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When will I *need* a Directx 9 card?



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 23rd 03, 12:29 PM
J.Clarke
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Default

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 22:47:22 +0000 (UTC)
Seahorse wrote:

Following prompt first aid from the medic
(John) managed to scrawl the following bloodstained message On 23 Nov
2003 12:27:35 -0800:

Anybody know when you'll absolutely need a Directx 9 card to have any
fun with games? It seems that games like Halo and Max Payne 2 use
Directx 9 features sparingly, and therefore, it's no big deal if I
play them on my Directx 8.1 card (which is a GeForce 4 Ti 4200).

Are we talking 3-4 months maybe?

I'm just trying to get a handle on when to spend the bucks for an
upgrade.

thanks.


1. Don't cross post.


Wrong. Cross post to all relevant newsgroups. That is the way USENET
is intended to work and that way everybody sees the post, everybody sees
the responses, and there is no duplication of effort.

Have you ever answered taken the time to research a question for someone
and then found after posting your response that there was a 500 message
thread in response to the same post on a different newsgroup which
you did not see before expending your own time because the OP failed to
cross-post? If not, the first time it happens to you you'll become an
advocate of appropriate cross-posting.

What on Earth has led you to believe that one should not cross-post?

2. Xmas 04.


Wrong again. You need it when you encounter an application that uses
features not present in DirectX versions earlier than 9, you want to use
those features, and you find that enabling them on a board without
hardware acceleration of those features (thus forcing use of the
software implementation that runs on the main CPU) causes an
unacceptable performance penalty.

That means that for some folks the answer is "never" while for others
it's "yesterday", and for the rest it's somewhere in between.

To the OP the answer is "spend the bucks for an upgrade when you
encounter something that causes you to notice the lack".

---------
Rgds Mike
Remove XXX to reply

Give me a Ping Vasily, 1 Ping only.
- Capt Marko Ramius

WWW.Dead-Fish.Com - Deep Sea Daddies...
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...s=the_Seahorse



--
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
  #2  
Old November 23rd 03, 08:15 PM
J.Clarke
external usenet poster
 
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Default

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:20:58 +0000 (UTC)
Seahorse wrote:

Following prompt first aid from the medic "J.Clarke"
managed to scrawl the following bloodstained
message On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 06:29:56 -0500:


1. Don't cross post.


Wrong. Cross post to all relevant newsgroups. That is the way
USENET is intended to work and that way everybody sees the post,
everybody sees the responses, and there is no duplication of effort.


Bad nettiquette as you well know.


What ever gave you that idea?

It does cause duplication of effort.


Nope. It _eliminates_ duplication of effort.

Scattergun posting is pointless.


Crossposting is not "scattergun posting".

I believe you have crossposting confused with multiposting.

2. Xmas 04.


Wrong again. You need it when you encounter an application that uses
features not present in DirectX versions earlier than 9, you want to
use those features, and you find that enabling them on a board
without hardware acceleration of those features (thus forcing use of
the software implementation that runs on the main CPU) causes an
unacceptable performance penalty.

That means that for some folks the answer is "never" while for others
it's "yesterday", and for the rest it's somewhere in between.

To the OP the answer is "spend the bucks for an upgrade when you
encounter something that causes you to notice the lack".


Considering the distinct lack of games that actually implement any DX9
features - 2 to date I believe, it would hardly seem worth the effort.


If one of those games is important to you then it is worth the effort.
Do not assume that your priorities are everyone's priorities.

By the time they become common place your card will be one if not 2
generations out of date. The mystery features you refer to are more
likely than not disabled rather than CPu rendered,


Some are, some aren't. The vertex shaders are CPU rendered while the
pixel shaders are disabled, for example.

but like I said,
its not likely that he has a game requiring it hence my realistic time
estimate.


How do you know what he has? Do you read minds?

DX9 comparability is like AGP X8 on a box. Designed to shift units
rather than provide anything useful today...
---------
Rgds Mike
Remove XXX to reply

Fools learn from experience, I prefer to learn from others.
- Otto Von Bismark

WWW.Dead-Fish.Com - Deep Sea Daddies...
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...s=the_Seahorse




--
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
  #3  
Old November 23rd 03, 08:21 PM
J.Clarke
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:22:55 +0000 (UTC)
Seahorse wrote:

Following prompt first aid from the medic "Tim Miser"
managed to scrawl the following bloodstained
message On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 23:45:17 GMT:

1. Don't cross post.


Why shouldn't one cross post?

Because it's rude. See below...

http://www.netlingo.com/right.cfm?term=cross%20post


And of course "netlingo.com" is authoritative.

You might try http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html, which (a) is an
official RFC and therefore authoritative, and (b) explains the
circumstances under which crossposting is and is not appropriate.

