what type GPU is better for SoW_BoB?

[Flyby]

I've just read an interesting review of ATi's new 4870-1gb gpu. It's a good value in that it only costs about $24.00 USD more than the 4870-512mb card. It was compared to the new GTX260+12 gpu, which has 12more stream processors enabled versus the standard GTX260. In the conclusion of the article I was made to wonder if Sow_BoB would be considered more of a shader-intensive sim or a memory sensitive sim. So I thought I'd ask here for any speculations as to which might be the more appropriate card for SoW: ATi 4870-1gb or the GTX 260+12?
here's a link to the article: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==
Flyby out

[HFC_Dolphin]

"...speculations..."
You said it

PS. For those who don't know: do not buy now a GPU for SoW. It is TOO early and you'll only spend more money than what you should.

[Flyby]

Originally Posted by HFC_Dolphin

For those who don't know: do not buy now a GPU for SoW. It is TOO early and you'll only spend more money than what you should.

what insider information do you know to make such a statement? Don't spend more money that is necessary on a gpu for SoW? Is that to say that it won't max out current mid-level cards? Because? Also, it still doesn't answer my question about SoW being more shader-intensive or memory-capacity sensitive. If I knew that I might make a better decision. Come on. spill the beans. don't make me send Gee-Dubbyah to rough you up! iirc Oleg tends to favor Nvidia cards.
Flyby out

[HFC_Dolphin]

Come on Flyby, we don't need to argue about this.
SoW will definitely not come before August 2009 and that's the best we can hope.
Till then we are about to see new generations of GPU's (it's almost a year from now!) and all cards that are on the market at this moment will cost much lower than what they cost now.

So, if we are still talking about SoW, no one should upgrade his pc in any component, unless he's got cash to spare for no reason (still, if he does have this cash, there are a lot of not-for-profit excellent organizations that would use it much better).

[KG26_Alpha]

IMHO

Why worry about BoB specs ?????

Even when its released your hardware will be out of date a few months later , the hardware market is there for one reason only ...........to take your money.

We will all have to wait and see what we get BoB wise, personally I never trust min specs on program boxes they can be optomistic.

I'm sure by the time it's released we will have a much clearer idea whats needed to "max" it out , but don't forget the old engine would eat up processing power so I would think more CPU than GPU on the new engine.

[Flyby]

guys, I'm not meaning to sound argumentative. I know new stuff will be out. I'm really only asking a technical question about which might be more important for SoW, gpu-wise. Regardless of what card it's run on, I just want to know (if it's a legitimate tech question) if the SoW rendering engine is more inclined towards being shader intensive, or memory-capacity sensitive. Maybe I misunderstand the article I read, and linked in my first post, but that's all I'm asking. I had the impression that one way might favor ATi, and the other might favor Nvidia. That's all, really. Nothing to do with when a gpu or the sim comes out.

[Igo kyu]

Originally Posted by 99th_Flyby

I had the impression that one way might favor ATi, and the other might favor Nvidia.

I suspect that impression is incorrect. The GTX 260 reviewed, like the HD 4780 1GB, has a lot of memory. It was the HD 4870 512MB which was comparatively short on RAM. As they said, there's probably no point in getting a new HD 4870 512MB as a single card at this point. If you need a new card now, get either the new version of the GTX 260, a HD 4870 1GB, a pair of HD 4850s in Crossfire, or a GTX 280, but not a HD 4870 512MB. If you don't absolutely need to buy a new card right now, and BoB SoW is your main use, you might want to wait a bit.

I'm personally expecting an HD 4870 512MB to be quite adequate for BoB SoW, though if through some hideous mischance it comes out in 2012 (not that I think it will, that is just intended as an extreme example), then by that time a HD 4870 of any sort may be getting old and not quite up to the required specification.

[Codex]

Originally Posted by 99th_Flyby

...I was made to wonder if Sow_BoB would be considered more of a shader-intensive sim or a memory sensitive sim.

It will be both.

Your shaders are going to be used for all your effects you'll see in sim, bump mapping, weathering, lighting, sun glare etc. Your memory is going to determine how many textures it can draw and how high you can go with resolution.

I wouldn't be surprised if Oleg is taking his time to get the graphics engine right, especially with the recent hickups with OpenGL 3.0.

[Flyby]

Igo Kyu, I probably am incorrect, but I wonder why Crysis gets slightly better performance on the GTX260+ versus the 4870-1gb? It can't be a matter of memory. Can it?

Codex, I can see where you may be correct. A good card should have both attributes to run SoW well. I guess that's about the bottom line. Any further discourse is probably just splitting hairs.
Flyby out

[choctaw111]

Originally Posted by 99th_Flyby

what insider information do you know to make such a statement? Don't spend more money that is necessary on a gpu for SoW? Is that to say that it won't max out current mid-level cards? Because? Also, it still doesn't answer my question about SoW being more shader-intensive or memory-capacity sensitive. If I knew that I might make a better decision. Come on. spill the beans. don't make me send Gee-Dubbyah to rough you up! iirc Oleg tends to favor Nvidia cards.
Flyby out

He said don't buy now. Waiting till the release of SoW will get you the same GPU for less money than if you bought one now.
Oleg has said this MANY times. DO NOT buy a PC for SoW until AFTER release. How much does it cost to build a top of the line PC right now? Wait until SoW is released and put together the same PC as today and save much money. That is the point that was being made I believe.
I know many people were going to wait for SoW to upgrade their PC, but since the release is taking longer than most are willing to wait, they buy a new PC now, instead of later. That is their choice.
I will wait until after release of SoW and then upgrade my PC, when it is known what is the best hardware to run it.