Project CARS Developer Releases Official Statement Concerning AMD GPU Performance
While Project CARS has continued to amaze gamers with its stunning visuals and ultimate driving experience, many individuals have found that the overall performance of the video game title is simply horrible on AMD GPUs. The negative feedback has grown into quite a controversy surrounding the game, and in order to put some of the latest rumors to rest, Slightly Mad Studios, the developer of Project CARS, has released an official statement:
In order to correct the wrongful assumptions regarding Project CARS’ performance on AMD GPUs, the MADNESS engine and the degree of involvement from our third-party technical partners, Slightly Mad Studios pointed out the following facts:
- Project CARS is not a GameWorks product. We have a good working relationship with nVidia, as we do with AMD, but we have our own render technology which covers everything we need.
- NVidia are not “sponsors†of the project. The company has not received, and would not expect, financial assistance from third party hardware companies.
- The MADNESS engine runs PhysX at only 50Hz and not at 600Hz as mentioned in several articles.
- The MADNESS engine uses PhysX for collision detection and dynamic objects, which is a small part of the overall physics systems.
- The MADNESS engine does not use PhysX for the SETA tyre model or for the chassis constraint solver (our two most expensive physics sub-systems).
- The MADNESS engine does not use PhysX for the AI systems or for raycasting, we use a bespoke optimised solution for those.
- The physics systems run completely independently of the rendering and main game threads and utilises 2 cores at 600Hz.
- The physics threading does not interact with the rendering, it is a push system sending updated positional information to the render bridge at 600Hz.
- Any performance difference with PhysX would not be reflected with differences in comparing rendering frame rates. There is no interaction between PhysX and the rendering.
- Overall, PhysX uses less than 10% of all physics thread CPU on PC. It is a very small part of the physics system so would not make a visual difference if run on the CPU or GPU.
- Direct involvement with both nVidia and AMD has been fruitful in assisting with the game performance at various stages of development. Both AMD and nVidia have had access to working builds of the game throughout development, and they have both tested builds and reported their results and offered suggestions for performance improvements.
- Testing of the game with different driver versions has produced a variety of performance results on both nVidia and AMD hardware. This is entirely to be expected as driver changes cannot always be tested on every game and every card, and this is the reason why both companies produce game-specific driver profiles, to ensure that they can get the best out of the game.
- Project CARS does not use nVidia specific particle technology – the system we use is a modified version of the same technology we used on the Need for Speed : Shift and Shift Unleashed games, and was entirely developed in-house. The reason the performance drops when there are a lot of particles on screen is simply because processing a large number of particles is very expensive.
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Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Apple Against Samsung
A United States appeals court has ruled in favor of Apple in one of two remaining court cases against Samsung. The ruling established that Samsung "used patented designs and two features of the Apple iPhone in older models of its devices." Apple was awarded $548 million in damages which equates to about two days of iPhone sales. The court also ruled that the "iPhone’s appearance that Apple sought to protect is as much about function as beauty, and isn’t eligible for perpetual coverage under U.S. trademark law," which could cost the company $382 million. Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock addressed the ruling stating "Even though Samsung must pay for its widespread infringement of our patents, this case has always been about more than money. It’s about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love, which is hard to put a price on." At this point it appears that the two companies are ready to move forward from the long history of court battles.
Source: Bloomberg
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OSVR Adds New Partners, Support for More Devices
Razer has announced that the Open Source Virtual Reality project has gained a number of partners and new features, moving it "closer to becoming a universal standard for integrating virtual reality content." The four new supported technologies are OpenVR from Valve, MonoGame, VorpX, and Unigine. OpenVR is probably the most well known of the four, with the other three offering software support. MonoGame is an "open source port of the XNA 4.0 framework," VorpX allows DirectX 9-11 games to use VR hardware, and Unigine is a "proprietary cross-platform game engine used for virtual reality systems." CEO of Sensics Yuval Boger described the new support stating, "With a single OSVR plugin, developers gain access to free and optimized and industry proven engines like Unity, Unreal, SteamVR, Unigine and MonoGame. OSVR makes it easy for developers to create high quality content which is then supported by a wide range of devices through a standardized interface." OSVR has also added 15 partners including Digital Happiness, Titans of Space, and Incandescent Imaging, bringing the total partner count to 118.
