DirectX 10 Is it worth the upgrade to Vista?

[TriniXaeno]

For the uninitiated, DX10 supposedly offers the following:

1) Standardized Hardware Requirements
2) Les bottlenecks in game execution
3) Better shader effects
4) Unified GPU architecture

At the end of the day, that should spell higher frame rates and prettier special effects for John Doe Gamer.

That's the hype. What's the reality?

Been staving off the upgrade to Vista based on horrid reviews from the techies on GATT and  my fellow IT brethren in general.

Seeing that messiah runs Vista on the #1 gaming rig in GATT, it got me thinking, maybe I should give it a second look.

Came across this article

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_radeon_directx_10_performance_update/

Pretty impressive improvements from what I am seeing there.

Any other gamers on Vista? Curious to hear if the Directx 10 loving was worth running the botched OS? Or am I just falling for the marketing and PR pitch.

[W1nTry]

There is alot of hype surrrounding DX10 and the Unreal 3 engine proves that DX10 was premature and not altogether necessary. I am by no means saying it's not a good thing. Just that when you look at the level of graphics gorgeousness attainable on DX9 hardware using the U3 engine, it makes you wonder if we really needed DX10 yet. AND of course there is DX10.1 already.

Imho it's a marketing ploy for Vista which has seen HORRIBLE sales, and well again look at Gears of War or Unreal 3... how many DX10 games look as good as or better than that? Well?

[TriniXaeno]

lol, ms hype iwmc.

but w1n, some of the pictures in that article were pretty convincing, don't you think?

Also, in gears of war, I am seeing an option that can only be enabled on DX10. Not sure how much better that makes the game look. Hoping to hear from a GATTer whose seen both (the Dx9 gears and the DX10 gears).

[W1nTry]

The thing is there isn't much that has been done so far with DX10 that cannot be done with DX9. Take for instance, Halo 3 AND Gears f War were touted as DX10 games. However with a little registry magic, *poof* you could run Halo 3 with all the bells and whistles on WinXP O_O same for Gears of War. Hence why I say, it's all hype.

[TriniXaeno]

You mean Halo 2 right??

From what I've read, even existing games are being patched with DX10 features. Notably, Lost Planet and Company of Heroes.

Also, it's not just the eye candy but also supposedly improved frame rate with more of those visuals turned on.

Hope I'm not sounding like too much of an advocate as I haven't seen the difference in real life myself, only from those screenshots online.

[Spazosaurus]

The most significant improvement ive seen in the dx9 vs dx10 argument is in Crysis. There was definitely more attention to detail going on there but as w1n said, its nothing that could not have been done in dx9.

Also noob an important factor to consider is that dx9 rendering in Vista is markedly slower than in xp as evidenced by 3dmark 06 scores achieved on the same machine with the two os's installed. That just another indication that something in Vista is very wrong and will remain wrong perhaps until service pack 2 (unlikely but one can hope). Remember they said DX10 was supposed to be rendered faster than DX9. The exact opposite is what ended up happening.

Here you have a handful of games that look marginally better but running much slower than their dx9 codepath brethren. So you need double the hardware power to get certainly NOT anywhere NEAR double visual improvements.

If thats not a conspiracy I dont know what is. And its all parties involved (gpu makers, game developers and the voles) as the resultant overhype drums up more sales for all involved. So everyone wins, except us. I guess we do have a small victory next to our names in that their dx10 code is so unoptimized that the power of the hardware needed to run it runs dx9 like a dream.



 

[Arcmanov]

I have tried Vista, and it is just one big headache.  Now...just imagine fighting with a less than stellar (my opinion)
OS and then on top of that, getting problems to run a particular game.....?

**sigh**

For me, it aint worth the stress.  Micro$haft should pay me to use 'Windows ME II'.

[TriniXaeno]

hmm, well that puts a good and proper rain on the DX10 parade.

What about getting the best of both worlds by dual booting? Run your dx9 native titles in winxp but dual boot Vista to run the few dx10 enhanced games out there.

win win? (no pun intended)

I get the feeling that when it comes to Microsoft + Hardware manufacturers vs the consumer, that the consumer loses. In which case, the move to Vista is inevitable.

