AMD says new graphics chip makes games seem real

UPDATE 6 P.M.: OK, so it took a while but here's the scorpion video. Now that it's been all built up like that...

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UPDATE 11:18 A.M.: Welcome, Digg masses! You've asked some good questions, and here are some answers.

First, the model number of the new family of graphics card, which AMD code-named the RV770. AMD says it will sell two models starting June 25: The ATI Radeon HD 4850 will cost $200 and the more powerful ATI Radeon HD 4870 will cost $300. AMD's Cinema 2.0 site has a few more details.

Second, you wanted to see the clip. We asked the company for it yesterday but haven't gotten it yet. We'll update the post with it as soon as we can.

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We've come a long way since Pong and Space Invaders. But video and computer games are still striving to be both interactive and realistic. Have you seen the "Saturday Night Live" skit of the interview with Grand Theft Auto IV's main characters, Niko and Vlad? Their arms move imprecisely, as if they're puppets underwater.

On Monday, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, which already supplies the graphics power for the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360, showed the "SNL" skit at an event in San Francisco. Then AMD gave a taste of what it says a game maker can do with its new microprocessor: A 30-second clip of what appeared to be a real scorpion skittering around a terrarium, presumably hunted by another equally terrifying bug. The scorpion demo was made by the film director David Fincher (director of "Fight Club") on a computer. Was it a video game? An interactive movie? AMD wouldn't say. But it looked scarily real.

The comparison between that and the GTA IV isn't quite fair. The current generation of game consoles that GTA IV plays on is already a few years old, and AMD's new processor is for state-of-the-art PCs. The processor will be featured on a new graphics card from AMD called the ATI Radeon and will go on sale in a few weeks for $200. The graphics card, which will also be built into some new computers and possibly video game consoles someday, will be able to show special effects in games that many of today's graphics cards don't (most PC games let you turn off those features if your processor can't handle them).

AMD is hoping that it can appeal to developers who want to create games that are of movie quality. It also hopes that moviemakers will use the extra horsepower so they can render film faster and, if they want, make movies more interactive. AMD calls this strategy Cinema 2.0.

"The lines between the two mediums are blurring," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's Graphics Product Group.

AMD is not alone in appealing to the video game developers. Nvidia today has a new offering too, as Dean Takahashi over at Venture Beat details.

Game developers have had to decide between making games more visually realistic or creating figures that move quickly and smoothly, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with Insight 64. "Now the hardware is powerful enough that they can do effects that make images look better without limiting the performance," he said.

Now it's a fight between graphics cards -- AMD or Nvidia.

-- Michelle Quinn

Image from the AMD technology demo of David Fincher's work-in-progress "Bug Snuff," courtesy of AMD

Comments

[Grump]

I'm sorry, but are you just name dropping GTA IV? You failed to make any type of point or connection between it and the scorpion. It smells a lot like Google keyword spam.

[Dr_Snugglebunny]

Please send me one, thanks!

[charlie]

*Now* it's a fight between Nvidia and AMD? It's always been a fight between those two, for quite some time. Way to stay current.

[Dan Lauf]

ATI is the graphics card manufacturer that AMD acquired and Radeon is the line name of gaming graphics cards that ATI has been releasing for years so saying they will be releasing an ATI Radeon offers no useful info with not model number provided.

[iamlost456]

Any links to this video?

[Jim Halpert]

"The processor will be featured on a new graphics card from AMD called the ATI Radeon..."

The Radeon series is not new... You should have found out the full name of the card.

[MintyMadness]

Post links or *it didn't happen.*

[dave]

$200 while nvidia's top end card goes for $650?? smells like a duck to me

[Robert L]

Michelle Quinn, an example of someone who just doesn't do the due diligence.

[Andy]

ATI Has the worst possible driver support known to man. And their tech support sucks. Something tells me there 200 dollar graphics card looks nothing like these supposed video clips. My Radeon X850XT still doesnt have working drivers for Windows Vista or any Linux Distro.... What a joke.

[KyleQ]

This is exactly what ATi would want you to hear, a really good graphics card somehow emerging with the help of AMD and looka as realistic as possible. Sorry to say, but ATi and AMD have really jumped the shark and are very far behind Nvidia for producing realism in their cards. Their price ranges are according almost to a certain regard too, a top end Nvidia card costs well into $600-$700, while ATi is several hundred less. Give me a card that I will be hyped up about or this whole article is poorly directed advertising.

[Brian]

Are you people dumb or just illiterate? First paragraph states HD 4850 and HD 4870.

