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New GFX Card, OpenGL 3.0 vs. DX10 etc.
Author
I'm about to get myself a new system in not so far future.
Now i wonder when gfx cards will have real OpenGl 3.0 support. Current cards come with 2.0 and DX 10 which sounds like not really satisfying.
Could anyone give me some hints if it's ok to be concerned about that at all.
My idea is to be able to use the new functionality like Unified Shaders/Geometry Shaders etc. in OpenGL asap. I already saw the NV_ EXT which looked like beeing written for 2.0 but i'm totally confussed right now.
Is there anyone who could share is knowledge so i don't feel so alone anymore?
thx a lot,
greetings
GreyHound
Anything that supports DX10 (November 2006 and onwards) should support OpenGL 3.0 atleast thats what I have been lead to believe.
Author
I'll really have to investigate some more.
I heart that basicly 3.0 is just a code overhaul that totally restructures the following stuff, extensions etc. and doesn't really have much to do with the hardwareside improvements that were originaly defined in DX10. (or do i mix that with the press releases of 2.1?)
As i understood it's jsut that MS defined DX10 and said, this and this will be possible in DX10 and then nvidia and ati (mainly) knew what they had to do to create the necessary hardware support. And DX10 is just 1 interface that can be used to adress those hardware features. (is that right? I mean more or less)
So it's just a matter of time until someone can use those via another grafic API as e.g: OpenGl?
I heart that basicly 3.0 is just a code overhaul that totally restructures the following stuff, extensions etc. and doesn't really have much to do with the hardwareside improvements that were originaly defined in DX10. (or do i mix that with the press releases of 2.1?)
As i understood it's jsut that MS defined DX10 and said, this and this will be possible in DX10 and then nvidia and ati (mainly) knew what they had to do to create the necessary hardware support. And DX10 is just 1 interface that can be used to adress those hardware features. (is that right? I mean more or less)
So it's just a matter of time until someone can use those via another grafic API as e.g: OpenGl?
That's more or less right, yes.
OpenGL 3.0 is mainly a big cleanup, without adding many new features. Another new version is scheduled to be released soonish (within the next 6 months or so), which should include DX10-class features as well.
Even today, you can access DX10 features from OpenGL, you just have to rely on vendor-specific extensions (I know NVidia has extensions that allows it for their cards, at least)
But of course, if you wait, it'll be added into OpenGL properly, so you don't have to mess with extensions.
OpenGL 3.0 is mainly a big cleanup, without adding many new features. Another new version is scheduled to be released soonish (within the next 6 months or so), which should include DX10-class features as well.
Even today, you can access DX10 features from OpenGL, you just have to rely on vendor-specific extensions (I know NVidia has extensions that allows it for their cards, at least)
But of course, if you wait, it'll be added into OpenGL properly, so you don't have to mess with extensions.
Author
thanks, that was helpful, i won't be able to wait that long anyway. But it's good that i got those knowledge parts assembled somewhat correctly. ;)
I'm used to extensions and i'm planning to get a NV card anyway. Just didn't want to totally throw the money out of the window. (my current card is a x800 agp so i need to get a new one anyway)
ty
I'm used to extensions and i'm planning to get a NV card anyway. Just didn't want to totally throw the money out of the window. (my current card is a x800 agp so i need to get a new one anyway)
ty
Quote: Original post by Spoonbender
Even today, you can access DX10 features from OpenGL, you just have to rely on vendor-specific extensions (I know NVidia has extensions that allows it for their cards, at least)
The extensions are EXT and cross vendor, however with GL3.0 and Mt. Evans around the corner I wouldn't put much faith in AMD implimenting them as there simply isn't a good cost:benfit ratio for them.
Will older cards (eg: my GeForce 6200) support OpenGL 3.0 (after driver updates)? How about Mt. Evans?
Quote: Original post by phantomQuote: Original post by Spoonbender
Even today, you can access DX10 features from OpenGL, you just have to rely on vendor-specific extensions (I know NVidia has extensions that allows it for their cards, at least)
The extensions are EXT and cross vendor, however with GL3.0 and Mt. Evans around the corner I wouldn't put much faith in AMD implimenting them as there simply isn't a good cost:benfit ratio for them.
indeed, AMD will probably wait until a big game uses the extensions unless they've changed their policy since the ATI days.
ATI kept neglecting their OpenGL driver prior to the release of Doom 3 and only got their act together when reviewers started using the game for benchmarking. (Its was funny how a benchmark one day shows that nvidias card are almost twice as fast and a few weeks later with new drivers ATI is 5-10% ahead with exactly the same hardware)
Quote: Original post by Ezbez
Will older cards (eg: my GeForce 6200) support OpenGL 3.0 (after driver updates)? How about Mt. Evans?
No. 6200 doesn't support pixel shaders 4.0 .
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