DirectX 11 detailed; Vista and DX 10 / 10.1 hardware supported
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jul 22nd 2008 at 2:55PM }
But what's new and exciting about DirectX 11, you ask incredulously. How about a "new compute shader technology" that gets your GPU ready to do more than just boring old 3D graphics – instead "developers can take advantage of the graphics card as a parallel processor"? Not doing it for you? How about "multi-threaded resource handling that will allow games to better take advantage of multi-core machines" since, y'know, most every computer nowadays has multiple cores? Or "support for tessellation" which allows "developers to refine models to be smoother and more attractive when seen up close"? Something in there has to tickle your fancy.
What it probably means for most of you is this: as hardware manufacturers develop new chipsets to take advantage of DirectX 11's new features, you should be able to snag some of that older 10.1 gear for a song.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
gir @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:01PM
I saw a squirrel. He was goin' like this...
gir @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:05PM
Me and the squirrel are friends!
Ihavepants @ Jul 22nd 2008 6:40PM
INGENIOUS!
bigsofty @ Jul 26th 2008 5:58PM
Im going OpenGL enough of these M$ forced upgrades... time to REBEL!
Jose @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:02PM
But I just got my dang 4870!
Shawn @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:37PM
don't worry about it :P We won't see DX11 for years, and that card you have is amazing, so enjoy it for the next few years. I'm getting one myself. I'm so glad ATI is back.
Jakka (Not sure why he got banned?) @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:05PM
Fuck DX10.
Right now, I'm pretty damn happy with everything that poor ugly DX9 Unreal Engine 3 can throw at me.
eldee @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:35PM
Fuck DX10, DX11, and vista too. So irritated at this forced-upgrade shit.
You know, actually I wouldn't be so upset if Vista was an actual upgrade. I don't mind spending money on the latest and greatest video cards and software- i wouldn't be a true pc gamer if I didn't! I don't like being forced to buy subpar operating systems for a few fancy extras that my hardware can already handle.
PeterF @ Jul 22nd 2008 7:47PM
Forced upgrade? It seems like you are still using DX9. How exactly are you being forced to upgrade again?
Platinum_Skeet @ Jul 22nd 2008 8:10PM
That's why you dual-boot and download Vista for free just like the average guy does for about half the games on PC...
eldee @ Jul 22nd 2008 9:09PM
Forced to upgrade to use the features I bought with my video card maybe?
DX10 is vista-only to force people to upgrade to vista. I'm happy with XP, why should I have to shell out money for an operating system that is sub-par to get all of the features I purchased in a video card?
And yes, I understand that you have to upgrade software and hardware in the PC universe. I'm not a fucking moron, and I'm not still running windows 95. We're talking about an operating system that is STILL covered by MS support (for the time being), and its 'replacement' is pretty much a steaming pile of dogshit.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Jul 22nd 2008 10:46PM
I'm with you eldee.
SimbaDogg @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:53PM
so i guess when apple comes out w/ a 120 gig ipod, and you only have a 30 thats a forced upgrade. Or when sony comes out w/ a ps3 and still sells the ps2 thats another forced upgrade for you. and how bout those stupid car manufacturers forcing you to switch out your car every 5 years when the new model drops. those asshats.
point being, its not a forced upgrade until its NO LONGER supported. kinda like xp wont be supporter any longer many many years down the road.
Bslashingu @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:36AM
Umm... SimbaDogg, this IS a forced upgrade. Windows XP got pulled from shelves not too long ago, and computer manufacturers don't have the option for you to install it on pre-made PCs anymore. The only way to get XP now is through torrents.
Knowing Microsoft, they're going to start passing money around to game companies to make their games DX11 exclusive, which also pops them into the Vista Exclusive category. It seems that if you want to continue gaming on the PC, you're pretty much FORCED into downgrading to Vista.
Tom18230 @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:15PM
Lets see if they can actually deliver this time. From 9c to 10.1 theres hardly a huge difference, not big enough to really notice. If DX11 can make a huge leap, then I'll be impressed.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:24PM
Depends I guess on you define "huge", but DX10 makes a noticeable difference, especially in lighting. The main problem was the video cards available at the time DX10 launched weren't really ready to handle DX10 games.
007craft @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:12PM
so whens this coming out? I was planing on buying a card for spore in september, but if this is coming in janurary or something, I may just buy a cheap $50 older card for spore, and wait the 4 or 5 months and buy a nice dX11 card for like $400. Currently running integrated graphics. Only good for watching HD movies, almost all games unplayable :(. Rest of my specs, very high to handle any game.
Haggard @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:03PM
If you just go and buy a 4850 or 4870 now, you'll be able to max out most games for years to come.
LuckyEMS @ Jul 26th 2008 3:33PM
i love Vista
Ralod @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:12PM
And I am sure all 15 people who use Vista will be stoked by the news.
Until they allow DX10 and 11 to run on XP who cares.
David @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:18PM
As one of the 15, I'm fucking stoked!
deaftly @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:41PM
Vista just sold over 180 million
GenBanks @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:23PM
Me too - so now we know that at least 2/15 vista users will be happy.
Vol @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:32PM
I have 3 PCs with Vista. It's the only option now preinstalled. (unless you count Dell's $150 XP option) :-(
So there are 4 in this thread.. I know we can pass 15 in 10 minutes. Go! :-)
Xanto @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:37PM
I'm stoked...numba 5!
Vol @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:49PM
This comment system makes it impossible.
Fail.
Jakka (Not sure why he got banned?) @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:57PM
My pirated copy of Vista would be stoked if only I didn't though it was a p.o.s. and rolled back to XP.
Sora @ Jul 22nd 2008 6:07PM
Paint me stoked. Number 6.
