22 replies to this topic

[Deathmineral]

Probably worth mentioning that a look at requirements is a good idea. In particular it requires you have a GTX 650, 660M or higher.

 

I've had a couple friends message me about this and they were all really excited about it until I pointed that out to them.

 

I think it could be a problem for nVidia, timing and compatibility is something they should probably work on. I don't know when they're going to release this, I'm guessing sometime this year? Definitely think they should have waited for their 600 series to take hold and be rolling out the next series before they released this.

[Guest_Jim_*]

Probably worth mentioning that a look at requirements is a good idea. In particular it requires you have a GTX 650, 660M or higher.

 

I've had a couple friends message me about this and they were all really excited about it until I pointed that out to them.

 

I think it could be a problem for nVidia, timing and compatibility is something they should probably work on. I don't know when they're going to release this, I'm guessing sometime this year? Definitely think they should have waited for their 600 series to take hold and be rolling out the next series before they released this.

Hadn't noticed that myself, but then when I have the money to buy one of these things, I'll have the money for a new GPU too   Changes are they'll bundle this with some 600 series GPUs eventually.

[Black64]

The steaming games confuses me, why not just use and HDMI cable directly to your TV to play games? 

[Guest_Jim_*]

The steaming games confuses me, why not just use and HDMI cable directly to your TV to play games? 

Likely that's what it's doing; streaming the video to the Shield and streaming the control-inputs back. All of this is done wirelessly though and with one device, which also has an HDMI out. Could be more convenient than running a cable potentially through multiple rooms. Also it adds Android-game support.

In a way though it sounds like a tech demo the people at nVidia thought up and decided to build it because it's cool. Likely just going to have a niche market and it won't sell well, but it showcases the GTX 600 series and Tegra 4, so it will serve some purpose.

[bp9801]

The steaming games confuses me, why not just use and HDMI cable directly to your TV to play games? 

 

Games are streamed to Shield, which then relays the information via HDMI to your TV.

 

As for the resolution, "A 5" touchscreen at 1280x720 is attached to Shield."

[Guest_Jim_*]

That attached screen actually worries me simply because it may not be easy to grab and use it like one would a tablet or phone. Unless it can be rotated around and laid done on the controls, with the screen facing up. That might work.

[kuri]

Probably worth mentioning that a look at requirements is a good idea. In particular it requires you have a GTX 650, 660M or higher.

 

I've had a couple friends message me about this and they were all really excited about it until I pointed that out to them.

 

I think it could be a problem for nVidia, timing and compatibility is something they should probably work on. I don't know when they're going to release this, I'm guessing sometime this year? Definitely think they should have waited for their 600 series to take hold and be rolling out the next series before they released this.

I hope that is just a temporary requirement.  Technically, it doesn't make sense for them to limit it just to the 650 or higher?

[ClayMeow]

 

Probably worth mentioning that a look at requirements is a good idea. In particular it requires you have a GTX 650, 660M or higher.

 

I've had a couple friends message me about this and they were all really excited about it until I pointed that out to them.

 

I think it could be a problem for nVidia, timing and compatibility is something they should probably work on. I don't know when they're going to release this, I'm guessing sometime this year? Definitely think they should have waited for their 600 series to take hold and be rolling out the next series before they released this.

I hope that is just a temporary requirement.  Technically, it doesn't make sense for them to limit it just to the 650 or higher?

 

Yes and no. It's possible the requirement is lowered as they optimize it, but you have to remember that they're essentially guaranteeing the ability to stream games with whatever they list, so they can't be stingy on that...otherwise people will complain when a game doesn't work and they have a listed card. When streaming PC games, Project Shield is merely acting as a display - the actual processing and rendering (at 720p) is occurring on your PC, thus the need for a fairly decent GPU.

 

Now, the fact that it requires a GeForce card and doesn't support AMD is clearly by choice, as there has been no word its using CUDA. Whether that's something that can be hacked or not, who knows. I personally think it would behoove them to support AMD cards too, because I doubt any current AMD user is going to switch to NVIDIA just for Project SHIELD, so you're merely limiting your potential buyer base (though it still stands on its own as an Android gaming device, let's be honest, the streaming of PC games is one of the selling factors).

[Guest_Jim_*]

The requirement of it being an nVidia GPU and even a moderately powerful one doesn't bother me in the least. It's the requirement of it being a 600 series or above that irks me. With my current (admittedly imperfect) knowledge of hardware, there is no reason this could not be enabled for the 500 series and possibly even the 400 series. I mean this is all software anyway, right? Steam has BPM and it doesn't care what series or brand your card is. All Shield really adds to that is a wireless controller. Like we don't already have those.

Translation of above: I've got a GTX 570 and have no reason (or money) to upgrade it, so stop making-up new features that are limited to the newer technology not by design but choice!

[ClayMeow]

The requirement of it being an nVidia GPU and even a moderately powerful one doesn't bother me in the least. It's the requirement of it being a 600 series or above that irks me. With my current (admittedly imperfect) knowledge of hardware, there is no reason this could not be enabled for the 500 series and possibly even the 400 series. I mean this is all software anyway, right? Steam has BPM and it doesn't care what series or brand your card is. All Shield really adds to that is a wireless controller. Like we don't already have those.

Translation of above: I've got a GTX 570 and have no reason (or money) to upgrade it, so stop making-up new features that are limited to the newer technology not by design but choice!

The real question, and one we may never get an answer to, is whether there is anything specific to the Kepler architecture that makes the streaming "possible"...and I have "possible" in quotes because there's no arguing that the 400 and 500 series of cards is perfectly capable of streaming 720p content, but rather there may be a way NVIDIA has done the streaming to the SHIELD that requires something that was added in Kepler, such as SMX (remember, 400 and 500 were Fermi).

 

I'm not defending the requirements (hell, I'm currently running a 460), but I just think before we jump to conclusions, we should at least consider that there could be technical limitations at play here.

[Guest_Jim_*]

Hmm, one thing I can think of is maybe, just maybe, it uses some of the GPUs power to compress the video for streaming. That's the best I've got but even then it should be possible to have it on other cards. I don't know, it just really feels to me like a marketing ploy to push the 600 series because too many people are like me and happy with the 500 series or older. Then you buy the bundle with Shield and a GTX 660, put everything in, start playing, and realize that the batteries only last two hours because of all that streaming :tongue:

I'm not sure why but I really like being a cynic with all things nVidia.