[SS]

@ 12:44PM

Are YOU dumb or illiterate? Do you not know what "Update 11:18AM" means? Only 4 comments, yours included, were made after that time frame. None of them asking what model of card.

I know the internets can be a confusing place, but please do try and keep up.

[larry]

hello grump,
The point the author is trying to make is that gta IV characters appeared on SNL and the comparison was between the way the animation was handled and the capabilities of new graphics chips. Hope this clears that up for you.

[Richard]

I've always cringed at the "realistic" movements in video games (and movies, e.g. Final Fantasy) because they just can't seem to get movement right. It always looks too smooth and precise, totally lacking the imperfection and entropy of real life. Does ATI claim that this processor will have features to allow developers to "program" imperfections into their character movements?

I'm really, really looking forward to the day when computers are powerful enough to simulate physics at a fundamental level, making movement, object interactions etc completely dependent on the simulation of actual physical law, rather that simulating what movement, interaction et al SHOULD look like.

And yes, I've seen Crysis and the fun times to be had blowing beach shanties into a million pieces with a bazooka. Not even close to what lies ahead (I hope).

[Richard]

And I just read the last line.....

"Now it's a fight between graphics cards -- AMD or Nvidia."

It's ALWAYS been a fight between ATI and NVidia. There have been no other significant players for the better part of a decade. And graphics cards have been the biggest focus when it comes to the gaming hardware industry for just as long.

Michelle, 10 points for an interesting article but please do your homework first.

[Nestor]

Verisimilitude of animation is more a factor of the quality of the animation rather than the rendering power of the chips spitting out the imagery. You can make a stick figure look more alive than a fully photorealistic 3d model if you're a better animator

[Jelqerio]

Re: "Are you people dumb or just illiterate?"

Brian *is* an idiot.

[Dadeaux]

There is a sleepy little local newspaper in a sleepy little town in Croatia, where I live, and their stories are typically inspired by the same amount of cheerful contempt of hard facts. I expected better from LA Times. As somebody pointed out - do your homework first.

[jeff]

"ATI Has the worst possible driver support known to man. And their tech support sucks. Something tells me there 200 dollar graphics card looks nothing like these supposed video clips. My Radeon X850XT still doesnt have working drivers for Windows Vista or any Linux Distro.... What a joke."

Hmmm. Do you even know anything about the state of NVIDIA drivers? You obviously don't. I have both high end NVIDIA and and ATI cards, and I know first hand about the state of both ATI's and NVIDIA's drivers. If you think NVIDIA's are more mature, you are a complete fool. As one major example, you have about half the resolution and refresh rate choices in NVIDIA's drivers as you have compared to ATI. NVIDIA is also more crash prone. On the side of NVIDIA, they have better options for scaling, which is important for LCD displays. Both drivers have major issues. Thus, the only "joke" is the insane drivel of the above poster.

[Beninem]

"My Radeon X850XT still doesnt have working drivers for Windows Vista or any Linux Distro.... What a joke."

Huh? I have a Radeon X850XT also and the fglrx drivers work in Linux just fine with 3D acceleration enabled. Compiz-fusion in all it's 3D awesomeness works great on this card. The real joke is your ineptitude.

[Me]

You see this caliber of writing from most local newspapers. Sometimes I swear that they draw straws to assign a tech reporter. That said, there are some first rate papers with good tech reporting including, SJ Mercury News, Seattle Time, NY Times (on a good day). But, what can you expect from a paper that reports unsubstantiated rumors as in the "Diddy killed Tupac" story. Honestly...LA Times...please just close your doors.

[Matt]

What the hell is ATI talking about. Yea, their new cards can pump out more shaders and more memory bandwidth but it doesn't have some magic "make games seem more realistic chip" in it.

It's a shame that ATI is trying to market like this. Instead they should just say that compared to Nvidia their new mid-range cards are a better buy than Nvidia's mid-range chips.

Why don't we line up the new top of the line Nvidia chips against the new mid-range ATI cards and see what makes Crysis look "more realistic". I guarantee it won't be the mid-range cards.

[Matt]

Jeff:

Nvidia's driver support has historically been better than ATI's. Of course, until lately ATI was competitive. Certainly their new mid-range chips put them back on the map for people looking at $200 cards. I certainly would choose the 4850 over the 8800GT, and anyone with a brain should as well.

And how many people are still gaming on CRTs? More refresh rate options is like saying you'll buy one computer over another because "it has more floppy drive options".