Ihavepants @ Jul 22nd 2008 6:46PM
Vol... you buy Dell? And then you have the nerve to say that anything else fails?
You fail sir.
eldee @ Jul 22nd 2008 9:11PM
vista sold 180mil.. don't make me laugh. They sold 180 mil licenses via 3rd parties (READ: Dell, HP, Gateway, Lenovo, etc). I would say 179 million of those users took the system home, wiped the drive clean, and installed XP on it.
WhatIsThatThing @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:29PM
eldee: Yep, that's me. High-end HP system wiped clean of filthy Vista.
GenBanks @ Jul 24th 2008 7:35AM
What the heck's the problem with Vista? I'm running vista x64 which should theoretically be the worst of the lot and I've had Zero problems.
I think it's just 'geek cool' to bad-mouth vista and announce that you're using XP, even if there are no tangible differences, ESPECIALLY on a high-end PC.
ebola! @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:13PM
Tesselmania!: Vista Edition, anyone?
Veko @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:21PM
Eh, if it's free I don't see any reason to complain. I have an 8600 in my first computer and a 6800 in my second one. Both play games fine. I doubt when DX11 comes out I'll have anything to worry about.
Follow the curve, I say, don't try to lead it (unless you have a lot of money to blow).
Chedder @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:22PM
Who gives a crap if i can't run it on XP.
Max @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:25PM
I liked Vista. It's pretty. :(
Pushtrak @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:28PM
I think its safe to say XP support is not something to be looking out for. I'm happy with XP, but some people here need to get a brain. If there is new Windows OS info, its not going to be XP related.
Kassu @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:16PM
This is not good.
If it comes out B4 the new windows, all the XP owning pc gamers are doomed.
Shawn @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:54PM
This is important, very important. Much moreso than what Joystiq's Chris Grant is making it sound. DX11 is going to shift gaming off your PC's processor, and ram, onto strictly the GPU itself. This is the way the future is headed for PC Gaming, and PC is going to completely revive itself to mass market in a big way.
It's not going to matter what PC you have, as long as you have the correct GPU slot, PCI-E, which all mobos feature nowadays, these things will work no problem. What this means? The only thing people will need to buy in the future to turn their PC's into gaming machines is a GPU, plain and simple, and the way pricing is going, it's going to be very cheap.
Smart move, and something Intel realizes, and is why they are jumping into the high end GPU market. Take a look at Project Offset, bought by Intel, amazingly impressive, and certainly not for their integrated line of chips.
Worried about gaming on the sofa in the living room and not your home office console gamers? Check out wireless HDMI, running on N based routers, it's amazing what's going on in that front. We'll be wirelessly streaming HD content (video games and movies of course) to any screen in the house. Wireless peripherals are already here, and there you have it. This is basically the merging of console and PC gaming that's coming a lot sooner then later.
On another note, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alan Wake make the DX11 jump, the game has obviously been reset for DX11 and probably the next Xbox. They software sellers, and that for some reason gives me that feeling.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:23PM
It make you sound like it's all on the GPU now, but the article specifically mentions that DX11 takes advantage of "multi-core machines"... which I assume is talking about CPUs. IMO, it would be a mistake to throw it all on the GPU. As it is now, most games are GPU bound, not CPU bound, so how is throwing more on the GPU going to improve anything? They need to be doing the exact opposite. Multi-core CPUs are the future and there would be a lot of waste occurring if games didn't capitalize on that.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:25PM
WTF? I totally screwed up my first sentence... it should read, "You make it sound like..."
Shawn @ Jul 22nd 2008 6:05PM
What I'm saying is that right now, there's a blend in gaming, CPU and GPU. The more powerful GPU's become, the less CPU power is needed in order to run certain games. Right now, the only games that are truly CPU intensive are RTS games, and games with advanced AI. Placing that burden on the GPU is becoming easier as they get more powerful. What I should have said is, the CPU going from the motherboard onto the GPU for gaming purposes, meaning one could have a baseline 400 dollar PC say, integrated graphics chip, then, go out and purchase a nextgen GPU, which will include all the guts in order to game, nullifying the system PC's specs almost completely. The CPU, RAM ,and GPU are all in one, being utilized by games. This isn't going to happen tomorrow, but it will eventually down the road. The way I see it, programming for multicores is a real pain in the ass, and streamlining the process in the future is the only way we're going to see the CPU takeover as the main component to gaming. As for now, my money's on the GPU.
Iridium @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:56PM
I wonder if true DX11 support will only be for Windows 7. Par for the Microsoft course.
capt_carl @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:19PM
Who cares about this? When will DX10 become available on XP?
PeterF @ Jul 22nd 2008 7:50PM
Never. Once games require DX10 you will have enough money saved up to buy the $20 2GB kit of RAM so that you can run Vista.
MinorHavoc @ Jul 23rd 2008 2:24AM
Actually, it only cost me only $12 for 4GB of HP-branded Micron DDR2 DIMM's back in January, shipping included, after rebate. My Vista box doesn't even swap to disk most of the time. :-)
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:25PM
WTF? I totally screwed up my first sentence... it should read, "You make it sound like..."
mezzanine @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:35PM
Bleh. I'm done with PC gaming ;;
Robert @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:42PM
This is funny, Sony gives o developers the Cell, with additional Cores to do parallel processing and everyone scream because it is a difficult architecture, now MS want to build DX11 with support for parallel processing, and this is cool.
Looks like Sony is a few step ahead (at least on this front, still at the back in comparison with Live features)
BaseVilliN @ Jul 24th 2008 5:46PM
The difference is Microsoft is creating the tools for developers to much more easily utilize multiple cores and gpus. This is to prevent the very thing that happened to Sony with the PS3.