How much of a difference?

Here's a better picture that will really show you the difference between the two:
 
There won't be a very large difference between DX8 and DX9, and in the majority of areas you couldn't tell at all. But when you get to wet and generally reflective areas like that tech demo map you could tell them apart better than in that pic.
 
hehe those just look like different colour dots made in paint or something, anyway thanks for the info
 
Originally posted by mortiz
hehe those just look like different colour dots made in paint or something, anyway thanks for the info
Click to expand...


WhAT?! Man something must be wrong with ur PC. Its a naked picture of Alyx...
 
There is not a difference in visual quality, just a large difference in the quality of special effects and certain ones that can be performed, e.g specular bumpmapping.

Those shots are just shite.
 
from what I understand dx9 can do the same thing dx8 can do but it can do it much faster and it can also do a few extra things.
 
They've probably chosen the worst part of the video to compare the two.

You would notice some difference went you are playing, particularly with Character Bump maps.
 
Look at the water near the big stone. you can the reflection increases with the latest dx version.
 
So it gives you a lot, reflection= realistic image
 
Who is that person in your avatar? It looks like Adam Corolla.
 
its arrrrrnuld
btw, the diff between dx8 and dx9 isnt very much, at least for me (I would never notice any of that when an antlion guard or a strider charges at me :cool: ).
 
Well if you have a directx 8 card it's not worth the hassle, but if you have a directx 7 card you definitly want to upgrade to see all teh pretty effects.

I think it's arnold swarteseneggireorreger (sp!?).
 
Yea, I don't really wanna fork out 200 - 300 quid for a DX9 card for a few extra pretty effects, it's all rather superficial in the end, if the game play stinks (which hopefully it shouldn't) see how far good graphics gets you! (and graphics can get old pretty fast)
 
wow, those comparisons suck; if the game runs well with good settings then I won't upgrade; but if it does, the most I'll do is go from a 1600+ to a 2400+ for $70 so I'm not bottlenecking the 8500
 
You can see a fair bit of a difference by looking at the reflection of the rock in the water.
 
I'm runnin on a DX8 card. A Geforce 4 MX 440. When Xmas comes around,I'm getting a brand new PC. It'll still be a DX 8 card though,I picked the GF4 TI 4600 over the FX 5200.
 
After reading those benchmarks, I'm glad I bought my Geforce 4 TI4600 when I did! (I got it cheap too!, late last year). By the looks of it, DX8.1 (ie on a ti4600) doesn't look much different to dx9, and the performance of the 4600 was quite good on those benchmarks. I'm happy, no spending huge money on a new card for me.
 
Originally posted by )[eVo]( Para
Here's a better picture that will really show you the difference between the two:
Click to expand...

omg the dx9 colors are so alive! look at the pixel shading, the AA, its so real!
 
Strange thing is that I have a Radeon 9000 pro and in my DirectX Diagnosis it says Directx 9.0
 
Originally posted by cyborgguineapig
Strange thing is that I have a Radeon 9000 pro and in my DirectX Diagnosis it says Directx 9.0
Click to expand...
Maybe because its DirectX 9.0 you have installed? :)
 
ya i have a 8500 and now im torn whether to wait for 9900 pro or get 9800 pro
 
DirectX 9 has:

Adaptive tessellation
"Gamma aware" and Multielement texures
Multiple render targets
Single-pixel-wide antialiased lines
Single pass shadow volumes

etc. And of course the High Dynamic Rendering shown off in the video. Candy. Also supposed to have better multi-monitor support, if you're into that sort of thing.

Whether Half-Life 2 uses everything I don't know, but it's probably safe to say most...
 
Hippy here are the essential DX9 features:

-Smarthshader 2.1: pixelshaders 2.0 vertex shaders 2.0
-Truform 2.0: displacement mapping
-Smoothvision 2.1
 
Originally posted by Solid_Raiden
I'm runnin on a DX8 card. A Geforce 4 MX 440. When Xmas comes around,I'm getting a brand new PC. It'll still be a DX 8 card though,I picked the GF4 TI 4600 over the FX 5200.
Click to expand...

