Direct X 11 graphics cards

Well, the ATi DX 11 cards are already here and are fantastic. nVidia is joining the party sometime between Jan 26 and late April (We just know it's the first quarter of their next fiscal year).

If you already have a high end card from the ATi HD 4xxx or nVidia GTX 2xx series then I would wait on DX 11 for a while. It's almost never worth the investment going from high end to high end from one gen to the next right at launch unless you've got money to burn.

check out the uniengine (think thats the spelling) demo is a great demonstration of some of Dx 11 features improvements over Dx10

Okaaay, see what you mean lol! I wonder what cpu you'll need though to get that uniengine running at a decent speed? But I agree it's not worth upgrading from a more recent card.

Your average quad core or high end dual core won't have a problem with that DX 11 demo.

Only problems with cpus keeping up are when using CF with the 5870s, as the scaling isnt quite there yet, but better drivers coming in December should correct this.
If you notice, 5850 in CF scale nicely, but the 5870s dont do as well, points to cpu limitations, and needs a better MT driver

What about cryengine 3? That does look fantastic from what I've seen, but again I wonder what cpu will be needed to get it running well with a DX11 card. It's the same old story: yeah new all-powerful graphics cards, but only at their best with a top range cpu.

Actually, it all depends on coding from the dev and how well MT plays out in W7 and DX11 itself.
Its not all up to cpus anymore, as weve seen the boosts from MT drivers from both nVidia and ATI

I thought DX11 would be a software update anyhow? Yes, the new ATI cards are DX11 already--but didn't Microsoft announce that DX11 will be a software, not hardware, upgrade? If that is the case, wouldn't people be able to run DX11 on DX10 cards with proper drivers/updates? Maybe I missed something...and if I did, please educate me lol.

Some things brought in DX11 are exclusive, some arent, and from there its all up to your HW.
If its SM4 or SM 4.1, as DX11 is SM5

Ok, I figured as much. Only so much can be software related. Makes sense.

You might be thinking the Windows 7 / Vista issue.

Many people associate DX11 with Win 7 but DX11 is available for Vista as well.

But the hardware to run DX11 is currently limited to ATi's HD 5xxx series with nVidia set to release their own in their Q1 fiscal year (Jan 26th - May 25th).

I was just under the impression that DX11 would be made software-end so people with Vista or Win7 can simply get their hands on it. Hadn't put thought into the fact that you would not really be taking advantage of DX11's shader module, tessellation, etc without the new hardware  

It's been a common theme that with each new rendition of DirectX that new hardware would be required to take advantage of it.

This is the first one in a very long while that has been appropriated across more than 1 operating system.

Although DX10 was mostly skipped because of Vista's poor reviews and performances early on. Oh well. Skip DX10 and come play with DX11, meet you there  

See you on the battlefield, soldier.


DX11 is the TRUE successor to DX9.

FWIW, the DX11 demos look truly amazing. Got my 5850 installed and ran the Ladybug demo and Heaven Benchmark. Very very nice stuff.

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/Dirtdiver06/Dx...

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/Dirtdiver06/Dx...

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq139/Dirtdiver06/Dx...

Id point out that DX10 was gimped from the beginning, as nVidias DX10 cards werent totally compliant with the original DX10, thus later we had DX10.1.
That, the fact it went away from the norm, meaning we needed a new operating system, going against a OS thatd been around twice as long as any prior to it, the poor reception to Vista etc slowed the uptake of DX10/10.1 into the market.
Now, were back on track, with windows 8 set to release in 2012, or the common 3 years between OS'

Game manufacturers seemed to play it smart with DX10 (by skipping it lol) and producing DX9 games until DX11 was mainstream. I like the fact that there is finally something new coming out that is worth getting, and is not being completely *** on by not only users (both uneducated, unexperienced, and unworthy) but by media. It is true, Vista had it's issues upon release...but it is not the bastard child that it was made out to be. I personally did not mind Vista, especially Vista Ultimate 32 and 64. With any new OS you will run into bugs and glitches, but if you have a computer and you use it--expect to have problems with it! lol not everyone can fix these problems, and thus I have job security  

LOL true.
Its good to see W7s reception tho, and Vista compatibility for DX11, we need to move forwards, and according to steam, xp is about to lose its lead as the most used OS.
And, for those that dont know, steam has over 70% of the market, so those numbers count big time

Steam makes me so mad sometimes lol. I wish steam would make better updates (like my 1080p resolution error with Win7 Ultimate 64.) They fixed it, but it took a few weeks of having to change my resolution to launch Counter Strike Source. Little things matter, but they have grown so rapidly that I think that idea is all but gone.

I think it will not be long before XP is phased out completely. Legacy machines  

JayDeeJohn, is the "e" on the end of "Stepchild" intentional under your avatar? It has been bugging my OCD mind for the last few weeks lol. Wondered if you did that on purpose to irritate me, or if you just slipped and hit "e" rather than "d" and no one had pointed it out yet? hahaha

I agree viper. This has influenced my decision not to upgrade to the 5 series cards. I now can now buy something else with my newegg gift certificate(s) for X-mas this year. I will probably wait for second generation DX11 cards to come out to make a purchase since my corssfire 4850's can max pretty much any game I play at 1680x1050.

With the money saved you can probably get yourself into an LGA 1156 board and an i5 or i7 cpu Cappster  

Don't tempt me dirtdiver :-) I would like to, but I am satisfied with my system at the moment. Not to mention I don't want to reinstall my OS's and all of the games that I have on them. Maybe a 1920x1080 monitor that will put the squeeze on my current config, but I would really like a new plasma or lcd tv.

If you do get a plasma TV, make sure it has burn in image protection features. They aren't full proof as burn in can still happen but it does extend the time required before it does.

If you have downloaded your games from steam, you can just backup the .gcf files over to an external drive and slide them back over after you install Win7 from a thumb drive in about 20 minutes... tempts more..  

Stop the Madness! I have a problem keeping my hand from my wallet! I do have to say that between the state of my computer and tv, the tv is in need of an upgrade more than my system does. The deals from the site that Tom's advertises on the home page are killing me too.

/whispers "black friday, buy a new new tv...it is good for the economy...buy things...don't tell the old lady...upgrade your PC...buy things.."  

And to make matters worse is I just got a $600 dollar check from my mortgage company for overpayment on my escrow. Oh and I don't have an old lady so I only have to listen to myself   . Thank you, dirtdiver, for being the little devil sitting on my shoulder pushing me to buy some cool new gadgets. I may be watching my Redskins lose in HD for the rest of the year very soon.  

Its just a slur of the language, meaning stepchild.
It just accentuates the red headed stepchild thing

^ Gotcha! Wasn't sure, but I get it now.

Thought you were just tryin to aggravate us OCD'ers