R520 Infomania

No, the extreme pipelines was quite an old rumor/news. We knew it would be a 16-pipeline R300-baded card with SM 2.0 a few weeks before NV40 launch.

 

Define "few", and are we in that same window now re:R520 --my memory says not. Tho "we knew" can be squishy in these cases too, as unless the source is impeccable there is usually a transition period of jettisoning the old rumors for the new where it wouldn't be fair to put a date on "we knew" until that process was more or less complete (i.e. had been accepted by a sizable minority with some "usually in the know" leadership buying-in publicly).

The relationship to NV40 release is interesting too, as I seem to recall that NV40 details were leaking, and as they were closer to launch than ATI were presumed to be relatively accurate --which then put pressure on ATI to respond with the truth while reducing their exposure for doing so (because NV40 details were already out there). That dynamic doesn't exist right now.

Which is *not* to say that Dave and others have been the recipients of misinformation this time around --I'm just saying that given the record it is too early to have confidence that they haven't, unless they wish to speak to the issue with some detail, which would surprise (and delight --so long as it didn't get them in trouble) me.

 

Where's CMKRNL when you need him?

The big personal turnaround re. R420 was getting sucked into the PS3.0 hype, despite having been told it was very unlikely to support it by someone who worked on the hardware in H1 '03. Doh. The "8 extreme pipelines" idea tied in with hearing from devs who had extracted fillrate figures corresponding to an 8-pipe design from an NV40 ES (obviously, in hindsight, with 2 quads disabled). I have been busy getting a life since then.

 

This thread wasn't too long before the NV40 launch, and many people were assuming that the R420 would have SM3 support.

 

Chalnoth, geo: Few weeks I mean over a month. I for one recall INQ story/thread here about R420 being a 16-pipeline part after the rumors of 16-pipeline NV40. From my recollection, there was consensus that it will A)have 16-pipelines (that part was all but officaly confimed) and B) have PS 2.0 and VS 3.0, which falls under close enough.

 

I doubt you could call that a credible rumor, considering it's just like, "Oh, well, nVidia did it, so ATI must be doing it."

It didn't have VS 3.0, and there didn't look like any consensus to me, looking back. PS 2.0 was about the most solid piece of info out there, due to ATI statements and Ashli shader support. But everything else was essentially up in the air, with nothing really known, like exactly what options in SM2 ATI would support (most people thought it'd be a much larger change than it actually was, even those who thought it was a SM2 part).

Hell, many people were even doubtful about ATI's SM2.0b support even after the NV40 launch, where we saw information about the SM2.0b profile.

Here are some threads from around that time frame:
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10967
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10401
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9868

Anyway, the key is that yes, there were indeed rumors that were spot-on. But there were many, many more that were just way the hell off.

 

Hey, there's much to be said for getting a life. Some of us were contending with just that when R420 was in the blender and this place was a torture chamber for anyone who wasn't under NDA. So I guess we all get to be surprised (or not) as a big happy geek family this time.

 

There are also numerous drawbacks and it can suck up all your time quite quickly.

(What in the hell was I thinking of getting three puppies at once!?!?! :? )

 

Whoa, you got three puppies in addition to kids?

What were you thinking man.

 

Puppies would be easier?

They're actually pretty damned terrific, but it is also a pretty good example of how life can eat up your time too. (And shoes, coat, pants, carpet, bed, wall, cupboard, headphones, mouse, etc....but none of the leather living room set yet, knock-wood! :? )


So I heard the new R520 will support WGF and have 16 extreme pipelines....

 

Yeah, the breathless news flashes at Inq on WGF support are priceless. Right up there with "Interesting Canadian Initiative" in the headline writing world (apropos of absolutely nothing relevant here, alltime fave headline anywhere/when --a decapitation at a strip joint-- "Headless Body in Topless Bar".)

 

Did I mention it's going to have extreme WGF support?

 

Isn't it supposed to be 24 Extreme Pipelines??

US

 

so, R520 Fudo has WGF 1.0 support - DX9.0+ ... slightly *beyond* the DX9.0c spec, aka DX9.L (L for Longhorn) with SM3.0

then WGF2.0 which is DirectX10 aka DirectX Next will be supported in R600 (or R620) with SM4.0


????

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21982

 

Is that like DX9.1? Diggy, won't that double GFFX performance?

 

Wasn't WGF 1.0 SM2?

/me scratches head

 

I am not sure if WGF 1.0 was Shader Model 2.0 or both 2.0 and 3.0.

maybe it was 2.0 but is now 3.0 ?

 

question:

If 8x vertex pipelines part is lifted off R500, do you think it will be able to run PS?

in that case it will have 24 pipelines

 

there are no vertex pipelines on the R500

 

Did I say there are any?