Previous "2900 XT Lacks UVD" Posts

[INKster]

Nor do I recall the 6800 situation coming to light in the first two weeks, but rather some months in wasn't it?

That was because back in 2004 HD Video (and especially video encoded with the more advanced MPEG 4-based codecs) wasn't all the rage as it is today.

Today, three years later, the consumers actually expect to have GPU's with HDCP, H.264, MPEG 2 and VC-1 off-load and all of those more or less "catchy" marketing names that first came up with the Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps fighting like cats for the consumers' wallets.
They are just more "educated" about these subjects than before.

 

[BRiT]

Anyone who's purchased a 2900 these first 10 days that is unhappy about the UVD situation I'd certainly understand if they decided to return the card.

The features that made it a difficult to decide to upgrade to G80 or R600 was AA, AF, UVD, and drivers. The R600's lack of performance in AA and lack of noticably better AA, and lack of image quality in AF, and very raw drivers had me leaning heavily towards the G80. This was before all the focus on R600 lacking UVD. Had I pre-ordered one, I would have returned it due to it's lackluster capabilities, drivers, features, and power consumption. AMD/ATI is taking a beating on this release, and rightfully so.

I'm glad I ordered the G80 a week ago. My one regret is giving ATI the benefit of the doubt for so long (6 months). I should have ordered a G80 last November.

 

[Slappi]

Anyone who's purchased a 2900 these first 10 days that is unhappy about the UVD situation I'd certainly understand if they decided to return the card.

Those 3 guys are pissed.

 

[trinibwoy]

I'm glad I ordered the G80 a week ago. My one regret is giving ATI the benefit of the doubt for so long (6 months). I should have ordered a G80 last November.

Yeah my X1900XT is beginning to show its age and I'm finding most games unplayable at the settings I'm used to. I was hoping R600's arrival would bring us lower prices but cruelly, the best bang for the buck seems to be the GTX at $500+

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Well, I took a gamble on the HD 2900 XT with the following expectations, it would be slower, hotter, and more power hungry than the GTX. It would trade blows with a GTS, but again be hotter and more power hungry.

I feel it has the "potential" to be able to beat the GTS consistently, however I'm doubtful it'll be any challenge for the GTX.

I gambled that the IQ in game when in motion using a wide or narrow tent with traditional MSAA would improve image quality while in motion.

I can't say I'm disappointed or even unhappy with the card with those expectations.

The gamble sorta paid off. IQ is indeed better than my X1800XT when in motion. And quite noticably better. However, it still isn't as good as I was hoping for. While it does help with shader aliasing it doesn't get rid of it completely. However, it's good enough that for the most part I can ignore unless something draws my attention to it. And that's a rather large improvement over all competing cards that are out.

The power draw is the one large disappoint and the fact that currently the speed is all over the map when MSAA+Wide or Narrow Tent is enabled. Having to ditch the DVD-RW in my shuttle case and getting a 5.25" booster PSU is a bit of a bummer. No, it's a major bummer. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't have 2x750gig drives and an overclocked CPU. :smile: Guess, I'll have to do DVD-Viewing on my laptop while in Japan, unless I want to rip it and stream it to the main comp.

So, not everyone is unhappy with their purchase. Compared to the 8800 GTS I still find it a better value unless you're in a situation where heat and power are a concern.

Anyway, now that I'm not going to be considering the high end for another year, my attention is fully turned to the Mid-Range battle now for my HTPC, P2P, File Server, and part-time LAN gaming machine.

Hopefully, the HD 2600 XT will actually hardware accelerate VC-1. I wish the Nvidia solutions did also to the same extent that they accelerate h.264. It'd be nice to be able to downclock the HTPC machine when not gaming on it to conserver energy and lower heat. Something I don't think would be feasible with a 8600 if a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD title is encoded in VC-1.

Then, again, UVD might not be as efficient as AMD is saying it is. Anyone, know when NDA expires for reviews for 2600/2400?