Source: OSVR
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Benchmarks for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Arrive; GameWorks Video Showcases the Technologies
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is very nearly here (unless you got it from a place that broke the street date), so what better way to pass those last remaining moments than with some benchmarks and videos? PC Games Hardware has put almost every video card possible through a benchmark test of the game, and the numbers get rather interesting when you're playing with every possible setting enabled, particularly the NVIDIA GameWorks ones. Every card was played at 1920x1080 resolution, with in-game settings at Ultra and in-game AA enabled. The AMD cards were tested with the Catalyst 15.4.1 beta drivers and the NVIDIA cards with the brand new Game Ready 352.86 WHQL drivers, and suffice to say, the NVIDIA cards come out on top.
The NVIDIA cards can handle HairWorks with ease, of course, but the AMD cards even seem to struggle when HBAO+ is enabled. However, when you disable both HairWorks and HBAO+, things tend to even out, at least with the preview build and the current AMD drivers. Most cards tend to range from ~30FPS to ~60FPS, although only the GTX TITAN X can hit 60FPS at the highest settings. Otherwise you're looking at the 40 - 45FPS range on the AMD R9 290X and GeForce GTX 970 and 980. Dropping to less powerful cards drop the FPS in the 30 - 40 range, with anything under a GTX 770 hitting no higher than 25FPS. Of course, those are numbers on Ultra with things like HairWorks, HBAO+, AA, and the like enabled. Dropping the details to High and playing around with the other settings should help improve performance immensely. Oh, and if you're playing at 4K, the GTX TITAN X tops out at 30FPS, the GTX 980 at 24FPS, the GTX 970 at 21, and the R9 290X at 22FPS.
If you're curious what the GameWorks technologies add to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, such as HairWorks, the video below gives you an example of how glorious they can look. Especially the hair, which you can tailor to show just for Geralt or for everything, including the animals and monsters, as you can see. PhysX is also shown, with Geralt's clothes, flags, banners, boat sails, and more utilizing it.
Source: PC Games Hardware (in German) and YouTube
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NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Witcher 3 and Windows 10 Drivers Now Available
The latest NVIDIA GeForce Display Drivers are here, with the Game Ready 352.86 WHQL now available to download. This new driver is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game Ready Driver, which features optimizations for CD Projekt RED's highly anticipated RPG. The Game Ready Driver offers optimized performance as your explore the Northern Realms, so if you're planning to pick up the game or eagerly awaiting it to unlock, you better download this quick. All the NVIDIA technologies are supported by this driver, from Dynamic Super Resolution, GameStream, and PhysX, to HairWorks, HBAO+, and SLI. NVIDIA GeForce Experience has also been updated to allow for The Witcher 3 one-click optimization, which can get your system prepped and ready for the game with ease. The SLI profile for The Witcher 3 has been updated, too, as well as ones for Magicka 2, Civilization: Beyond Earth, and World of Warships.
NVIDIA also has the world's first WHQL drivers for Windows 10, which supports the Kepler and Maxwell architectures for some DirectX 12 goodness. The GeForce 352.84 WHQL driver is the Windows 10 variant, so if you're using the tech preview, this is for you. GeForce 600 and higher video cards are supported with this driver, so while Fermi and older architectures aren't right now, things could change as we get closer to Windows 10's official release.
The NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 352.86 WHQL and GeForce Windows 10 352.84 WHQL can be downloaded from GeForce.com or through GeForce Experience. For those eagerly awaiting The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, feel free to check out NVIDIA's Graphics, Performance, & Tweaking Guide to help get it looking its best.
Source: GeForce Blog [1] & [2]
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3D Printing Technique May Support Soft-Tissue Regeneration
Many people believe that 3D printing could lead to a revolution, as it allows for the efficient production of items, but it could also revolutionize medicine. Already we have seen 3D printers used to build a replacement windpipe for an infant, bow we could see it applied to repairing soft-tissue. Researchers at Technische Universitaet Muenchen have demonstrated that the 3D printing technique melt electrospinning writing could be used to build scaffolds that support human cartilage cells.
Attempts to build cartilage supporting scaffolds have been made before, but what makes this different is that melt electrospinning writing. It allows for filaments to be made just five micrometers in diameter. This produces the necessary stiffness while also being small enough for cells to grow around the hydrogel scaffolding.
Joint repair is one obvious use for this technology, but it could also be applied for heart tissue engineering and breast reconstruction. Naturally more study is needed before this is applied, but it is a very promising breakthrough.
