New PC Technologies - which ones do we actually need

Loobz

As we all know, it is impossible to keep up with the ever-changing world of the computer industry. Over the past year or more alone, look at the changes we have seen: AGP to PCi-E to SLi. ATI has Crossfire on the horizon
Also, 32 bit processing to 64 bit ala AMD 64.

The point Im trying to make here is what do we actually need to futureproof ourselves for at least 2 years or longer if possible? I cant see many changes on the processing side. 64 bit is the way to go, so it depends on how fast you want it. We can also se dual processors out now, and they are becoming more affordable.

So how about graphics cards? The war wages on with Nvidia and ATi, Nvidia sporting its SLi range and ATi fighting back with Crossfire. Will there be a need for dual graphics cards for gaming i.e. will it become the norm? Or is this just for 3dmark enthusiasts who just cant get enough from their system?

The reason Im asking all these questions is because im going to have to sell my PC sooner or later, and when I do I want to get the correct hardware that will stand the test of time. I think it would be worth holding out for Crossfire, but can Ati see that many people shelling out for 2 graphics cards? The same goes for dual processors.

So, look into your crystal ball and tell us what is a must and whats not.
I hope Im making a bit of sense at least.

K.O.Kiki

Don't know about dual processors; did you mean dual-core? Because they're the greatest upgrading reason I've seen, ever (more important than raw speed, IMHO). The ability to multi-task efficiently... *mmmmh*

The only other thing I can see as worth upgrading is a mid-to-high-range graphics card with ShaderModel 3.0, to make games look better. Unfortunately, the lowest (good!) GPU with SM3 is the 6800GT, and that's still quite expensive. Here's hoping ATi can release a cheaper model with SM3, for X800 money...

The worst thing about upgrading is deciding on RAM.
I've been spending weeks pouring over forums & articles, trying to decide on the best flavour of DDR: PC3200/4000/4400; CAS 2/2.5/3 latencies, manufacturer; chip (BH5/TCCD/whatever), etc. -- it's doing my head in!!

The most interesting add-in will be the APU (Physics-card). If it succeeds, will it be able to help create life-like worlds with full gravity, etc? It looks good, but maybe only in the "so-good-you-won't-notice-it" good; IMHO, they would have been better off trying to create a tiny add-on chip for GPU's and taken a cut.

stevenmu

K.O.Kiki wrote:

Unfortunately, the lowest (good!) GPU with SM3 is the 6800GT

The plain 6800 is still pretty good (especially with the pipes and shaders unlocked).


The thing with new technologies for PCs is that it takes a while for them to be common enough for developers to take advantage of them. 64 bit dual/multi cores will probably be common enough in the next 2 to 3 years that games will start requiring them and taking full advantage of them.

I think SLi/crossfire will remain a top-level enthusiast feature or a way for people to upgrade older systems. In the current gen of cards only the top end 7800GTX will support SLi, the GT and plain 7800 won't, so game developers will have to aim their product at people who just have one of these, perhaps leaving ultra-high resolutions, extra AA/AF etc for those with top end SLi rigs. The main advances in graphic cards will come from increased parrallelism on card, more vertex piplines and shaders, probably more memory and better access to it dual-channel etc.

I don't think seperate physics units will take off hugely either, with multi core cpus becoming more and more common there'll be less need for another add in card. If they do become commonly used, I can see nVidia and ATi packing them onto graphics cards and renaming them gaming cards or simulation cards or something.

Dundhoone

stevenmu wrote:

In the current gen of cards only the top end 7800GTX will support SLi, the GT and plain 7800 won't, so game developers will have to aim their product at people who just have one of these, perhaps leaving ultra-high resolutions, extra AA/AF etc for those with top end SLi rigs.

Thus far the GTX and the GT both support SLi.

Nvidia and Ati must be delighted that they've figured out a way to try to sell us all two cards per machine rather than just one. I'd hate to see this become mainstream because shortly we'd be thinking along the lines of spending €900-1000 to get a top spec graphics card pair to run the detail of a new game the whole way up.

Its only going to push pc gamers towards consoles, and so, imo, Sli is something we dont need.

WizZard

Dundhoone wrote:

Its only going to push pc gamers towards consoles, and so, imo, Sli is something we dont need.

If you could use consoles with a keyboard and mouse we'd all use them! I don't like the restrictions of console game/joy-pads.

Dual card solutions will stay around for perhaps a couple of years, then will come a major architecture overhaul for graphics cards. We will then stay with single card solutions until the manufacturers can make 2 cards work together, and so it all begins again...

I'm a cynic, but regardless, there will always be people who will buy the current best of the best hardware, and while these people have money the manufacturers will produce something that we can spend it on...

stevenmu

Dundhoone wrote:

Thus far the GTX and the GT both support SLi.

I'm sure I'd read only the GTX would, but that was a few months back. I'm sure they realised they could make more money with a cheaper SLi option.

K.O.Kiki

But people have been raving about 6600GT-SLI setups for months now!!

jesus_thats_gre

If you were building a new machine, it would make sense to purchase consider the following:

- Dual Core processors
- 1GB Ram minimum.. 2GB may be a worth your while in the long run so allow for expansion
- SLI/Crossfire capable board.. Buy 1 card now and another in 12 to 18 months time to give a decent boost in power when prices come down
- Decent PSU to allow for future expansion
- A decent monitor capable to utilising the resolutions that these new graphics card can run at

Richard Dower

Anyone hear about "Display Port"?...a whole new connector from your graphics card to your monitor, they're talking about building in copy protection and making the whole connector smaller and higher quality + more info can't be sent, in both directions.

Submitted to VESA.

stevenmu

I read about that recently, I don't like the idea of copy protection (not that I'd ever copy stuff that way anyway) but I think it had to go in to allow HD content (HDTV, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray etc) to be shown over it. I'm not sure how it works but only lower resolutions will be available over standard links.

gline

any release news on crossfire?? when it will be available? im still waiting for it

Loobz

gline wrote:

any release news on crossfire?? when it will be available? im still waiting for it

This is all I heard about release of Crossfire over recent days. Im not sure if its accurate -

The Enquirer:
'We saw a live demo of a Crossfire system at the showground here and actually had some of the questions answered. We asked, for fun, when Crossfile was going to be available and we learned that ATI plans to have it ready sometime in September.
You can take that as official information as it comes from an ATI official. The demo ran fine, and the system had two boards, connected with external cables so it is the real stuff.

ATI decided to show this dual card rendering machine with some vanilla technology demo as it was more suitable for the show where serious graphic people gathers.

ATI did push this marchitecture further around as it wants to get it done the way it is supposed to but it’s not an easy thing to do. But it stands the risk of missing the back to school period, which must worry its partners as well as itself'.

po0k

Proper driver-less RAID controllers ie. each array appears as a SCSI controller, with S.M.A.R.T. pass-through.

Hardware RAID5/50/6/60 support would be nice to see in motherboards.

nVidia's 7800 PLL clocking is also a really nice development in the consumer tech area, like the Centrino.

Performance per watt is already important and is going to become crucial.

The biggests shift will be apps being programmed as multi-thread by default. This goes far beyond games performance.

It is a move away from the diminishing returns of vertical scaling over to horizontal scaling. There will be improvements in clock speed, but that will become less of a factor in the performance envelope as the number of processor cores per die increase to 4 and 8.
Virtualisation is going to make some large impacts on the home market in the next 3 years or so.

The biggest thing I'm dreading is DRM. It's going to suck and mark the end to the golden age where you had some relative amount of control over your stuff.