Radeon 9800 and Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Well here's my problem I had downloaded the demo of Splinter Cell: Double Agent and had left it overnight to install. So once it was finished I was greeted by "Your PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements" and I scroll down to see that I need Pixel Shaders 3.0, So I didn't really think much of it and updated my card to the latest Catalyst Drivers hoping it'd do something (Even though Pixel Shaders are on board). Sadly this is the first time i've really viewed my card as obslete I was hoping Drivers could do something for me there...

So out of curiosity does this mean that I must upgrade my card in order to play newer games that are being released?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, for Double Agent, at least, it does.
I have a 9800 too, but I knew I'd be running up against a wall here fairly soon because the PC is trying to match next-gen console stuff.

Resign yourself to slightly less graphics-intensive games, or get a new card, is all I can say.

There's also this, if you need a reference later on for a different game.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You can try and disable SM3.0, which is easily done in splitercell4.ini I believe (it's a couple files next to the offline exe [that folder's exe is the version of the exe you need to mod btw]):

Within the ini, look for the line "SimpleShader=False," and change it to "True" (without parentheses). Save, Exit, boot up, and voila, SM2.0. Obviously the quality will go down, but speed should be back up there. Not up to par with Chaos Theory, but it's a next-gen game. You win some, you lose some. =/

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.