update directX?

[mb26]

if you have say a video card which supports upto Driect X 8, is there any point in updating the drivers to direct X 9?

[Doobie]

Originally Posted by mb26 if you have say a video card which supports upto Driect X 8, is there any point in updating the drivers to direct X 9?

yeah... Most games wont run unless you install the latest DirectX or the recommended version. So you really have no choice... If you want to play the game your gonna have to update DirectX.

[DragonNOA1]

I think DX9 will do the necessary calculations for the specific game but your vid card just won't be able to display them.

[mb26]

'I think DX9 will do the necessary calculations for the specific game but your vid card just won't be able to display them.'
so wouldn't that mean that it was just doing un-necessary calculations, slowing the game down? or does say a DX 9 game *require* DX9 drivers but would run (without DX9 improvements) on a DX8 vid card?

[DragonNOA1]

I thought you might say that. Let me try to clarify a little better.

Farcry has code paths for advanced DX functions and so requires DX9, whether you have the necessary DX9 card or not. Doing so allows you to upgrade your DX8 video card to DX9 and have the ability to jump right into the game quickly without having to worry about installing DX9.

And your second statement is right, it would run without DX9 improvements as your card is autodetected before hand and it features and limitations are know. If it is DX9 card, then it will take the DX9 code path in FarCry. If not, on to the DX8 path with no shaders and such.

Saying all this makes me want to play a game without updating DirectX. Maybe corruption or even a crash will occur. Hmm, time to play.

[Nuclear Krusader]

No crashes or corruption of any kind. The game will just refuse to run if you don't have the required version of DX installed.