Battlefield 4 Will Support Windows 8s Exclusive DX11.1

[imaheadcase]

None of this means anything to the players, like he said, its going to use it, won't mean you will notice it, at all.

Keep in mind, most games made today still use just DX 9 features only. You can do a ton with just a game engine that you don't need "help" with.

Having something added to Directx does not mean its good. We all know lighting and other "features" are turned off most the time.

BF4 is not very exciting, they fail big time with the terrible single player again. Origin and the whole non many updates and cheats really made me dislike the whole genre. Bad Company 2 was fantastic. BF meh.

 

[Carfax83]

I think it's good that Amd probably pushed 11.1 into bf4 as it exposes Nvidia's inability to use it to customers and will be a sore thumb for the green team till they release maxwell .I'm not saying this trying to be Mister Red, but just as a consumer who doesn't like being lied to . ESPECIALLY when it comes to feature sets .

Did you read the thread at all? NVidia does support all of the gaming enhancements that DX11.1 offers. The only ones they don't support have nothing to do with gaming.

So no advantage for AMD

 

[ocre]

So does this mean nvidia hardware isnt good?

Nvidia claims they have most of all the 11.1 feature sets except for a couple that have nothing to do with games. Will BF4 use the few 11.1 features that nvidia opted out of?

Will the gamer be missing out unless he has 11.1? like visually the game will be lacking? I thought the entire feature set was capable on 11?
something like 11.1 functions offered a different route but the exact same results are achieved in dx11? So is it just easier on the CPU?

 

[3DVagabond]

AMD typically is first with DirectX features and always try to support the latest standards. It matters and helps them in the minds of some people. Others, don't care at all. Typically it doesn't matter a whole lot early on.

The extra features could, in theory, make AMD cards run slower, because they are "doing more". Then we'll have, "It's faster on nVidia". Or, it could be the other way around and improve efficiency and performance. Then "AMD will be cheaters".

 

[Stuka87]

That said, after using Windows 8 for many months, I can confidently say it's a superior OS to Windows 7....especially for gaming.

Yeah, sure it is...

 

[Carfax83]

Yeah, sure it is...

This guy did a fairly rigorous test between Windows 8 and Windows 7, and he came to the same conclusion I did:

Windows 8 vs Windows 7 in gaming.

Why you expect Windows 7, an older, more bloated, less secure and less efficient OS to be faster in games than Windows 8 is beyond me. When I had Windows 7 Ultimate installed, I usually tweaked the services because of all the bloat.

With Windows 8, that's unnecessary because the OS is already lean by default, and is much better at allocating resources to boot.

 

[thilanliyan]

Carfax, the old start menu is possible to have correct in Win 8?

 

[Rakehellion]

So, there's a minor performance improvement with a point release of DirectX and everyone loses their [composure].

You know, the existence of 11.1 doesn't make 11.0 perform worse.

No profanity in the technical forums, please.
-- stahlhart

 

[Stuka87]

This guy did a fairly rigorous test between Windows 8 and Windows 7, and he came to the same conclusion I did:

Windows 8 vs Windows 7 in gaming.

Why you expect Windows 7, an older, more bloated, less secure and less efficient OS to be faster in games than Windows 8 is beyond me. When I had Windows 7 Ultimate installed, I usually tweaked the services because of all the bloat.

With Windows 8, that's unnecessary because the OS is already lean by default, and is much better at allocating resources to boot.

Windows 7 is not more bloated than 8. Why would you think this? The Kernels are nearly identical. And there was no big architectural change between the two. I really cannot see how you can say "Windows 8 is lean by default" with a straight face, when the services used between the two are very similar.

Memory usage is slightly lower in Windows 8, but this is because superfetch has been slightly changed so that it does not hold on to memory as long, and pre-loads less. But the amount of memory that is actively used hardly changed at all between the two OS's. Although this is hard to see without using some dev tools to measure actual memory consumed (Task manager doesn't show this).

As for the link you posted, I have issues trusting something from some random person that doesn't state his testing methodology, and show what his background is. In test done by reputable places, Windows 8 is faster at a few things (Booting and shutting down for instance are much faster), but gaming is a push.

