DirectX10

[BG4533]

Hello everyone,
I am not much of a gamer, so I don't care about having the latest and greatest, but I do like to stay up to date. I currently have an MSI GF4 MX440VTP. The card has served my well for what I do, but I think it is time for an upgrade soon. Will DirectX10 be out anytime soon and be a reason to wait to upgrade? With this upgrade I will probably not upgrade again for 2-3 years, so I would like it to last.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[modedepe]

Dx10 won't be a factor for quite a while to come..so no there's no reason to wait.

 

[Rage187]

is 2005 soon?


Because thats when dx10 is supposedly to be released along side Longhorn.

 

[VIAN]

Well, DX9.1 is supposed to be released next summer with new gen cards.

 

[BG4533]

Originally posted by: VIAN
Well, DX9.1 is supposed to be released next summer with new gen cards.

I am guessing there aren't any huge projected releases in 9.1 that will make older cards too obsolete. I guess I will be picking up a card in the next month or so then. Now just to decide what to get.

Thanks for the help,
Brian

 

[Pudgygiant]

Not to go too OT, but my vote for what to get goes to:
Mid-budget - Ti4600 (golden sample or visiontek xtasy if possible, as they provide the best features and OC's. Just to brag, I got 335/750 on mine, which is a HUGE improvement over stock 275/650)

Upper-mid-budget - Radeon 9700 pro or 9800 NP (great, solid, keep-for-multiple-year cards like older voodoos. They'll be useful for years to come, if only in "crap" p4 2.4 systems 10 years from now.)

High-budget - 9800 pro or FX 5950 (Either of these is great, there's a giant debate going on so I won't state my preferences. each is better at certain things, but they both kick ass.)

 

[BenSkywalker]

DX 9.0 already has PS/VS 3.0 support, there is still quite a bit to be seen out of it yet. No current board supports all of DX9's features, so you could say that you can wait for the first real DX9 part before you start thinking about DX10. BTW- From everything floating around now, DX10 and Longhorn are looking like '06 items.

 

[Maddscientist]

I have slowly come to learn that preemptively trying to plan future proof video card upgrades are simply blind luck and simply elude planning althogether. It seems like everytime I purchase a video card that 3-6 months later a card is released that I simply must have or else I may have a stroke and die of a underdose of upgrade fever.

My Vote for best Video card right now is a close Tie. ATI and Nvidia both have excellent offerings right now....What card you choose will hinge upon your usage to be frank. Open GL Clearly goes to Nvidia and AA AF go to ATI.
Image quality overall is a highly debatable topic but I think its safe to say they are both so close in 2d that it hardly matters.

I hate to say it since I have a 9800pro but if I had to do it over again I would get a 5950....but then again im a avid gamer and from your post it appears you arnt.

So price ultimatly appears to be the tie breaker.......


As far as DirectX 10.0 is concerned......Unless there are some Microsoft Folks in the furums who have direct first hand knowledge of the DirectX teams progress on the next version? I think that is anybodys guess. From their History of released content I would have to hazard a April-May 2004 Guess....But then again Im no magic 8-Ball

Happy Hoilidays Folks

 

[videoclone]

DX10 ... geee i cant wait for our DX9 cards to be outdated:Q

 

[Corporate Thug]

dx9 games are barely starting to hit shelves so i wouldnt hold my breath for DX10 anythime in the near future

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: shady06
dx9 games are barely starting to hit shelves so i wouldnt hold my breath for DX10 anythime in the near future

Screw that! When can I buy a DX11 card?????


Seriously though - DX9 hasn't even had it's day yet - DX9 titles should occupy the next couple of years.

 

[Genx87]

I thought they renamed it to DirectX Next?

 

[clicknext]

Originally posted by: Genx87
I thought they renamed it to DirectX Next?

What would they name the one after? DirectX Next 2?

 

[BFG10K]

DirectX 10 is to be included in Longhorn (which AFAIK won't be here until at least 2005) and will provide the unification of 2D and 3D rendering into one path.

DirectX 9.1 is due next and the next generation of cards from ATi and nVidia should support it.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
DirectX 10 is to be included in Longhorn (which AFAIK won't be here until at least 2005) and will provide the unification of 2D and 3D rendering into one path.

DirectX 9.1 is due next and the next generation of cards from ATi and nVidia should support it.

Got any links to details about what 9.1 will include? I read somewhere something that hinted to some changes being made to be more nVidia friendly (well... NV3x friendly)

 

[BFG10K]

I don't have any offhand but I'm guessing we'll see the logical evolution of PS/VS capabilities in DirectX 9.1.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: BFG10K
DirectX 10 is to be included in Longhorn (which AFAIK won't be here until at least 2005) and will provide the unification of 2D and 3D rendering into one path.

DirectX 9.1 is due next and the next generation of cards from ATi and nVidia should support it.

Got any links to details about what 9.1 will include? I read somewhere something that hinted to some changes being made to be more nVidia friendly (well... NV3x friendly)

9.1 will include PS/VS 3.0. AFAIK the specs aren't totally finalized, but it's esentially PS/VS 2.0 "biggie sized" with support for longer code in just about everything and a few new features that no current card supports. It's been shown time and time again that the NV3x hardware is "closer" to full PS/VS 3.0 in terms of features supported, but it's also been proven that their PS 2.0 pipeline is weaker than ATI's implementation so we will see what the effect is when DX 9.1 is actually required for games.

I think DX 9.1 will be a checkbox feature for the first six months plus - (full) DX 9.0 support should tide you over fine. One of those things like DX 8.1 where it helps but it isn't critical. Maybe even less significant at first because DX 8.1 brought PS 1.4, which was a good improvement over PS 1.1, while games are just starting to support DX 9 now.

 

[BenSkywalker]

9.1 will include PS/VS 3.0. AFAIK the specs aren't totally finalized

If DX9.1 ever does come out, it will certainly include PS/VS 3.0 support since DX 9.0 already does. Where did all this talk about DX9.1 introducing PS/VS 3.0 come from? We haven't seen anything close to being DX9.0 compliant yet and last I was aware MS had no intention of releasing a 9.1 version anytime within the next year. The specs for those standards were finalized over a year ago, the dev mailing list included the details back around the launch of the R9700 IIRC.

There are actually already some PS/VS 3.0 demos floating around, PVR posted some not too long ago.

I think DX 9.1 will be a checkbox feature for the first six months plus - (full) DX 9.0 support should tide you over fine.

Full DX9.0 support will definitely hold you over fine for the next year, we just have to wait and see if we are going to see any fully DX9 compliant boards within a year