---------
Rgds Mike
Remove XXX to reply

Fools learn from experience, I prefer to learn from others.
- Otto Von Bismark

WWW.Dead-Fish.Com - Deep Sea Daddies...
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...s=the_Seahorse




--
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
  #4  
Old November 23rd 03, 09:27 PM
John
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default When will I *need* a Directx 9 card?

Anybody know when you'll absolutely need a Directx 9 card to have any
fun with games? It seems that games like Halo and Max Payne 2 use
Directx 9 features sparingly, and therefore, it's no big deal if I
play them on my Directx 8.1 card (which is a GeForce 4 Ti 4200).

Are we talking 3-4 months maybe?

I'm just trying to get a handle on when to spend the bucks for an
upgrade.

thanks.
  #5  
Old November 23rd 03, 10:16 PM
Joe Hayes
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Of course you don't absolutely need one. Games will run just fine on your
current card, but you won't be able to see some of the fancy eye candy.
Most of that stuff is way overhyped anyway, IMHO.

"John" wrote in message
om...
Anybody know when you'll absolutely need a Directx 9 card to have any
fun with games? It seems that games like Halo and Max Payne 2 use
Directx 9 features sparingly, and therefore, it's no big deal if I
play them on my Directx 8.1 card (which is a GeForce 4 Ti 4200).

Are we talking 3-4 months maybe?

I'm just trying to get a handle on when to spend the bucks for an
upgrade.

thanks.



  #6  
Old November 23rd 03, 10:17 PM
Frodoh
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Upgrade 6 months after Doom III comes out.


"John" wrote in message
om...
Anybody know when you'll absolutely need a Directx 9 card to have any
fun with games? It seems that games like Halo and Max Payne 2 use
Directx 9 features sparingly, and therefore, it's no big deal if I
play them on my Directx 8.1 card (which is a GeForce 4 Ti 4200).

Are we talking 3-4 months maybe?

I'm just trying to get a handle on when to spend the bucks for an
upgrade.

thanks.



  #8  
Old November 23rd 03, 11:49 PM
John Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On 23 Nov 2003 12:27:35 -0800, (John) wrote:

Anybody know when you'll absolutely need a Directx 9 card to have any
fun with games? It seems that games like Halo and Max Payne 2 use
Directx 9 features sparingly, and therefore, it's no big deal if I
play them on my Directx 8.1 card (which is a GeForce 4 Ti 4200).

Are we talking 3-4 months maybe?

I'm just trying to get a handle on when to spend the bucks for an
upgrade.


Do not confuse the need for DirectX9.0b software and
the hardware support in the game. Read the game-box
for a list of the supported hardware. If your (old) video
hardware does not support DX9.0 hardware functions,
some will be automatically emulated by the CPU
(with slow-down), others will be ignored.

Games that have hardware support for earlier video cards
generally have option-settings that eliminate the emulation
of hardware functions (and restore speed), which are all
graphics-enhancements not essential to the game-play.

Recommendation:-

1. Install the latest updates to your OS. If the OS is
obsolete and not supported, then upgrade.

2. Update your audio and video drivers to the
latest version.

2. Install the latest official version of DX.

Your old games should not break unless you have not
updated your audio and video drivers to the latest
versions.Set System Restore points if you are
paranoid about 1, 2, 3.

4 Try the new game out on your hardware. Not
satisfied, then consider a new card. Only takes a
couple of days to ship in the US, with free Fedex
shiipping on the upper-end cards.

Updating hardware before the software is available
is not a clever use of monetary resources.

Consider those who rushed out to buy cards specifically
for anicipated HL2 needs. With HL2 delayed for 6 months,
another generation of video cards will be here, and the
current generation will be much less expensive.

John Lewis







thanks.


  #9  
Old November 24th 03, 12:45 AM
Tim Miser
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Posts: n/a
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1. Don't cross post.

Why shouldn't one cross post?


  #10  
Old November 24th 03, 01:32 AM
Derek Baker
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Posts: n/a
Default

"John" wrote in message
om...
Anybody know when you'll absolutely need a Directx 9 card to have any
fun with games? It seems that games like Halo and Max Payne 2 use
Directx 9 features sparingly, and therefore, it's no big deal if I
play them on my Directx 8.1 card (which is a GeForce 4 Ti 4200).

Are we talking 3-4 months maybe?

I'm just trying to get a handle on when to spend the bucks for an
upgrade.

thanks.


The Geforce 3 and 4 are DirectX 8, not 8.1.

I've been thinking about a video card upgrade, I guess the real answer is
when your current card can't run the games you want the way you want. For me
that might be Half Life 2, looking a bit less likely now that it will be
Deus Ex 2.


--
Derek


 




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