Lack of comprehension? DX9

[brokenjago]

Lack of comprehension?

Recently, I have noticed a lack of comprehension among the masses when it comes to the difference between having Direct X 9 (DX9) installed and having a card that supports it. Why, just the other day I was talking to an acquaintance who insisted that Halo was a DX9 app because it required DX9 to be installed, and because it ran beautifuly on his computer, he assumed his GeForce 4 MX 440 was a DX9 card. This was not the only time, it has popped up with several people.

I tried to explain to him that just because the game requires DX9 doesn't mean it uses DX9's most important features (i.e Pixel Shaders, High Dynamic Range Rendering, etc.)

Has anybody else noticed this phenomenon? I was just wondering, because the second this game comes out I think there'll be a whole bunch of people asking "I have DX9 installed, why doesnt my copy look as good as the E3 vids?!?!"

Post your thoughts.

 

[Asus]

Yes, that is a very common misconception.
Too many people mistake hardware which supporting DX9 features with DX9 installed on their PC.
Though, I'm not sure there will be a lot of people saying ""I have DX9 installed, why doesnt my copy look as good as the E3 vids?!?!".

 

[brokenjago]

Good point, good point. I was just wondering if anyone has a good way of explaining the difference? I'm not good at explaining certain things, and this is one of them.

 

[Asus]

Well, a DX9 required program needs to know how to talk to the graphics card in DX9.
That is why you install DX9.
How you get the features though is through the hardware rendering and proccessing the graphics to display as it is told from the program with DX9 installed.
That is the easiest way I know how to explain it.

 

[Top Secret]

Think of it this way:

You own a Honda Civic (GeForce 2) and the 'new thing' now is that all roads will be off-road. So, you upgrade your tires to off-road tires (Direct X 9). Now, your Civic may be able to drive on the dirt roads now, but it is certainly no 4x4 Hummer (ATI 9800 XT) which is designed for off-roading. (Direct X 9)

:afro:

 

[brokenjago]

Think of it this way:

You own a Honda Civic (GeForce 2) and the 'new thing' now is that all roads will be off-road. So, you upgrade your tires to off-road tires (Direct X 9). Now, your Civic may be able to drive on the dirt roads now, but it is certainly no 4x4 Hummer (ATI 9800 XT) which is designed for off-roading. (Direct X 9)

:afro:

Hah, I like that methaphor, now I can explain it to all my friends who love cars.

lol
:thumbs:

Keep up the good work people

 

[The Terminator]

Think of it this way:

You own a Honda Civic (GeForce 2) and the 'new thing' now is that all roads will be off-road. So, you upgrade your tires to off-road tires (Direct X 9). Now, your Civic may be able to drive on the dirt roads now, but it is certainly no 4x4 Hummer (ATI 9800 XT) which is designed for off-roading. (Direct X 9)

:afro:

Nice one.

10 char limit

 

[Triggerhappy41]

Indeed, many computer illiterates will be confused.

If your card was made back in the day of directx8, it will be a fully compatible dirextx8 card and will be able to run all directx8 games with full features on. Its all good, for now.

However, when u install directx9, the new directx9 games will use directx9 to communicate with ur graphics card, and all will be well, except for the fact that it wont look as good or run as fast, and it wont be able to use certain 'directx9 ONLY features'

Installing directx9 doesnt make ur graphics card "better", it only allows the card to be able to run that particular game. The only way to have full features on a directx9 game is to buy a current directx9 card.

Hope that helps.

 

[Sp00fman]

sure there are people who make this mistake, but who cares.
a friend of mine was running all sorts of games in software modus, but he diddnt complain.
I also speak alot op folks that don't even know which windows version they have so they shout " Office XP!!"

i mean, omg. ppl must be forced to get a drivers license for pc's before someone touches a computer.

you don't know how many stupid ppl your coutry is holding until you work at a helpdesk for a while.

 

[mrchimp]

I avoid talking about computers to people who don't know how to use them, otherwise i get into really stupid arguments about why a GeForce FX is a bad choice or I end up helping them fix something.

 

[Xenome]

And the bad thing about this is that those people often don't WANT to be convinced.

 

[koopa]

Recently, I have noticed a lack of comprehension among the masses when it comes to the difference between having Direct X 9 (DX9) installed and having a card that supports it. Why, just the other day I was talking to an acquaintance who insisted that Halo was a DX9 app because it required DX9 to be installed, and because it ran beautifuly on his computer, he assumed his GeForce 4 MX 440 was a DX9 card. This was not the only time, it has popped up with several people.

This is Microsoft's fault, really - there definitely needs to be better terminology here. Assuming that installing DirectX9 gives you DX9 features is quite a reasonable assumption, so it's a mistake a lot of people are going to make. It should hopefully be better with the next DX release.

 

[brokenjago]

You know, koopa, that IS a valid point. And sp00fman, I myself know EXACTLY what you mean (I was once a type of technical support person thingie).

 

[Asus]

I read the requirements on the box for a few games today and some say for the GFX card to support DX9 and others say to have DX9 installed. So some are saying it right and others are not.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

good thread, and the first two posts are very well put...

i have a friend that doesn't understand this very same thing as well..its almost like discussing something that doesn't matter because his mind is already made on the topic..

i did point him to the Ati website and told him to look at the specifications listed.. and then he somewhat agreed with me.. but still had his view on his Ati 8500 being a DX9 card.. :|

Think of it this way:

You own a Honda Civic (GeForce 2) and the 'new thing' now is that all roads will be off-road. So, you upgrade your tires to off-road tires (Direct X 9). Now, your Civic may be able to drive on the dirt roads now, but it is certainly no 4x4 Hummer (ATI 9800 XT) which is designed for off-roading. (Direct X 9)

:afro:

i like ur analogy... maybe i'll try that with him.. :farmer:

 

[FictiousWill]

Just out of curiosity, is the Halo Elite invisibility warped-light effect a DX9 shader, or just an X-box hardware hack (i.e. not on PC at all)? I run Halo on an 8.1 card, so I don't know. The invisibility effect just comes out as transparency.

 

[mrchimp]

It could be done on DX8.1

 

[jonbob]

Has anyone noticed how the flashlight doesn't work properly with Radeon cards - my 9800 Pro has a hard edge while my GF4 4600 does it correctly

 

[_-_-SELAS-_-_]

Does a Geforce ti 4600 support dx 8.1 or only 8? Or are DX8.1 just a error correction?