DX8 versus DX9

[jet jaguar]

How will HL2 look like utilizing DX8 features versus DX9 features? What kinds of effects will it lack in comparison? I'm just asking because I'll probably have to play HL2 with a Geforce 5200 until I've got money saved up for an ATI x800.

 

[crabcakes66]

I remember there being a feature chart showing what you would and wouldnt see with the differant DX versions.....

Ill see if i can find it.

 

[Letters]

Isn't the 5200 DX9?

 

[blahblahblah]

Isn't the 5200 DX9?

yes, but it isn't fast enough to run DX9 features.

 

[urseus]

Is 9800 pro?


Hope to see that chart and some screenshot comparisons...

 

[Jadewolf5675]

Is 9800 pro?


Hope to see that chart and some screenshot comparisons...

9800 Pro would be fine yeah

 

[Asus]

I remember there being a feature chart showing what you would and wouldnt see with the differant DX versions.....

Ill see if i can find it.

Surely you mean this link.
Link

 

[ScopeD]

You won't see Gordon with DX8.

 

[iamaelephant]

Depends how much of a graphics fiend you are. I dont really notice the difference at all, except in certain areas like water, steam, etc. Some people will be able to spot the difference easy.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Surely you mean this link.
Link

thanks Asus
i was looking for something like this.. hmm.. i am aware that the 9600 Pro is a DX9 card.. but wondering how limited it will be..

 

[crabcakes66]

Surely you mean this link.
Link

Yeah that one.


Thx

 

[Crusader]

Valve said it is their target for people to be able to play with everything maxed on a Radeon 9600, I believe.

 

[jonnyapps]

thanks Asus
i was looking for something like this.. hmm.. i am aware that the 9600 Pro is a DX9 card.. but wondering how limited it will be..

nah 9600xt bombs along in anything on my 2600+ rig. If it doesn't handle hl2 perfectly i'll scream

(and buy perfectly i dont mean omigoshz si g0t teh 200fps, i just want more fps than the eye can see i.e. 30)

edit - when i said it bombs along i was not referring to the hl2 leak, i mean farcry etc)

 

[MultiVaC]

Yeah, my system is similar and run very well in all my games (Except for the Thief 3 demo which uses a remarkably shitty-coded engine). So I'm expecting a 9600 to do well in HL2 and DX9 in general.

 

[Apos]

I remember around the "shader day" event they actually released two screenshots to show that the DX8 and DX9 versions didn't look all that different. The shots were green, mostly of water and rock walls. Anyone remember this or know where to find them?

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Valve said it is their target for people to be able to play with everything maxed on a Radeon 9600, I believe.

hmm.. really?
sorry if i sound skeptical.. just that CZ gives me fps drops down to 12.. and when i see that.. i cringe thinking HL2 will be that much more demanding.. :|

 

[Crusader]

12 fps? On a radeon 9600? I think you have your configuration wrong, or a poor processor. A friend plays it with a geforce 2/3 and gets constant max fps.


Edit: Yeah, I remember those comparison shots, I thought they were to show how MUCH of a difference there was, not how little. Though I could not really see so much a difference myself, other than the refraction on the water not looking as good.

 

[jonnyapps]

I remember around the "shader day" event they actually released two screenshots to show that the DX8 and DX9 versions didn't look all that different. The shots were green, mostly of water and rock walls. Anyone remember this or know where to find them?

i remember it - think i saw it on computerandvideogames.com as an animated gif but that was ages ago and yeah there's hardly any difference between the pics although i think in action the difference would be more obvious. as far as i know those stills are from the e32k3 demo

 

[SidewinderX]

I remember around the "shader day" event they actually released two screenshots to show that the DX8 and DX9 versions didn't look all that different. The shots were green, mostly of water and rock walls. Anyone remember this or know where to find them?

yeha, i was jsut looking for those shots. couldn't find them though

 

[lePobz]

Hopefully I should have my X800 XT Platinum in a few weeks, so i'll be saying goodbye to my loyal trusty 9800pro. Then we'll see how 'maxxed out' Half-Life 2 can go

As far as water + reflection effects go, there is little difference between DX8 and DX9 renders of the scene, but where you've got specific materials (like the big spinning pannels in the techdemo) you will see a big difference between the DX8 and DX9 renders.