There is really zero reason that I can think of to run Windows 8 unless you are using a tablet. It offers no major advancements over Windows 7. But if you like, good for you.


As for DirectX 11.1/11.2, I doubt it will offer enough to make upgrading worth while. I mean, over half the games released are still DirectX 9/10. So nothing will be gained by having anything newer than 11.

 

[Red Hawk]

There is really zero reason that I can think of to run Windows 8 unless you are using a tablet. It offers no major advancements over Windows 7. But if you like, good for you.

Native ISO mounting, download & file transfer pausing, improved task manager, integrated Skydrive, faster booting, and lower power consumption, to name a few. The "app store" style of developers making apps for things like Youtube and Netflix may seem gimmicky, but it actually allows for better performance and power consumption than viewing with a web browser.

As for DirectX 11.1/11.2, I doubt it will offer enough to make upgrading worth while. I mean, over half the games released are still DirectX 9/10. So nothing will be gained by having anything newer than 11.

DirectX 11.2 is going to be the feature set used by the Xbox One and PS4, so we'll probably see those features work their way into virtually all games which are also on consoles. It was console ports being stuck on DirectX 9.0c that has given 9.0c such longevity in the first place.

 

[Spjut]

DirectX 11.2 is going to be the feature set used by the Xbox One and PS4, so we'll probably see those features work their way into virtually all games which are also on consoles. It was console ports being stuck on DirectX 9.0c that has given 9.0c such longevity in the first place.

The dominance of Windows XP was just as big a clog as the consoles.

 

[Silverforce11]

BF4 is not very exciting, they fail big time with the terrible single player again. Origin and the whole non many updates and cheats really made me dislike the whole genre. Bad Company 2 was fantastic. BF meh.

We don't care about SP. Even COD has crap SP, over in 4.5hrs.

BF is not about SP, SP is just added fluff. Any reviewers worth their salt would emphasise online play and have 1 paragraph for SP. Stupid reviewers what dwell on SP = ignored by ppl who play online FPS.

 

[Red Hawk]

The dominance of Windows XP was just as big a clog as the consoles.

It was a factor, but with consoles stuck on 9.0c features there was no impetus to learn how to bring DX10/11 features to games. Games would still have been designed to accommodate the capabilities of the consoles. I don't think having DX10/11 backported to Windows XP would have done too much to increase the adoption of the API. On the other hand, you can bet your bottom dollar that if consoles had DX10/11 features we would have seen widespread adoption of DX10/11 in PC games even without the features working on XP (the games would certainly have been backwards compatible to 9.0c, though).

 

[StrangerGuy]

So, there's a minor performance improvement with a point release of DirectX and everyone loses their [composure].

You know, the existence of 11.1 doesn't make 11.0 perform worse.

We would probably need to do a pixel hunt with blown up side-by-side screenshots at a -25% performance penalty for a almost barely discernible IQ improvement and people here will call it the greatest graphical achievement ever.

 

[Carfax83]

Carfax, the old start menu is possible to have correct in Win 8?

Yeah, there's something called Start8 if you want to have the classic start menu back.

Personally though, once you get used to the Metro UI, it's actually pretty convenient. I can access apps and programs just as fast, or even faster than with the old start menu.

 

[Carfax83]

Windows 7 is not more bloated than 8. Why would you think this? The Kernels are nearly identical. And there was no big architectural change between the two. I really cannot see how you can say "Windows 8 is lean by default" with a straight face, when the services used between the two are very similar.

Windows 7 has significantly more processes compared to Windows 8, and they tend to use more memory as well. The thread scheduler in Windows 7 is also inferior to the one in Windows 8, so if you have a hyperthreaded quad core or hex core processor, Windows 8 will give you better performance.

Memory usage is slightly lower in Windows 8, but this is because superfetch has been slightly changed so that it does not hold on to memory as long, and pre-loads less. But the amount of memory that is actively used hardly changed at all between the two OS's. Although this is hard to see without using some dev tools to measure actual memory consumed (Task manager doesn't show this).

No, Windows 8 has some significant changes compared to Windows 7 in how it handles memory, that goes beyond SuperFetch.

