67 members have voted

  1. 1. Is Pixel Shader 3.0 recommended for Vista?

    • 1. Yes it is
      13
    • 2. Optional
      11
    • 3. No it is not
      15
    • 4. I do not know, but want to vote anyway
      28


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It is pretty crucial to find out if planning to upgrade or build a new system.

This is the only snippet of information I found about Aero and Pixel Shaders.

  Quote
AERO Graphics Card Requirements

Firstly AERO is the name given to the new Vista Shell, Windows Presentation Foundation is the graphics subsystem which delivers the sharper new pictures.

Naturally the speed of the card and the amount of memory will affect performance, particularly with games and movies.  Try and avoid low-spec cards, for example, nVidia 5200 and ATI 9200, where possible, choose high-end 6800 or X800.  Apparently if you have an old graphics card, Vista and Windows Presentation Foundation are clever enough to emulate the better cards, so at least you get the AERO effect - if a little more slowly in the case of games.

DX9 Pixel Shader 2.0 cards will give crisp results.  Pixel shaders come from the games world, they give the texture and fade effects which give AERO its personality.

As far as I know, Vista will be designed with Pixel Shader 2 in mind which means having Pixel Shader 3 will make no difference (with the exception being that a card equipped with Pixel Shader 3 will likely be higher performance)

I say will be designed because, as of yet, I've yet to see any use of pixel shaders in the Aero Glass theme.

The other thing supposedly necessary is a DX9 card, although again I've yet to see any Aero Glass effects that would require DX9.

I can say with 99% certainty that AERO will not require the use of a SM 3.0.

Here's why. Take a look at the Ati website. They announced two new "Vista ready" notebooks with Mobility Radeon x600 cards. These are DX9 compliant cards and do not support SM 3.0.

Here's what it says in case the Ati homepage changes.

  Quote
ATI to Power Two New 'Windows Vista? Ready' ThinkPad? Notebooks; New ThinkPad Z60m and R51E Notebooks Launch with ATI's Mobility? Radeon? X600 Graphics and Radeon? Xpress 200 Chipset

I think it is safe to say that far moremore information than the average consumer or average geek so their announcement is accurate.

I have an x600 card in my notebook and I can run Glass just fine as well.

  HalfLing said:
According to the ms statements. A GeForce 9800GTX SLi with 2048MB of video memory and Pixel Shader 8.0 will be required to run vista properly...blah blah blah...these specs get exaggurated every week...

Jake-

586592816[/snapback]

But how can you be COOL if you don't bash MS constantly?

Pretty sure the the new gui runs of DX 9, and since there are current cards that already support Windows Driver Foundation 1.0 or what ever there calling it know, I don't think it will be. But if your in to gamming DX10, I say it be a must.

I'm not bashing MS...I think the specs are over exaggurated thats all...are you insane...by saying specs are over exaggurated, I am neither supporting or condeming ms, the fact of the matter is I own several pocket pcs, a windows server and a bunch of windows pcs...

Jake-

I turn off all the shadows, fade and animation options in Windows XP, same with Vista.

I personally find it a waste of cpu/ram usage. However in XP I use Luna, can't stand classic... lol

  HalfLing said:
I'm not bashing MS...I think the specs are over exaggurated thats all...are you insane...by saying specs are over exaggurated, I am neither supporting or condeming ms, the fact of the matter is I own several pocket pcs, a windows server and a bunch of windows pcs...

Jake-

586593257[/snapback]

i didnt say u were bashing ms, just wonderin where did u hear requirements like 9800GTX and 2048 video memory :wacko: ...?!?!?!?

  the_bulgarian said:
i didnt say u were bashing ms, just wonderin where did u hear requirements like 9800GTX and 2048 video memory  :wacko: ...?!?!?!?

586595846[/snapback]

sar?casm

1. A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.

2. A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.

dictionary.com :DD

  HalfLing said:
I'm not bashing MS...I think the specs are over exaggurated thats all...are you insane...by saying specs are over exaggurated, I am neither supporting or condeming ms, the fact of the matter is I own several pocket pcs, a windows server and a bunch of windows pcs...

Jake-

586593257[/snapback]

Yea, I was talking about the same people you were, not you. The people saying vista needs 2GBs of ram are just engaging in mindless bashing while trying to look intellectual, that's all.

Dell is advertising a windows vista "ready" machine that was adverties 256mb of "GDDR" memory. I'm going to assume this is a 256mb video card.

Everything I've read said that the gui will not run in it's full glory and turn off features if the card is not able to run it. That being said meeting min specs is not going to get you the full Aero experience.

  jstillion said:
Dell is advertising a windows vista "ready" machine that was adverties 256mb of "GDDR" memory. I'm going to assume this is a 256mb video card.

Everything I've read said that the gui will not run in it's full glory and turn off features if the card is not able to run it. That being said meeting min specs is not going to get you the full Aero experience.

586596261[/snapback]

There's a difference between REQUIRED and RECOMMENDED, that some fools need to learn, not saying you, but some. That's where this confusion comes from.

You SHOULD get a better experience with better hardware, while the OS tones it down to run reasonably on lower hardware. That makes the most sense and yet people still find something to complain about, just because it's MS. Imagine it was different and everybody got the same experience, then people would complain that MS doesn't take advantage of their hardware, ad NAUSEUM.

  HalfLing said:
I'm not bashing MS...I think the specs are over exaggurated thats all...are you insane...by saying specs are over exaggurated, I am neither supporting or condeming ms, the fact of the matter is I own several pocket pcs, a windows server and a bunch of windows pcs...

Jake-

586593257[/snapback]

you earn it,your a COOL Anti MS rebel,congratulations,now clear my way :sleep:

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