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Journeyman III

ATI-x800-Pro/GTO GPU-SM3 Support / Not Compatibility

I purchased an ATI-x800-Pro/GTO-256MB back in 2005-6 because it mentioned on the box it had support for the newer SM3 functionality, and now years later when I really need that support - I find it is very limited and lacking in functionality, simply because the instruction cache is too small to hold the larger sequences most SM3 enhanced materials use in current day applications.

So, my question is this:

~ IDEA: Are the developer tools for the Radeon Series of ATI GPU's capable of compiling a 'Cache Execution Controller'  to use a few registers or a few bytes in the GPU instruction cache to be used as 'Jump Vectors' if you will, to enable a 'CEC' type extension - that could use the rest of the cache as an execution unit, and swap out instructions as needed to enable larger sequences to be executed?

And if so, then updating my driver software with a 'wrapper' such as this would enable the use of many newer applications that could take advantage of large shader material enabled functions.

Or even use some type of tokenization? As I'm sure is already in use in some form or other for compression to utilize and optimize the use of cache.

I would hate to have to switch to another card or brand just yet, that has large instruction caches to deal with the larger material shaders currently in use.

As I've grown accustomed to my $400+ ATI Radeon!

Edited by: Me

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6 Replies
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Journeyman III

28 views and only one reply?

Feedback?

Yes?

No?

Maybe so?

This is the AMD Developer forum for ATI products right?

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I imagine it is not very interesting to add new (but old) features to a card released in 2004/2005 (even before AMD got ATI). Especially since you can now get a card which will overtake it for less than $50 (even IGPs/APUs can manage better). It is just my opinion... My guess is you will need a new card.

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Yes, true! Thanks for the info.

But, I would also need a newer system to use a new card - since mine is still PCI/AGP, so I'd like to at least get another year of good use out of it. Maybe as a backup GFX renderer for UDK/Swarm processing?

Although, having a new card may also limit my activities dealing with older games - since newer cards will only use DX10 and above if I'm not mistaken? And not all older games have been or can be easily converted or recompiled to new ones, and DosBox doesn't always work right.

Thanks for the feedback though, it is appreciated!

So, my original question still remains unanswered.

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My understanding is that DX11 cards are compatible with DX9 (or lower). Otherwise many games wouldnt have functioned after an upgrade.

I am not sure what you can do with your old hardware, perhaps sell it in pieces? It sounds like it is a big energy eater I had an old machine with AGP (an athlon xp machine) and I think the best thing I did was to get rid of it. It definitely is not worth to get a newer AGP graphics card. But if you really want to go cheap, you can get a used HD 3000 series card with AGP. But it really costs more on the long run if you go that way. (eh I got at some point an AGP HD 3600 card to that old machine and I now think it was a big waste of money )

Today, you can get a AMD APU based laptop with plenty of RAM and good GPU capabilities for less than $500. (they go less than $300 for very cheap models!)

http://shop.amd.com/us/All/Search?NamedQuery=windows8&SearchFacets=category:Notebook&promoid=w8nbu1

If you think about it, you will get a somewhat mobile system which would be an upgrade over your old one and at the same time you can take it with you if you ever need that. All under the cost of what you payed for a GPU in 2005

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Well, that's all fine if you have the extra cash to buy a new one, but from what I hear - a lot the new lower power technology computers have a different set of problems to deal with. Although, it would be nice to have a new system - I doubt I would enjoy it as much as my energy hog!

I may just switch it with a backup GF5700FX I have, just so I can use a few more apps I need at the present time for my art - and yes I know it's only SM2 but at least I'll be able to use it.

You  may want to refine your search for problems with DX11 and older apps, as my understanding is some basic features of DX9 get replaced with newer incompatible versions, so as a result many apps that explicitly depend on DX9 no longer run proper or at all - without some patch from the software developer or third party outfit.

As far as Win8, no thanks! it's got way too much junk and IP protection applications for me to be able to use it effectively. Since I'm a content creator, but I'm not about to have all my work digitally encrypted(whether I want to or not) so nobody can see it - due to problems with incompatibility between systems, missing or corrupted signature headers etc.

Granted, soon I will have to get a new system to be able to even access the net, since MS has seen fit to monopolize the market again - with all their newest systems being forced on the public through ISP updates and upgrades.

When that happens, I may just take brush to canvas again - and let everyone else deal with the digital world! 😐

Seeing as how I'm not likely to receive an answer from any amd dev's about my original question, I'll go ahead and mark your last post as the correct answer - and thanks for your time, info and effort trying to convince me to upgrade!

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http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?124590-DX9-versus-DX11-for-Civ-V-G-amp-K

http://www.planetside-universe.com/showthread.php?t=49848

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/368652-15-modern-video-card

I cant seem to find anything which would suggest a DX11 card would not run DX9 game. I found many posts which says it is simply a matter of a setting or the DX11 cards support DX9 also etc. Based on that, I would say old games should function well with new cards. But obviously I cant be 100% sure because I dont play games that often

If you sell your old computer parts, you can make some money It might cost even more on the long run to let that old computer eat your electricity and time

I didnt say anything about windows 8, you can use whatever you want. It just comes bundled with computers. (not my fault ). Use Linux if you want or buy a Mac if you think Microsoft is evil (but I think Apple is even more evil, they just dont have enough market share to show it *lol*)

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