Or is a wait for Windows 7 (sometime in 2010 at best) practical?

[Spazosaurus]

Of course that is the best way. like it or not Vista IS unfortunately the future. As techies we're all gonna have to face the dreadful task of dealing with it, might as well start now. Ive got XP and Vista in dual booting config right now.

[TriniXaeno]

nice.

Got XP on my current beast, simple enough to throw in a Vista install without FUBAR-ing the XP?

[Arcmanov]

Well, kinda.  I learned the hard way that you cannot store any files you need on that Vista partition.

If you have to delete the Vista installation, there are some system files that you CANNNOT DELETE because
the file permissions are in effect 'owned' by the system, and not the Administrator. 
To get rid of them totally, you have to FORMAT said partition. 

It might seem like a poor example, but its just one of the many little 'headaches' I encountered.

While I do like the interface, and Vista's networking code is vastly superior to XP, I see no pressing need to upgrade just yet.
Everything 'just works' on XP just how I like/want it.  If it aint broke...don't fix it, right.

[Spazosaurus]

^^ Yea he did not lie there.

Its easy enough to throw on Vista as long as you have another hard drive or another partition on that one hard drive. Of course you can format a partition what has an existing window installation without "fubaring" it but you have to have sufficient free space on it.

[Nephilim]

aint broke...don't fix

nuff said

[W1nTry]

Vista though being forced on us is not necessarily the way we'll ultimately go. Windows 7 has been pushed forward... and I mean if BILL the PWNAGE Gates has a "no comment" response on what he thinks about Vista, then who are us mere plebs? Oh 1 more thing:

Developers shun Vista

Coders adopt wait and see approach

By Stewart Meagher: Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 9:25 AM

JUST EIGHT PER CENT of US software developers have made the move to Vista as a coding platform according to a survey published by the Evans Data Corporation (EDC).

"Developers have taken a wait and see approach to Vista", said John Andrews, Evans Data’s President and CEO. "The new operating system has had more than its share of problems and the desire to move from XP on the Windows platform is still lagging - that coupled with interest in alternative operating systems is suppressing development activity and that in turn will further erode Vista’s acceptance."

And even the future looks bleak for the much maligned OS. EDC reports that just 24 per cent of developers expect to take up the challenge of coding for the broken OS by 2009.

Those intending to stick with older versions of Windows, including XP (29 per cent), make up 43 per cent of those surveyed whilst 15 per cent will be targeting Linux.

Not very encouraging when your developers don't want to touch it with a ten foot poll... so what games will run on that broken OS just outta curiousity?

http://www.evansdata.com/

[TriniXaeno]

and who amongst us will stand for vista?? (crickets chirping)

This is a list of games with dx10 support, very meager fuh real. Only 22 titles as of this writing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_DirectX_10_support

[daniboy79]

i've can't ever remember seeing Linux being welcomed by the non-Linux user! and with the new UMPC's utilizing variations of Linux, microshaft have their work cut out!

they aren't getting my money to go down Vista Lane either.

[TriniXaeno]

hmm, ultra mobile PCs eh. Yeah, Windows Mobile sucks at present. Like mc Windows 3.1. Hopefully Windows 7 will offer a better mobile experience.

Well I think linux has it's work cut out for it when it comes to being a gaming platform.

It's great for everything else, but I've not met a gamer that sweats on a *nix rig.

[Philosophical45]

just reading the title... vista... direct x 10... gaming... worth it...


NO...

[Trinitus]

I was discussing this same thing with my parents the other night, dad was telling me, careful Gates and dem doh pull ah dooooosie on ppl and say " Here what well give DX 10 to XP users" O_O ok then.......... ah knw they have dem ratchifi kind ah thing going on out there so Imho the dual boot actualy seems like my best option. but I'll start with XP 1st though...

[Spazosaurus]

Nah the Volish mafia would never do that. That is tantamount to admitting failure on Vista. You've got a better chance of seeing hell freezing over.