3Dmark03 with requirements of DX7??!?

[xgi]

I just checked out the requirements of 3Dmark03.. something very interesting came out...

Below are an extract from Futuremark's website @ HERE
Minimum System Recommendations
x86 compatible processor, 1000MHz
256MB of RAM (512MB recommended)
1.0GB of free hard disk space
Windows® 98/SE/ME/2000/XP
DirectX®9.0a or later
DirectX®9.0 compatible graphics adapter that has 32MB of memory and is fully DirectX®7.0 compliant
Microsoft® Internet Explorer

Fully DirectX® 7.0 Compliant???!?

What... is this a DX9 benchmark or DX7 benchmark...?!?!?

 

[McArra]

It has DX7, DX8 and DX9 tests, so you AT LEAST need a DX7 card.

 

[reallyscrued]

with my radeon 7000, i could only run test 1, i guess thats the one without any pixel shaders.
so test two would probably be pixel shader 1.0.
test three is probably in between 1.0 and 2.0 ie: 1.1 or 1.4
test four is definately pixel shader 2.0 spec. if your card falls short on any of these specs, it wont run the test.

 

[xgi]

But I heard some people can only run 1 or 2 test out of the complete test with only a DX7 compatible card...

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: xgi
But I heard some people can only run 1 or 2 test out of the complete test with only a DX7 compatible card...

I think tests 1 and 2 are DX7 tests, test 3 is DX8 and test 4 is DX9.

This is why it is not possible to get a "great" score with something like a Ti4200 vs an FX5200, because the Ti4200 score is based on 3 tests, while the FX5200 score is based on 4 tests.

Though a Ti4200 will outperform an FX5200.

A DX7 card is required to run ANY of the tests, even though it can only run some of the tests (if that makes sense).

 

[reallyscrued]

test two has sooo many shadows, how can u say its DX7?

i think test two is DX8
test three is DX8.1
test four is DX9

 

[xgi]

... complicated DX capabilities... no comments...