Den wrote:- Designed for future games (Shader Model 3.0)
I realize this post is a bit overdue, but what the heck.
Having developed numerous apps in DX9.0, including shader-oriented ones, I can tell you that the differences between SM2.0 and 3.0 are chiefly important only to developers. What can be done in 3.0 can also be done in 2.0 (in terms of visual eye candy), the difference lies within how it is implemented and the impact on performance with the gfx chips.
However, as it stands now; no game developers will create a title that will vastly exceed the performance capabilites of a gfx chip which has become as popular with the mainstream consumers as with the ATI cards. So the fact is that; 3.0, until mainstream 3.0-capable ATI chips become readily available to the consumers, will not gain any significance in the gaming industry as of now.
We'll probably see games taking advantage of the model in the future. ATI is expected to release an SM3.0 capable chip within a few months, yet I believe ATI's reluctancy to adopt the shader model, until recently, has lead to the, by now, old model to be redundant almost before it ever reached its place in the sun.
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