XBOX 2 mods
- Thread starter freakzilla3333
- Start date
I was sure your name was bigfairybiker ... gotta bump up the font size on my monitorbigfathairybiker said:
I will never let my Xbox become a paper weight. I am going to keep modding. Once the 1G HD comes out it is going right into my Xbox.
DiscoBiscuit said:
Big endian and little endian refer to the memory addressing internally - and it has other implications for file formats, etc. Good description can be found here.Intel x86 architecture is litle endian, the PowerPC is endian agnostic (doesn't care - though Mac PowerPC chips are run big endian), and the new IBM PowerPC G5 chip (as used int he G5 Mac) is big endian.
Now, depending on the architecture chosen by MS, the new Xbox2 could be either big endian, or not care (could handle both).
FWIW - I am a much bigger fan of ATi cards ... ESPECIALLY their All-in-wonder line. They kick ass.
Under no circumstances can you ever state ATi have better technology than Nvidia. Nvidia produces full chipsets as well as graphics for a start, Nvidia render in 32-bit colour not 24-bit like ATi, Nvidia support Shader model 3.0 and SLi now, ATi don't as yet. ATi are currently at least 6 months behind Nvidia in technology terms for graphics alone and haven't even got their chipset products through development yet.
In short Nvidia has more tricks up their sleeve in terms of technology, ATi have the fastest "single" card at the moment though. Sorry to bring this debate here its just I hate to see Nvidia get slated for pushing boundaries that another manufacturer wouldn't have.
In short Nvidia has more tricks up their sleeve in terms of technology, ATi have the fastest "single" card at the moment though. Sorry to bring this debate here its just I hate to see Nvidia get slated for pushing boundaries that another manufacturer wouldn't have.
NVidia make great cards. I am not a fan boi though - I have used Ati card for many years, and stick with what I know.
ATi produce integrated chipset for ASUS, MSI, Sapphire, Shuttle, FIC, GIGABYTE, ECS, TUL, Jetway mobos. Which means you'll find them in a hell of a lot of notebooks out there as well as desktop machines.
ATi use 128-bit, 64-bit & 32-bit per pixel floating point color formats.
NVidia have SmartShader 3.0 support, Ati only has SmartShader 2.0 - and the difference is ...?
ATi are yet to introduce an SLI product. Their range will be refer to MultiRendering rather than SLI and not need a bridging board. BUT - quick question ... do you own an SLI capable mobo yet? Are you running multiple NVidia SLI cards??
ATi and Nvidia are comparable companies - just like GM and Ford. Each have their fan base.
BUT - I wonder why Microsoft went with ATi for the Xbox 2, dropping NVidia? could it be the new R520 core is a bigger leap ahead than NVidia could supply for a console that needs to remain current for over 3 years?
ATi produce integrated chipset for ASUS, MSI, Sapphire, Shuttle, FIC, GIGABYTE, ECS, TUL, Jetway mobos. Which means you'll find them in a hell of a lot of notebooks out there as well as desktop machines.
ATi use 128-bit, 64-bit & 32-bit per pixel floating point color formats.
NVidia have SmartShader 3.0 support, Ati only has SmartShader 2.0 - and the difference is ...?
ATi are yet to introduce an SLI product. Their range will be refer to MultiRendering rather than SLI and not need a bridging board. BUT - quick question ... do you own an SLI capable mobo yet? Are you running multiple NVidia SLI cards??
ATi and Nvidia are comparable companies - just like GM and Ford. Each have their fan base.
BUT - I wonder why Microsoft went with ATi for the Xbox 2, dropping NVidia? could it be the new R520 core is a bigger leap ahead than NVidia could supply for a console that needs to remain current for over 3 years?
No I believe it has something to do with the fact Nvidia were burned by Microsoft on the first xbox and hence didn't want to partner up with them again. I didn't make myself clear on the chipset front obviously did I. By chipset I was referring to motherboard chipsets, as in those that drive the CPU, memory and everything else attached to a PC.
I do find it rather funny though that ATi are on the verge of having to crawl to Nvidia to ask them how they did certain things with the graphics chip in the xbox in order to get backwards compatibility working correctly. The statement made was that ATi were ahead of Nvidia when it came to technology my statement was simply pointing out they aren't. Regardless how little differnece there is between shader model 3.0 and 2.0 the fact remains ATi dont support it.
Obviously I'm a fan of Nvidia the same as you are of ATi, both companies are in the same market working on different strategies but the benefit of their competition means we all get better kit quicker. Lets not forget I suppose neither of us knows whats included on the next batch of chips yet.
I do find it rather funny though that ATi are on the verge of having to crawl to Nvidia to ask them how they did certain things with the graphics chip in the xbox in order to get backwards compatibility working correctly. The statement made was that ATi were ahead of Nvidia when it came to technology my statement was simply pointing out they aren't. Regardless how little differnece there is between shader model 3.0 and 2.0 the fact remains ATi dont support it.
Obviously I'm a fan of Nvidia the same as you are of ATi, both companies are in the same market working on different strategies but the benefit of their competition means we all get better kit quicker. Lets not forget I suppose neither of us knows whats included on the next batch of chips yet.
Actually, the take I heard on this was that many of the supply problems on the Xbox were due to chip shortages from NVidia, and that a number of the XBox revisions were to address problems with the NVidia chip set.shagga said:
Perfectly clear. Perhaps you didn't understand me. Here is a link .... My laptop run the 340M chip set ...shagga said:
This isn't surprising at all. Both companies have IP invested in their chipsets. As a consumer, I would hope that ATi would make the effort to ensure backwards compatability.shagga said:
FWIW - ATi chose not to use a 3.0 shader model, using a different method to achieve the same (some say better) results - read this article over at Hard|OCP for info. But, when it comes down to it ... what is implemented in the Xbox? and what WILL be implemented in the Xbox2?shagga said:
I'll go with performance for buck ... each time I've needed a video card, it has been ATi that has provided that for me ... who knows, NVidia might get the nod next timeshagga said:
, but you can guarantee that I will do the reading first, and not listen to the fan bois out there with half truths (that would be like listening to Team Xodus )Fair points
As for bang for buck Nvidia's got the mid range and low end tied up. Its only the flagship ATi cards that beat Nvidia on that front imo, but seeing as neither card maker can supply demand at the cuttingy edge its hardly relevant.
I do believe you are probably correct on the info about MS and Nvidia falling out over issues with supply. MS believe Nvidia cost them time and money, Nvidia will feel MS blamed them for MS not being properly prepared.
I'm glad you have an open mind about hardware in general, I will be staying with Nvidia personally at the moment though to take advantage of the SLi capability when I see the right mainboard, CPU combo and windows 64 bit is finally released. Thanks for the interesting discussion though, always a pleasure to hear anothers thoughts.
As for bang for buck Nvidia's got the mid range and low end tied up. Its only the flagship ATi cards that beat Nvidia on that front imo, but seeing as neither card maker can supply demand at the cuttingy edge its hardly relevant.
I do believe you are probably correct on the info about MS and Nvidia falling out over issues with supply. MS believe Nvidia cost them time and money, Nvidia will feel MS blamed them for MS not being properly prepared.
I'm glad you have an open mind about hardware in general, I will be staying with Nvidia personally at the moment though to take advantage of the SLi capability when I see the right mainboard, CPU combo and windows 64 bit is finally released. Thanks for the interesting discussion though, always a pleasure to hear anothers thoughts.
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