Deep Freeze (SM 3.0) 22.653 FPS

The rest were n/a

Max temp with fans PELTING (stock) was ~70c with ATI tool stress test... This thing could do with some aftermarket methinks!

Source:8600gts released in australia today!