DX8 Drivers for G2/450 - When??

[2Whyzzi]

I'd really like to run 3DMark 2001 and have each "Game" show hardware support, incl the EVBM.

-- Whyzzi

[EvilDonnyboy]

The drivers out now are DX8.0 compatible, so 3DMark2001 should run on the G400 If you want DX features, you won't get 'em in new drivers. The G400 has absolutely no DX8.0 features in hardware whatsoever (none that I know of). So you'll never be able to run the "nature" bench. You need hardware pixel shaders to do that, and the only card that can do that today is the GeForce 3. Can't wait till ATi (and sometime, Matrox) brings out their DX8.0 products.

The EMBM bench should run on the G400 but the DOT3 bump mapping bench won't.

[Rags]

EvilBoy is a bit confused. ATI had their DX8 product out first. GeForce/GeForce2 isn't a full DX-8 based product, and DX-8 has many features in it that ALL current 3D cards use, including the G400

Rags

[2Whyzzi]

I know, I just recently bought an "Radeon LE". But Like I said before (and I vaguely remember reading a post on the "matrox.com" forum based on this) that the current Matrox G2/4/x0 drivers are currently optimized for DX7.

Sure I can run 3DFart2001 on my system & the G400 SH OEM (and get 1204 3DMarks in 1024x768x32 on my Celery 850). And, I am damn sure I remember correctly that all the titles between the benchmarks something along the lines of -- NoAA DBF 32 Z32 Software --, what I want to see is DX8 Optimized Drivers and 3DF*c*2001 say that it's "hardware".

I know, I know, if I looked hard enough I could download a hacked 2DButt 2001 and I'll can get it to say anything "hardware"..

Anyway, incase anyone is interested, My "LE" (overclocked to 167MHz mem/core + HyperZ by using Tweaker) gets about 2300 3DFarts on the same Celery 850 @ 1024x768x32. Not a shabby increase for $150cdn...

[2Whyzzi]

I appologize to you if it appears that I am 'Blowing Off'. I'm only trying to publicly report to you what I thought I had saw. And what I thought that I saw was 3DMark2001 reporting (in the screen before running the EVBM demo) the word SOFTWARE. That struck a chord in me because one of the things that I am proud that my G400 can do is Hardware Acc in EVBM.

I ask you to run the demo for yourself and tell me if you get the same thing. I could just as easily be a coding mistake misreporting in 3DMark 2001.

As I am writing this message, it just occured to me what the word Software really refers to. It is a generic statement across all "games" in the demo/benchmark refering only to T&L support, and NOT to the next demo the program loop.

Sorry about that. Also, I really didn't mean any disrespect either to the 3DMark2001 or their team. are a great thing to watch, and also showcases quite nicely the potential what the future of gaming could be like.

I've been a regular forum reader for some time now and quite often these forums discuss the worth of benchmarks of this nature, so I was just trying to add some fun into the post. Again my appologies if I cause any offense.

BTW: I still can't find any official/forum/otherwise stating that the Latest Matrox Drivers are optimized for DX8. Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks
Peter

[Rags]

You are VERY confused. A card has to be designed to use such things in HARDWARE. No amount of driver changes are going to change what the hardware support is.

The drivers that are out now ARE DX8 optimized. Do some research before blowing off.

Rags