LadyCrimson Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Is AGP so 'out' now? About 8 months ago I asked that question and I got the general idea that it would be eventually, but it still was going to be quite a while before the PCI-E was a 'must have' to be able to play games. Sigh. Well, guess I'll be looking at building yet another system soon. Oh well, I can always use a 3rd PC. “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
@\NightandtheShape/@ Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Is AGP so 'out' now? About 8 months ago I asked that question and I got the general idea that it would be eventually, but it still was going to be quite a while before the PCI-E was a 'must have' to be able to play games. Sigh. Well, guess I'll be looking at building yet another system soon. Oh well, I can always use a 3rd PC. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah I'd say it's nearly out. Series 6 was the last bunch of AGP compatible cards... As for a new system, I'd say wait for Windows Vista. The ground is still a bit funky, but the whole new OS and new version of Direct X will probably mean the latest technology at the time is always gunna be the safest and best option. I hope I've been somewhat helpful to you, but for someone who says they're not a techie, you seem to know a fair bit of stuff. "I'm a programmer at a games company... REET GOOD!" - Me
LadyCrimson Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Oh, I'm definitely not a techie. I just know some things from research/years, but I don't understand half of what I know, if you know what I mean. Like knowing if you plug something in it turns on, but not knowing why, thus it's hard to make informed decisions. And yes, you were helpful...especially for the heads up on the PCI-E thing. I knew that was coming but hadn't thought about it much recently. That's the one thing about PC's I don't like..the constant upgrading. I only built this one a year ago. <_< Cheers. “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
@\NightandtheShape/@ Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Oh, I'm definitely not a techie. I just know some things from research/years, but I don't understand half of what I know, if you know what I mean. Like knowing if you plug something in it turns on, but not knowing why, thus it's hard to make informed decisions. And yes, you were helpful...especially for the heads up on the PCI-E thing. I knew that was coming but hadn't thought about it much recently. That's the one thing about PC's I don't like..the constant upgrading. I only built this one a year ago. <_< Cheers. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm a professional geek, I can talk shop for days and never get bored... Heck I can even tell you how they make water shiney! LOL "I'm a programmer at a games company... REET GOOD!" - Me
LadyCrimson Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Hey, can someone tell me exactly what vsync is supposed to do? In the ancient past a lot of my fave games would go a little wonky if I had it on, and I never understood it's purpose...so by habit it's always off.... Am I missing something by not using it? “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Gabrielle Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 I never understood antialiasing, OpenGL and other 3D stuff on the cards. Is it that important on how the game performs?
@\NightandtheShape/@ Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Hey, can someone tell me exactly what vsync is supposed to do? In the ancient past a lot of my fave games would go a little wonky if I had it on, and I never understood it's purpose...so by habit it's always off.... Am I missing something by not using it? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> VSync (had to check this coz I wasn't 100% certain, but it's what I thought it was), it's basically to do with monitor refresh rates & the buffer swap chain. Basically lets say you're getting 100 frames per second, and your monitor is running at 60Hz a second, you're wasting power on those extra 40 frames. Thus it syncronizes the frames to the monitor refresh rate. The buffer swap chain is to do with what is called the "Backbuffer" and the screen you're seeing, when a game renders an image it firstly goes to the backbuffer, then it's swaped with the screen, you then see the image which was on the backbuffer and now the screen, the screen which you was looking at becomes the backbuffer. The screen itself is a matricies of numbers refering to pixels. You can have several backbuffers, but usually you just have the one. What does this mean? simply, that all those people earlier who claimed that 1600x1024x32bit image took 6.2Mb I think it was are utterly incorrect in the terms of a game. Depending upon how many buffers the program is using, it varies on average you're talking about double that, so it's really 12.4Mb. Hope this answers your questions, and a bit more . "I'm a programmer at a games company... REET GOOD!" - Me
Gabrielle Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 They look fine to me so it must be working correctly. I'm picky when it comes to 3D games, I like them to look real and not pixiated.
@\NightandtheShape/@ Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 I never understood antialiasing, OpenGL and other 3D stuff on the cards. Is it that important on how the game performs? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> OpenGL refers to what is called an Application Programming Interface, or API. DirectX and OpenGL are both API's. " "I'm a programmer at a games company... REET GOOD!" - Me
Bokishi Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 (edited) Direct3D sux0rz Edited January 3, 2006 by Bokishi Current 3DMark
@\NightandtheShape/@ Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Direct3D sux0rz <{POST_SNAPBACK}> " And why is that? "I'm a programmer at a games company... REET GOOD!" - Me
Diamond Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Direct3D sux0rz <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No. DirectX and OpenGL have different philosophies.
LadyCrimson Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Hmm....thanks. I'm not sure I quite understand completely but it's more than I knew before. Doesn't sound like I need it on then...I don't think I ever get FPS beyond my refresh rate except in menu screens. “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
@\NightandtheShape/@ Posted January 3, 2006 Posted January 3, 2006 Hmm....thanks. I'm not sure I quite understand completely but it's more than I knew before. Doesn't sound like I need it on then...I don't think I ever get FPS beyond my refresh rate except in menu screens. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not many folks do, so don't worry about it, I think it's one of those future proofing things. "I'm a programmer at a games company... REET GOOD!" - Me
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