You can read about that here if you want, and also here

As for the link you posted, I have issues trusting something from some random person that doesn't state his testing methodology, and show what his background is. In test done by reputable places, Windows 8 is faster at a few things (Booting and shutting down for instance are much faster), but gaming is a push.

Why do you find it so hard to believe that Windows 8 is faster in games than Windows 7? Did you find it hard to believe that Windows 7 was faster than Windows XP?

It's progress. Windows 7 was, and still is a great OS. But Windows 8 improves upon it in many ways, so it's self explanatory that it would be better for gaming.

This guy on youtube benchmarked the pre-release version of Windows 8 against Windows 7 in Battlefield 3, and it was slightly faster even then!

There is really zero reason that I can think of to run Windows 8 unless you are using a tablet. It offers no major advancements over Windows 7. But if you like, good for you.

That's not true. The security improvements alone make the upgrade to Windows 8 worth it, never mind the performance and efficiency improvements.

As for DirectX 11.1/11.2, I doubt it will offer enough to make upgrading worth while. I mean, over half the games released are still DirectX 9/10. So nothing will be gained by having anything newer than 11.

With the next generation of console games on the horizon, DX11 and it's sub-versions will finally get the attention of developers that they deserve.

May DX9 rot in hell....

 

[Carfax83]

DirectX 11.2 is going to be the feature set used by the Xbox One and PS4, so we'll probably see those features work their way into virtually all games which are also on consoles. It was console ports being stuck on DirectX 9.0c that has given 9.0c such longevity in the first place.

I think DX11.2 is a Xbox One and Windows 8.1 exclusive. The PS4 may start out using an API, but will eventually forgo it as optimization techniques become more refined.

 

[Red Hawk]

I think DX11.2 is a Xbox One and Windows 8.1 exclusive. The PS4 may start out using an API, but will eventually forgo it as optimization techniques become more refined.

I'm talking about feature sets. APIs only serve to expose the features that the hardware already supports. Optimization can't change the features for hardware.

 

[flopper]

Windows 7 is not more bloated than 8.

windows 8 is an outstanding OS.
Totally owns windows 7 by simply being the best.
Never had a machine this fast and responsive ever with windows 7.
The same argument people make about windows 7 was said with win98, win xp, Vista, win 7 etc..and will be said when the next OS comes out.

windows 7 is more bloated than windows 8 by a lot.
anyone telling you otherwise is ignorant.

BF4 with 64bit with dx11+ and hopefully being fun to play.
we dont need another epic fail like BF3.

 

[taq8ojh]

The same argument people make about windows 7 was said with win98, win xp, Vista, win 7 etc..and will be said when the next OS comes out.

Windows Millenium, Windows Vista anyone? Or what exactly are you talking about here?

windows 7 is more bloated than windows 8 by a lot.
anyone telling you otherwise is ignorant.

we dont need another epic fail like BF3.

I see where you come from.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Or what exactly are you talking about here?

A Start button.

Windows 8 is the better OS, it has one fatal weakness for many desktop users however... It changed the way we've done something for years. I think since Windows 95?

Personally I find the Superbar and Right Click enough to replace the dependency on the old Start button, but I still have Start8. I just don't use it that often.

Really that's the only complaint you'll hear about Windows 8, everything else is superior to Win7.

 

[gorcorps]

Maybe I'm missing something because in don't see anybody else bringing it up... But why was this info found on UBISOFT'S page?

 

[taq8ojh]

Really that's the only complaint you'll hear about Windows 8, everything else is superior to Win7.

Uh, what about the forced cartoon GUI? Metro it's called, right? I find it equally horrible to the new awesome Start "menu".
Everything else I don't have an opinion on, but it might very well be overhyped excitement from something new (I still haven't noticed anyone provide a link with hard facts about significant performance improvements in situations a,b,c,d,...).

 

[Silverforce11]

I was worried Windows 8 would be crap but its actually a lot faster than Win 7 in boot up, shutdown, sleep recovery and app launches feel the same.

It also looks a heck of a lot fancier and its a nice change, because now we're all so used to smartphone and tablet GUIs, older windows feels a bit dull.

 

[stahlhart]

Moving to Operating Systems.
-- stahlhart