Source: Technische Universitaet Muenchen
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"Go Your Way" in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Launch Trailer
It is very nearly time to step back into the boots of Geralt of Rivia, as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt arrives tomorrow. Well, later tonight, really, but for the most part we'll just say tomorrow. To help get you ready for the Northern Realms and everything The Witcher 3 has to offer, CD Projekt RED has unveiled the game's official launch trailer to go with the launch cinematic. Titled "Go Your Way," we get a nice look at what the game has to offer, with an expansive area to explore, towns to visit, people to interact with, quests to undertake, and monsters to slay. Along with Geralt, we also get to play as Ciri, who arrives with a bang and then stumbles around as she's a bit disoriented. Yennefer and Triss appear in the trailer, too, and really, what Witcher game would be complete without some love interests? There's plenty more to see in the trailer below, so do give it a look (but if you're avoiding spoilers, don't watch it).
Source: YouTube and PC Games Hardware
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Hardware Roundup: Monday, May 18, 2015, Edition
A new week is upon us, and to start it off we have a couple of items for you to check out. There is a review of the Fractal Design Core 2500 case, an affordable case that still packs in plenty of features, like support for large video cards, plenty of fans, and up to 280mm water cooling radiator support. Our other item for the day is the Toshiba MQ02ABF075 750GB 2.5" hard drive, which is only 7mm high to fit in Ultrabooks and other models where space is at a premium.
Cases
Fractal Design Core 2500 @ ThinkComputers
Storage/Hard Drives
Toshiba MQ02ABF075 2.5" Mobile Thin HDD @ Madshrimps
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Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide Expansion Announced
Today, 2K and Firaxis Games have announced the Rising Tide expansion to last year's Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth. Although announced today, it is slated for release in the fall. The expansion is set to add new exploration capabilities such as floating settlements, access to the bottom of seas, as well as the creatures that live deep underwater. The diplomacy system will also get an overhaul to provide more dynamic choices to the player. Of course new factions have also been added, such as the Al Falah, nomad explorers who are descended from the wealthy and resilient Middle Eastern states.
The Windows version of the expansion is currently in development, and developer Aspyr is working on the Mac and Linux ports, which should both also launch this Fall. It will cost $29.99. The first gameplay of Rising Tide will be shown off at E3, but if you cannot wait that long, there will be a Firaxis livestream at 2 PM EST today, with more information revealed during it.
Source: Civilization.com
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Battlefield 4 Spring Patch Will Introduce New Content and Bug Fixes
Sometime later this month, DICE will release what is known at the Spring Patch for Battlefield 4. The patch, which will be available on all platforms, has been built around the premise of providing Battlefield 4 gamers with additional content and bug fixes. Some of the content that will be added to the popular first-person shooter include five new weapons as well as the Battlefield 3: Close Quarters Gun Master game mode. DICE has promised that the damage, falloff, and suppression model for the game have all been revamped as well, providing improved balance for all available weapons. In terms of bug fixes, the Spring Patch focuses on fixing problems surrounding the game client and server, and the Battlefield 4 Community Test Environment was utilized to confirm the fixes for the PC version of the game.
Source: WCCFtech
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Blizzard Temporarily Bans Over 100,000 World of Warcraft Players
Blizzard has revealed somewhat recently that it has banned over 100,000 World of Warcraft players that were found to be using bots within the game. Apparently the majority of the players that were banned were those who were botting within Battlegrounds, the game’s player-versus-player mode that offers a currency known as Honor for fighting others. Fortunately for players who were banned by Blizzard, to include those who were using bots elsewhere in the World of Warcraft environment, the inability to log on and play one of the most popular massively multiplayer online games available will only last six months.
The news of Blizzard banning over 100,000 of its World of Warcraft players comes just days after Activision Blizzard revealed that the game had lost 2.9 million subscribers during Q1 2015.
Source: The Daily Dot
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Some Randomness Improves Conductivity in Nanowire Networks
If you are reading this on a flatscreen display, like an LCD or OLED display, chances are you are staring through indium tin oxide (ITO) a transparent conductor. While ITO has the necessary transparency and conductivity, it is also expensive and fragile, so many are working on replacements. Among the possibilities are networks of nanowires, which are flexible and cheap as well as conductive and transparent, and now researchers at Lehigh University have made a discovery that should improve them.
The orientation of nanowires in the network is, as you would expect, very important to the network's properties. If you think that a network with strictly oriented nanowires would be the best conductor though, you would be wrong. The Lehigh researchers have built computers models of the networks and found that those with a degree of randomness are actually better conductors. The nanowires still need some restrictions on their orientation, but just the right amount will beat out heavily ordered networks.
To test the model, the researchers applied it to previously published papers, which is a common practice, and found that it accurately explains the results. This discovery could lead to improvements for many optoelectronic devices and flexible electronics.
Source: EurekAlert!
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