Gaming Some questions about DX10

[Goloki]

This week I finally purchased a good graphic card, an XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB DDR3... yes, it's not much, but it's a nice and welcome upgrade from my previous card (a no-apparent-brand 6200SE w/TC). I can play CS:S on 1280x1024 w/AA x2 (only tested it with x2) with everything MAXed, the same for Titan Quest (with almost-no-rubberbanding!), Portal with everything MAXed and Motion Blur, etc. Oblivion, on the other hand, suffered from a little stuttering, though, but it was WAY better than with my old card. The thing is, I have some questions about DirectX 10 and quality gaming:

1. I know DX10 is Vista-exclusive, but I've heard that there was a XP version in the making, or at least you could get it to work with XP unofficially. Is there anything new about this?

2. Being a newer version of DX9, I suppose that games that run on DX10 will need MORE resources than games that run on DX9, won't they? I'm asking this because I've heard that Crysis (which seems to be the standard benchmarking game these days, although I have no intention of playing it) performed noticeably better in DX10 than in DX9, with the same specs and everything.

3. IF there's a way to enable DX10 in XP, would you say it's a good idea I do so? Why or why not?

As a bonus:

4. What do you suggest to play with my new little baby?

I'd like to get into WoW again (I bought the Battlechest some months ago), but I don't know of any good private servers, because I'm not willing to pay only to waste my entire summer with this game... I think this is not against the rules, but if it is, don't pay attention to this question

Thanks in advance.

Oh, and... PS: My specs:

- Pentium IV HT @ 3.06GHz (meh)
- 7200RPM HDD w/+110 GB free (space's not a problem)
- XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB DDR3 w/latest nVidia drivers (175, IIRC)
- 2GB Kingston RAM @800MHz
- Windows XP Home SP3
- If anything else is needed, just tell me and I'll post it.

 

[FAST6191]

First as I recall Oblivion goes for the CPU before the graphics once you get to your stage.

1. Vista and server 2008, I tried to see if server 2008 worked well around here and not much happened but others say it is a bit like vista - good version (i.e. no fancy junk just a lean OS).
XP on the other hand will probably not see a version from MS ever (it is about the only selling point of Vista and co these days). There are two things that happened though.
A simple vista check which was bypassed (on a game by game basis) and a DX10 in name only which was equally bypassed.
There are a few projects attempting to backport but it will likely be wine or cedega that pull it off first in a reasonable way (and I imagine that will get ported).

2. Yes and no, a lot of PC games are resource hogs it seems. When it comes to getting a game to run and look decent though there is not much in it to distinguish the two.

3. There is no way but I would say there is not much gaming merit to warrant beating vista into a workable shape or setting up server right now (give it a few more months and maybe).

4. There have been a few PC gaming threads the last few months and although I do not play it there was a WOW free servers thread as well not so long ago.

bonus: NVIDIA drivers are OK but http://www.omegadrivers.net/ work pretty well (no updates for a while though but keep an eye out).

 

[fischju]

1. No

2. DX10 right now hurts performance for no graphical gain. Crysis performs 5-10% better in DX9 than DX10 at the same detail

3. Null

As a bonus:

4. Mass Effect for PC came out not too long ago

 

[Trolly]

I agree with the man above, Mass Effect is an amazing game, so I'd play that. It might hit your PC a bit hard though.

And I too was very interested in DX10 until I realised how useless it is at the moment. Many attempts at bringing DX10 over to XP have failed, and Microsoft don't plan to bring it over at all, so chances are it'll never be on XP.
So with that in mind I "obtained" Vista to try out DX10 and generally have a look at Vista. I thought I'd give Crysis a try for the hell of it as well, and found no significant graphical gain over how much the performance hit was. Put simply, games at the moment are throwing in DX10 as a little bonus and to add to their feature list. There is incredibly little graphical improvement, but it requires much more powerful hardware. At some point I'm sure there'll be a breakthrough with DX10, but for now it's pretty redundant.

 

[Goloki]

Thanks for the info. I guess I should not worry about DX10 then. As for Mass Effect... it looks really good, but I don't think my PC will be able to handle it at a playable level, to be honest. Besides, and I'm not saying it's a bad game or anything, it looks like KotOR with better graphics and real-time combat

I've played both KotORs and loved them to death, but I'm a little bit tired of the "multiple-options dialog system" already.

Thanks for your replies, guys.

 

[fischju]

I just got an E8200, and with my old X1950XT which performs at the same level as the 8600, I can max out Mass Effect.

GRID is an amazing racing game for pc.

 

[vapour99]

1. No

2. DX10 right now hurts performance for no graphical gain. Crysis performs 5-10% better in DX9 than DX10 at the same detail

3. Null

As a bonus:

4. Mass Effect for PC came out not too long ago

...but how else will you get god rays, 128-bit HDR rendering, HD anti-aliasing and other oodles of DX10 fun in the DX9 version?

I agree; DX10 is a system resource og for few benefits, but I would bear with it ,and ultimatley vista, so that I can waste my uber powerful system (if I had one

) on those awesome effects.

...crysis in DX9, no thanks!


good article about your question: http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=79044

 

[Trolly]

Besides, and I'm not saying it's a bad game or anything, it looks like KotOR with better graphics and real-time combat tongue.gif I've played both KotORs and loved them to death, but I'm a little bit tired of the "multiple-options dialog system" already.

Oh, you'll be able to play, just you won't be able to max it out or anything. It will be easily playable though! Andyou've got it nailed really, it IS just KotOR with better graphics and real-time combat. However, it also has a very cinematic feel to it, and will have you hooked with a far more intriguing original universe than Star Wars (IMO). If you loved KotOR to death, you'll love this to... the afterlife?