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General discussion

Question for John Wilkinson

Aug 31, 2007 12:12PM PDT

i read your update for Vista SP1.

With the advent of directX 10.1, does it mean that my current GeForce 8600 GT card will have to be replaced in favor of a new card that will handle 10.1? I have been assuming that there would be a driver update available when the time comes that would include the ability to run directX 10.1. But, will there actually be a need for a hardware update instead? I really want to get that question resolved once and for all.

Thanks in advance.

Richard

Discussion is locked

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The simple answer is....
Aug 31, 2007 7:48PM PDT

M$ has basically said stiff luck to anyone who has purchased DX10 cards. They can not be firmware updated or anything else can't be done to them to support the new standard. This has been confirmed by multiple geek sites and you can Google them yourself.

DX10.1 cards will be the new standard shortly and any DX10.1 games will be specific to those cards for any added enhancements; however that is not to say these games will not be playable on DX10 cards. I believe the game vendors will be very mindful of this and opt to just have them be DX10 compatible. I really wouldn't worry too much about it as I don't feel it's a big red herring for the industry.
It does show however the contempt and frivolous ties M$ has towards its hardware partners and 3rd party gaming developers. Any wonder why vendors dragged their backsides in creating drivers for the all new wizbang Vista
As i mentioned earlier i wouldn't bother too much with it as I am not . This written by the owner of 2 nvidia 8800 gts cards in SLi mode.

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It's backwards-compatible...
Sep 1, 2007 11:37AM PDT

Microsoft designed DirectX 10.1 to be backwards compatible to minimize the impact. Those with graphics cards designed for DirectX 10 can download and install DirectX 10.1 provided they have Vista's SP1 installed. However, DirectX 10 graphics cards are not capable of supporting most of the enhancements made, so the benefits of upgrading would be minimal. The point to take out of that is that games designed for DirectX 10.1 will still be able to run on your DirectX 10 graphics card, update or not, though you'll be missing out on a few performance tweaks. (Microsoft is downplaying the possibility of a game developer designing a game that requires one of the enhancements, likely encouraging them not to do so.)

John

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thanks for the response John...
Sep 1, 2007 12:47PM PDT

i think i understand... or do i? i'm not sure...but maybe...well...

it's not your answer that's confusing, but the fact that microsoft developed 10.1 but will not encourage developers to use it. hum. sometimes i buy new clothes, but it takes me a while to begin to wear them. i don't know why i do that, but i guess microsoft does the same thing with software. i'm not sure that's a good analogy. well, i'm glad anyway that i can still use my 8600GT card because it's a good one. Happy

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Use vs require...
Sep 1, 2007 1:42PM PDT

Don't get me wrong, Microsoft is definitely encouraging the development of hardware and software to take advantage of DirectX 10.1. However, they aren't pushing for developers to release games that require DirectX 10.1, alienating their DirectX 10 users. Quite to the contrary, Sam Glassenberg, Microsoft's Direct3D Program Manager, emphasized to existing users that "DirectX 10.1 fully supports DirectX 10 hardware. No hardware support is being removed. It's strictly a superset. It's basically an update to DirectX 10 that extends the hardware functionality slightly." It does seem a bit out of character to downplay a product release, but then again look at the backlash when Vista didn't support hardware/software released just months earlier.

John


P.S. I just realized that if I said your card was obsolete you'd be more apt to donate it to the first person who responded. Don't I feel stupid. Wink

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microsoft doesn't have to worry about me...
Sep 1, 2007 2:19PM PDT

i'm already alienated from them just like everyone else. i'm like a distant cousin twice removed. macs are nice but unnecessarily expensive, and linux is kind of out of the park for me. so that leaves vista or an abacus - but you can't really play at all on an abacus. you may say that my relationship with microsoft is well... strained. they are not straight shooters and you can't have a good relationship without open communication and trust.