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Today Microsoft announced that DirectX 12 is officially headed to all of its platforms for futuristic gaming finesse. Both NVIDIA and AMD are pushing their claim for the collaboration gold … Continue reading

This article was written on May 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Windows Vista ships with DirectX 10 (DX10) which is something a lot of gamers look forward to getting their hands on. Unfortunately for XP users DX10 is only available on the Vista operating system because of changes made in the graphics API as well as the drivers. DirectX 10 does provide some noticeable benefits that will make the upgrade worth it for gamers, and some of these benefits according to IGN are:

• Standardized hardware requirements: Microsoft made the hardware requirements for a DX10 compatible graphics card pretty strict, which means there will be fewer differences between GPU manufacturers. The result should be less GPU hardware crashes!
• Less bottlenecks in game execution: The API for DX10 has been made a lot less computationally intensive. This opens a lot of doors for developers because they can use the CPU for other things, such as adding more objects (trees, cars, etc…), make more realistic animations, or improve the artificial intelligence used. 
• Better shader effects: DX10 has a Geometry shader that is capable of adding more advanced visual effects including real-time Displacement Mapping, Motion Blur, Point-Sprite generation from points, and Stencil Shadow Extrusion.
• Unified GPU architecture : DirectX 9 graphics cards have separate pixel and vertex processors, which cannot be processed simultaneously. For example, you could have the computer caught up on processing vertex units while the pixel unit processors in the video card are idle, which needlessly bottlenecks performance. However, in DX10 graphics cards the GPU will be able to handle vertex, geometry and pixel shaders all at once without having to wait for the others to complete.

Are the graphics that much better in DirectX 10? IGN also had a graphical comparison of DirectX 9 and 10 for the Microsoft Flight Simulator X game that is supposed to be released later this year. You’ll see the comparison of the two pictured to the left (click on it to see a fullsize version). The DirectX 10 obviously does a much better job providing the little details that make the scenery look more real, such as the sun rays and textured water. Of course you will also have to get their hands on a DirectX 10 graphics card in order to enjoy all of the graphical goodness that is promised.

While some of you might be upset the Microsoft didn’t make a DirectX 10 for XP, you have to look at both sides of the story. Sure it would have benefited all of the current XP users, but Microsoft would have probably put so much time into making DX10 compatible that they would have had to charge for the upgrade anyway. Not only that, but every time there is a new operating system that is released there has to be plenty of benefits for users to upgrade, and this is a big benefit for gamers.

Wikipedia currently has a list of games that are going to be released with DirectX 10 support, and many will still support DirectX 9 for those not wanting to make the upgrade to Vista. In time I’m sure game developers will begin phasing out the support for DX 9 because games do need to stay on the bleeding edge of graphics in order to catch the attention of gamers.

There is one “DirectX 10” solution available for XP users that “Mr. Defeatable” pointed out in a tip, but it isn’t developed by Microsoft. It’s called the Alky Project and there is currently a preview version available for those that want to give it a shot. Here is what the developer says about the project:

As a fitting start to this blog, I’m proud to release a preview of our Alky compatibility libraries for Microsoft DirectX 10 enabled games. These libraries allow the use of DirectX 10 games on platforms other than Windows Vista, and increase hardware compatibility even on Vista, by compiling Geometry Shaders down to native machine code for execution where hardware isn’t capable of running it. No longer will you have to upgrade your OS and video card(s) to play the latest games.

I’m a little skeptical at what these libraries can actually do, and very curious as to whether this adds a lot of extra processing to the CPU. It will also be interesting to watch the progress of the project to see if Microsoft tries to shut it down.

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Many already believe that the real highlight of Intel’s 4th-generation Core processor lineup would be a giant graphics update. Today, Intel is revealing that they’re right — and, importantly, that there’s an equally large shift in naming strategy. Where 3rd-generation Core graphics were divided into two tiers, the new generation is focused on three, two of which are built for performance over efficiency. Ultrabooks with 15W U-series processors will use comparatively ordinary (if still faster) HD 5000 graphics. Thin-and-light laptops with 28W U-series chips get a new tier, Iris, that Intel claims is up to twice as fast in 3D as last year’s HD Graphics. Power-hungry parts see even more of a boost: they can carry Iris Pro graphics with embedded DRAM, which should double the 3D speed on H-series mobile chips (47-55W of typical power) and triple it for the R-series (around 65-84W) on the desktop. We also know that M-series laptop and K-series desktop CPUs will have Iris Pro options.

The feature set for the graphics trio is slightly more familiar to us, although there are a few tricks up Intel’s sleeve. All three can draw DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 4 visuals, as well as take on OpenCL 1.2 computing and faster media processing. We’re almost more interested in the display modes, though. Along with receiving “enhanced” 4K output, the new Core graphics can handle a 3-screen collage mode — we won’t need dedicated video for a large, multi-monitor canvas. Sadly, Intel isn’t providing more than incidental details about the processors themselves, although it has already teased that we’ll get the full story around the Computex show in early June.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Intel

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Source: Intel

We hope there weren’t too many PC gamers clinging to Windows 7 for dear life, because Microsoft isn’t about to rescue them with a near-term DirectX update. The company’s Daniel Moth (and supporting documentation) states that DirectX 11.1 is exclusive “for all practical purposes” to Windows 8-based platforms, including Windows RT and Windows Server 2012 — you can’t leap forward in media support without a full-on OS switch. None of the changes are large enough to trigger any immediate envy outside of the occasional fan of 3D glasses, but they could pose problems for conservative gamers in the long run if games and other visually intensive titles start demanding 11.1 as a baseline. There’s no known plans to port the code back or release a harmonizing version, either. We can at least take comfort in knowing that Windows 8 upgrades are cheap enough to be low-hanging fruit for all but the most Metrophobic.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Microsoft

Microsoft warns gamers DirectX 11.1 is Windows 8-only originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Microsoft has been exploring the sensory experiences that will go into Windows 8, like sight and touch, there’s only one thing that many enthusiasts care about: speed. To their delight, Redmond has just devoted one of its pre-release blog posts to showing just how much faster its hardware graphics acceleration will be in a Metro-focused universe. The goal is a hiccup-free 60Hz frame rate, and virtually everything in Windows 8 centers on that ambition. Baked-in transition effects, optimized geometry and even improved font rendering give modern computers a huge jump in performance versus Windows 7. Microsoft is just as keen to expose that power, as well: Direct3D 11.1 is now the root of all video acceleration in the pipeline, making it both easier and faster to mix 2D and 3D. All told, Windows 8 promises to get responsiveness freaks and benchmark lovers all hot and bothered. If either label describes you, the source link might satiate your lust until October 26th.

Filed under: Software

Microsoft digs deep into Windows 8’s hardware graphics boost, says fast just isn’t slick enough originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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