Tech Focus: Where Now For PC Graphics Hardware?

AMD and NVIDIA perhaps recognised that the advantages of their advanced hardware are somewhat under-utilised, coming up with some interesting new PC exclusive features in the form of EyeFinity and 3D Vision. Both are niche experiences but lucrative in their own ways, mostly because of a hardware tie-in.

EyeFinity allows gamers to connect multiple screens to their graphics cards and to use the expanded real estate to generate much larger views: why limit gameplay to 1920x1080 when a triple-screen 5760x1080 set-up provides a true panoramic "surround" view? AMD can sell higher-end cards (or multiples in a CrossFire set-up) and the display vendors win as more screens are sold. AMD is also busy deploying its new HD3D stereoscopic 3D rendering set-up, but it's safe to say that this is one area where its rival has taken the lead.

EyeFinity and 3D Vision show how AMD and NVIDIA are leveraging their graphics hardware, but PC features and performance may well be 'unlocked' by next-gen console development.

NVIDIA's 3D Vision is arguably an even more ambitious exercise than EyeFinity - the vendor partnering up with screen manufacturers working on 120Hz screens to produce a state-of-the-art 3D gaming system. True stereoscopy requires the ability to process geometry twice and to cope with "painting" twice as many pixels - in an age where games are driven by console-level assets, that's a walk in the park, even for NVIDIA's mid-range products such as the GTX560. It's reckoned that NVIDIA sold around half a million pairs of 3D Vision glasses - a modest success, but enough to see the company launch its new 3D Vision 2 initiative, with new glasses and "Lightboost" technology in advanced new displays that eliminates most of the loss of brightness inherent with active shutter glasses technology.

The fact that Sony has aggressively pushed 3D has only helped NVIDIA's cause - unlike the PS3, there's more than enough raw power in graphics card technology to bring home all the benefits of 3D without the geometry and fill-rate complications that have seen a number of visual downgrades on PS3 3D titles. But these are niche exercises designed to get the most out of top-tier products aimed at gamers with money to invest in equipment - where does this leave the typical core PC gamer?

Details remain sketchy about the form next-gen consoles will take, but it's basically an open secret that Microsoft's design heavily utilises DirectX 11 architecture. This is a double-edged sword. New, powerful, cheap hardware would be a challenge to PC's supremacy in offering the top-tier gaming experience. Alternatively, a DX11 focus could revitalise the platform on which it all began.

DirectX 11 is a game-changer - the API concentrates on the advantages of parallelism, and introduces a wealth of new technologies: tessellation allows for the creation of far more detailed geometry on the fly for example, while DirectCompute shaders open up GPU power to developers for whatever tasks they want. Post-processing effects like anti-aliasing and motion blur would be good candidates, but the sky is literally the limit here.

Unfortunately, few developers have completely embraced DX11, and where it has been deployed, it is once again being used for iterative improvements upon existing renderers, rather than as the basis for the core engine tech. It's another example of how in the majority of cases, PC functionality is being used for embellishments upon an existing console engine ported across to the PC. Indeed, in many cases, there is no support for DX11 at all.

The brave exception to the rule is DICE's Battlefield 3, built from the ground up with next-gen and DX11 in mind, and a phenomenal example of how impressive the API is. What is especially noteworthy about Battlefield 3 is how the game doesn't especially rely upon top-end video cards for a next-gen level experience: a quad core CPU in combination with a mid-level DX11 GPU can produce superb results. This is an example of how DX11 isn't just about performance sapping extra features - when used as intended, it actually delivers significant performance improvements. BF3 also embraces the ComputeShaders exclusive to DX11, in this case purposed towards calculating the tile-based deferred lighting - an effect that looks spectacular.

BF3 is a sign of things to come - on both PC and next-gen console. On the one hand, movement towards a similar style of development could see an enormous range of existing gaming PCs suddenly become viable as next-gen console alternatives - the leap from Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is that pronounced. But on the other hand, the sheer popularity and software support behind the new consoles, plus comparatively cheap price points may well call into question the continued relevance of mainstream PC gaming. How the landscape will change, and how AMD and NVIDIA will react will be fascinating...