DX10 - Will current cards support with new drivers?

[Spectator]

I am probably being hopelessly optimistic, but will DX10 be supported with new drivers for the highline Radeon and NVidia cards? If not, I suspect trying to find a new dx10 highline card in August would be like trying to find an Xbox this past December.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Nope, the current cards do not have hardware support for some of the features called for in DX10 like a Geometry shader pipeline/stage, and the future cards will be far more progamable (like the unified model as an example).

So the current cards will work, but with reduced functionality (well their full functionality, reduced versus others) under DX10.

I suspect trying to find a new dx10 highline card in August would be...

Impossible, unless you're talking about August 2007. DX10 cards are unlikely to make an appearance before X-mas of this year, or more likely spring/summer of next year.

 

[Spectator]

Thanks for the response. So let me get this straight, Vista requires DX10, but the DX10 cards won't be out until next year. So will Vista work on DX9 cards with updated Drivers or will DX10 Cards be made available at launch, but with enough functionality to run Vista but not the high end features of DX10?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

So let me get this straight, Vista requires DX10,

Nope you got that backwards. Vista requires at the minimum (for extra effects) a DX9 card with 32MB, and Vista will be built around what has been commonly called DX9.0L, which is a subset of what was once WGF1.0., DX10 was the add-in like it is now and was also known as WGF2.0. Now the names are cacked so let's just stick to those. So DX9 is need for the 3D effect of Vista OS, but some future games will be built around DX10, and you NEED Vista to install DX10, not vice-versa, so while not integral to the OS or even basic gaming some future games may require it the way they do DX8/9 now.

but the DX10 cards won't be out until next year. So will Vista work on DX9 cards with updated Drivers or will DX10 Cards be made available at launch, but with enough functionality to run Vista but not the high end features of DX10?

DX10 will come AFTER Vistas launch and is not needed to run vista either in part or in whole. I suspect DX10 will launch closer to the winter/fall about 3+ months after Vista.