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    Directx 10.1

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by Acorn, Jan 9, 2008.

  1. Acorn

    Acorn Notebook Evangelist

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    Anyone know if directx 10 cards will be compatible with directx 10.1?
     
    Acorn, Jan 9, 2008
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  2. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    No, but DX10.1 doesn't really feature anything new. Will mostly be used for X360 ports, and will run under DX10.0

    In the menu:
    Xaudio2 support
    Mandatory 4xAA
    Mandatory 32bits floating point (optional in DX10.0)

    So the only thing your DX10.0 card will miss is free 4xAA. Xaudio2 will requiere a compliant soundcard anyway
     
    JCMS, Jan 9, 2008
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  3. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    Yes, a DX10 card is compatible with DX10.1.
    Of course it won't be able to use the new 10.1 features, but it will be able to run a DX10.1 program just fine, as long as it doesn't make use of the new features.

    Works just the same way as a DX8 GPU in DX9 games. It's compatible in that it can run DX9 software, but it can't handle DX9-only features.

    What it means in practice is that it's very easy for developers to make a fallback for DX10 GPU's even though the game runs DX10.1.
     
    Jalf, Jan 9, 2008
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  4. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    But there is no DX10.1 only features :) Microsoft said all DX10.1 games will be DX10.0 backward compatible. "DX10.1 is an incremental update that allows for better control over image quality" hence mandatory 4xAA & 32bits floating point

    It's like DX9.0b and c. The Radeon 9k didn't support DX9.0C but it didn't change anything.
     
    JCMS, Jan 9, 2008
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  5. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    So there are new features. There are features developers can rely on DX10.1 hardware to have, while they can't be sure it is supported on DX10 hardware. And that means that if developers try to force, say, 4xAA, they may lock out DX10 hardware.

    Sure it did. It means the card couldn't run the 9.0C-only features.
    Of course, for the end-user, it didn't have much effect, because developers simply made a 9.0b-compatible fallback. In the same way, developers are sure to mae a 10.0 fallback for future games.
     
    Jalf, Jan 10, 2008
    #5