Regards,
SB

 

[trinibwoy]

So you've accepted it's hot, power hungry and trades blows with the GTS. You were forced to buy a separate PSU just to run the card and you still think it's a better buy at $100 more than the GTS? Wow :smile:

 

[IbaneZ]

So you've accepted it's hot, power hungry and trades blows with the GTS. You were forced to buy a separate PSU just to run the card and you still think it's a better buy at $100 more than the GTS? Wow :smile:

Wow indeed.

Brand loyalty is a bad thing.

 

[compres]

Wow indeed.

Brand loyalty is a bad thing.

In the past I have preferred ATI cards because of their image quality, but that is not the case anymore so right now it's who performs the better, and that is nVidia. Too bad am a poor student and can't afford anything.

 

[Sound_Card]

So you've accepted it's hot, power hungry and trades blows with the GTS. You were forced to buy a separate PSU just to run the card and you still think it's a better buy at $100 more than the GTS? Wow :smile:

I see the merits and potentials with R600, but IMO, the weaknesses of R600 over come the strengths and potentials.

Maybe R650 will fix most of those weaknesses, maybe not. I will say, I have alot of doubts about both R600 and G80 in up comming games such as UT3, Bioshock, and Crysis. From the benchmarks I have seen, I'm not impressed at all with these vendors DX10 performance. I may just hold out with My gto2 untill R700/G92 arrive.

 

[AlexV]

Well, I took a gamble on the HD 2900 XT with the following expectations, it would be slower, hotter, and more power hungry than the GTX. It would trade blows with a GTS, but again be hotter and more power hungry.

I feel it has the "potential" to be able to beat the GTS consistently, however I'm doubtful it'll be any challenge for the GTX.

I gambled that the IQ in game when in motion using a wide or narrow tent with traditional MSAA would improve image quality while in motion.

I can't say I'm disappointed or even unhappy with the card with those expectations.

The gamble sorta paid off. IQ is indeed better than my X1800XT when in motion. And quite noticably better. However, it still isn't as good as I was hoping for. While it does help with shader aliasing it doesn't get rid of it completely. However, it's good enough that for the most part I can ignore unless something draws my attention to it. And that's a rather large improvement over all competing cards that are out.

The power draw is the one large disappoint and the fact that currently the speed is all over the map when MSAA+Wide or Narrow Tent is enabled. Having to ditch the DVD-RW in my shuttle case and getting a 5.25" booster PSU is a bit of a bummer. No, it's a major bummer. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't have 2x750gig drives and an overclocked CPU. :smile: Guess, I'll have to do DVD-Viewing on my laptop while in Japan, unless I want to rip it and stream it to the main comp.

So, not everyone is unhappy with their purchase. Compared to the 8800 GTS I still find it a better value unless you're in a situation where heat and power are a concern.

Anyway, now that I'm not going to be considering the high end for another year, my attention is fully turned to the Mid-Range battle now for my HTPC, P2P, File Server, and part-time LAN gaming machine.

Hopefully, the HD 2600 XT will actually hardware accelerate VC-1. I wish the Nvidia solutions did also to the same extent that they accelerate h.264. It'd be nice to be able to downclock the HTPC machine when not gaming on it to conserver energy and lower heat. Something I don't think would be feasible with a 8600 if a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD title is encoded in VC-1.

Then, again, UVD might not be as efficient as AMD is saying it is. Anyone, know when NDA expires for reviews for 2600/2400?

Regards,
SB

I know taste is individual, but I have to ask:are you serious about the tent modes?I mean, yes, with all the blurring, shader-aliasing is somewhat reduced but...the blurring is horrid. Granted, I haven`t tried the lower 4x 6x modes, only 12x and 16x, but even with the narrow tent, the blur is obnoxious.

 

[Arun]

Please continue UVD discussion in the following thread. All posts in this thread will be moved to a new thread and locked, so that if there's any intelligent discussion left to be done, it can be in the new thread.