Hi, I haven't been online in a long time. I thought i'd write about what I've been doing since i left and made this gigantic discovery about the XFX Nvidia 8500 GT . . . I still have GM and all my saved files but i have been getting into hardware more for the past eight months, my knowledge about computers has grown so large, I feel almost to the point of making my own graphics card. I have been experimenting with the science of overclocking and learning about the development and instructions carried out by a graphics processing unit. I have made many mistakes, but it is my mistakes which have given me real driven experience in the true inner-workings of a computer.

I have been playing around in a couple overclocking tools, GPU-Z, Riva Tuner measuring specs and playing with power user settings. I have overclocked in the past but this discovery is different. I have heard on other graphics cards, namely the ATI cards, you can unlock shader pipelines that were disabled at the factory based on the quality of the pipelines ability to function properly and pass all the manufacturer tests. Similar how Intel or AMD creates lower end processors by disabling failed parts on the die. Failed parts come naturally when working with silicon at the beginning or end of the CPU producing process.

For example: Here is one batch of processors from first to last

Celeron Pentium Core 2 Core 2 Core2Extreme Core 2 Core 2 Pentium Celeron

I tried modifying the XFX 8500 GT settings in Riva Tuner and here are my results:

My bandwidth is now 33 GB my T fill rate is 22 GB/s and my pixel fill rate is 10.8 GB/s. I have unlocked 128 Pixel pipepines from the usual 16, I got 8 more ROPS and my memory bus is 256 bit instead of 128 bit

View this photo I have uploaded to my Photobucket, it will show you what I talking about.

I will present more on the topic of game maker. I'm still working on my driving game You will need that of a Direct X 10 card to handle it, not because it uses Direct X, but because the quality of low end graphics have vastly improved at this point in time. Sometime game developers don't tell you and seldomly put on the back of a box.

It is a fantastic effort on my part to game maker but this game is not up to today's gaming standards.

The XFX Nvidia 8500 GT handles it fine but I wouldn't recommend much less.