I would avoid CPU->GPU texturedata movement on every frame, if possible, because it's slow. 3D-engines can only draw anything that is stored on GPU. That makes game programmers look the rendering process from a little different perspective. Doesn't mean that old things aren't possible to do anymore, you just do them little differently.

PS. I still rely on "What's New?" link, for quick recap on everything that's happened here Browsing random forum sections is thing of the past.