Hopefully Valve will release these techdemo maps with the full game so you will be able to load them up from the console... I wouldn't want to spend ages running round the game to find my eyecandy.

 

[PvtRyan]

I remember around the "shader day" event they actually released two screenshots to show that the DX8 and DX9 versions didn't look all that different. The shots were green, mostly of water and rock walls. Anyone remember this or know where to find them?

Yes, but that was just water, not exactly the entire game. The things that you will miss most are soft shadowing (in DX8 you'll be stuck with ugly hard edge shadows) and character bumpmapping (a lot of monsters will be normal mapped it seems, which you will then miss). And it's not certain HDR will be in the game, but if it's in there, it's a pretty big miss when you have DX8. And even if it's not in there from the release, it will be added later on.
And I also recall Gabe saying something about improved FSAA in DX9 mode, but I'm not sure about it.

 

[Willber123]

are these the pictures you were looking for?

Half-life2

jsut press next to see the dx 9 picture

 

[jet jaguar]

Thanks. I should be ok with the system I plan on getting.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

12 fps? On a radeon 9600? I think you have your configuration wrong, or a poor processor. A friend plays it with a geforce 2/3 and gets constant max fps.

my processor is Athlon XP 2500+ (1.8ghz)
i have 512 PC3200 DDR ram @400mhz

so is my processor really slowing down CZ? and ultimately will slow down HL2?

 

[blackeye]

i have 512 PC3200 DDR ram @400mhz

Im not expert but wouldnt your memory only run at 2700 speeds because of the type of cpu you got

 

[urseus]

Dammit all those links wont get thru my work firewall they have the word game in it.

 

[blackeye]

Dammit all those links wont get thru my work firewall they have the word game in it.

if your going through a proxy you can disable it and then view the webpages. Thats what i do at school so we can get to ebaumsworld.

 

[bosox188]

That link with the dx6-9 chart doesn't mention Geforce 4. I has Geforce 3 as dx8 and geforce fx as dx9 (my 5200 is defininetly not dx9). Geforce 4's are dx8, right? And btw, my 5200 doesn't have bump mapping or anything like, that, is there a way to turn it on or is the 5200 the only one without it in the fx series? Do Geforce 4's have bump mapping?

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Im not expert but wouldnt your memory only run at 2700 speeds because of the type of cpu you got

i don't know about that..

Asus? anyone?
anyone know about this?

 

[Asus]

Im not expert but wouldnt your memory only run at 2700 speeds because of the type of cpu you got

The CPU does not limit the speed of the memory.
The chipset on the motherboard would do that.
The early motherboards you could only run PC2700 on but they came out with chipsets that would allow PC3200.

You can see back in this old review (Link) they review DDR400 vs DDR333 with an AXP 2200+.

 

[psyno]

That link with the dx6-9 chart doesn't mention Geforce 4. I has Geforce 3 as dx8 and geforce fx as dx9 (my 5200 is defininetly not dx9). Geforce 4's are dx8, right? And btw, my 5200 doesn't have bump mapping or anything like, that, is there a way to turn it on or is the 5200 the only one without it in the fx series? Do Geforce 4's have bump mapping?

The GeForce2 supports bumb mapping. The GF4 Ti series is DX 8.1. Your FX 5200 is fully DX 9.0 compliant and definitely supports bumb mapping, even though it's very slow.

 

[Asus]

The GF4 Ti series is DX 8.1.

DirectX 8.0

 

[psyno]

Yes, 8.0, sorry. It's missing a couple 8.1 features.

 

[FictiousWill]

I thought my geforce4 ti4200 was an 8.1 card. It registers in all hardware scans as 8.1. Dxdiag says so too.

 

[Asus]

I thought my geforce4 ti4200 was an 8.1 card. It registers in all hardware scans as 8.1. Dxdiag says so too.

Well, DX8.1 is ATI's version you could say. GF3 and 4 are DX8.
Link
Simlar to Nvidia 6800's DX9.0c vs ATI's DX9.0b.

In the end it doesn't really matter at all.

 

[psyno]

You're probably just viewing which version of DX you have installed, or which your drivers support. GF4 Ti is largely just faster GF3 even as the ATi's X series is largely just faster 9 series.

 

[bosox188]

If my card supports bump mapping, then why do I not have it in the game? I would be able to tell, it definitely doesn't have it on the characters and I don't think anything else. Is there a way to turn it on? I have dx9.0b installed.