The GF4 MX is DX7 as far is I know, and buying the ti4600 is a big mistake, buy a 9700np for just a little more.
 
The big difference between DX8 and 9 is that ATI owners will champion DX9 whilst Nvidia owners will champion DX8 knowing that its inferior.

I like to move forward in life not sit there like my dad claiming that life was better in his day.
 
Originally posted by scribblehead
no its dx8
Click to expand...

the GF 4MX card is a DX8 card with all its main features stripped out to make it cheap. In essense its a DX7 card. It has no pixel shader technology in it. I know, i just dumped one for a 9800np
 
Originally posted by TechnoHippyChic
DirectX 9 has:

Adaptive tessellation
"Gamma aware" and Multielement texures
Multiple render targets
Single-pixel-wide antialiased lines
Single pass shadow volumes

etc. And of course the High Dynamic Rendering shown off in the video. Candy. Also supposed to have better multi-monitor support, if you're into that sort of thing.

Whether Half-Life 2 uses everything I don't know, but it's probably safe to say most...
Click to expand...

Hl2(source engine atleast) is a FULL DX9 game.


In other words.....if microsoft says its part of DX9.....source is capabe of doing it.
 
Guys Iam getting 9800XT, (why?)

OK this is why, you have a big game to play its not only water and roks, the game has windows, sky, Lighting Effects, buildings, Models, bump mapping tech+ HDR, it has the strider beam effect, also it has very colourfull aliens. ALL this and more of new things to come, need the latest technology you use to enable the above.

ATI card got DX9.0 tech while Nvidia got DX8.X. So it is very clear. If you like to live in a world full of the eyecandy texture get ATI. DX8.X lack of lighting and deep reflection(always remember that).
 
Originally posted by G0rgon
Guys Iam getting 9800XT, (why?)

OK this is why, you have a big game to play its not only water and roks, the game has windows, sky, Lighting Effects, buildings, Models, bump mapping tech+ HDR, it has the strider beam effect, also it has very colourfull aliens. ALL this and more of new things to come, need the latest technology you use to enable the above.

ATI card got DX9.0 tech while Nvidia got DX8.X. So it is very clear. If you like to live in a world full of the eyecandy texture get ATI. DX8.X lack of lighting and deep reflection(always remember that).
Click to expand...

even though all the demos, movies and benchmarks have run perfectly well on a 9800 for half the cost. can you send me some money :)
 
OK this is why, you have a big game to play its not only water and roks, the game has windows, sky, Lighting Effects, buildings, Models, bump mapping tech+ HDR, it has the strider beam effect, also it has very colourfull aliens. ALL this and more of new things to come, need the latest technology you use to enable the above.
Click to expand...

Nearly all of the above can be rendered by a DX8 card, just.. differently I guess.
 
Originally posted by mortiz
Nearly all of the above can be rendered by a DX8 card, just.. differently I guess.
Click to expand...

I take it that you've got a Nvidia card?
 
Originally posted by mortiz
Nearly all of the above can be rendered by a DX8 card, just.. differently I guess.
Click to expand...
HDR isnt DX8.

But yes, very much can be done in DX8. Maybe 60-70%. But you CANNOT use them at full detail, cause ALL DX8 cards are basicly to slow for it... But depends on the scene very much, how Valve has designed the maps.

http://www.planetdescent.com/lyris/hl2_mpc.html for anyone interested, it has been mentioned so many times before...
 
Originally posted by dawdler
http://www.planetdescent.com/lyris/hl2_mpc.html for anyone interested, it has been mentioned so many times before...
Click to expand...
That's a good read! It's comforting to know that even if I'm running in DX8 mode, I still get to see some sort of reflective, rippling water. I was affraid this feature was DX9-only, but apparently it only looks better in DX9.
 
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