Hi,
I was interested in knowing if anyone knew when DirectX10 would be realeased. If DirexX10 is going to be realeased sometime soon then my questions below will be relevent, or else they may be too premature:

1) Does it make sense to wait to upgrade my computer after DX10 is realeased? When I buy my next mb it will have onboard graphics as well as an pcie slot. All the current onboard graphics chips are Dx9 compatable. Does it make sense to buy a m/b after Dx10 is realeased so that my onboard graphics chis is Dx10 compatable. Same also for the onboard sound card. I can get a Dx10 soundcard with my m/b rather than a Dx9 sound card.

2) When DirectX9 was launched, companies like nvidia and ati launched some entry level budget cards like Fx5200. Similarly, when Dx10 is released nvidia will launch some entry level budged cards which are fully Dx10 compatable. Do you think these Dx10 cards will be able to run Dx9 games like Fear and NFS-MW decently?

Thanks to all, and for those who helped me out with my previous post, the card has finally been delivered to Taiwan, but havent got confirmation from AOpen yet.

Sarosh

1) no

2) yes

Why don't you just upgrade your video card? Perhaps get a 6600GT agp or x1600pro agp? I got one yesterday for $59.99 MSI 6600GT AGP...

TMP-Man

Asus P5P800-SE
P4 506 @ 4100Mhz 1.525v
Thermaltake CLP0024 w/ 2000RPM FAN + AS5
1GB Corsair 2-3-3-5 DDR400
40GB 5400RPM/120GB 7200RPM HD
Radoen 9500 mod 9700 @ 375/600 CHS+RHS

LOL! That's funny! TMP-Man, you've gotta read this:

http://www.computing.net/gaming/wwwboard/forum/7040.html

Hey, can you tell me from where you brought that 6600GT for 60$.
I would buy that anyday if anyone would volunteer to buy it for me and send it to india. I will pay you for the card and all the shipping and everything? Is anyone willing to help me out?

Sarosh

Hi,
Does anyone know an approximate date when Dx10 will be out? Is it going to be a few months or few years? Is Windows Vista going to support Dx10?
Also, when Dx10 will be realeased will the new cpus have some extra instruction sets to run games faster on Dx10?

Sarosh

A. DirectX10 will be at this point Vista only.

B. DX10 is an entire rewrite from the ground up.

C. Because of that, Vista has a DX9 subsystem that interfaces with DX10 to allow games using previous versions of DX to work.

That should clear some things up.

"When I buy my next mb it will have onboard graphics as well as an pcie slot."

Why?! Onboard graphics cards have always sucked, so if you know you're gonna put something in aftermarket, just get a mobo without onboard video. In most if not all cases, those motherboards are better, too!

"Does it make sense to buy a m/b after Dx10 is realeased so that my onboard graphics chis is Dx10 compatable."

No, see above.

"Same also for the onboard sound card."

Soundcards should be DX10 compatible already. The reality is the aftermarket soundcard for all intents and purposes is dead and insignificant. The vast majority of people are running AC97 onboard sound cards or similar, so DX10 I assure you will be compatible with those. Otherwise DX10 wouldn't be compatible with the vast majority of soundcards on the market.

"when Dx10 is released nvidia will launch some entry level budged cards which are fully Dx10 compatable. Do you think these Dx10 cards will be able to run Dx9 games like Fear and NFS-MW decently?"

Probably not. Take the FX5200 as a prime example. Technically, it was a fully compliant DX9 video card. However, it had little horsepower due to lack of memory bandwidth and low GPU/memory clock. It had a pretty hard time running the DX9 games out at that time, namely Halo. It also had a bit of issues playing graphically intense games that were DX8, too, although most it could play. It's why people like me who had GF4 based video cards didn't bother upgrading to it, or when we did, we jumped up to cards that actually were major improvements (for me, a Radeon 9800). "Decently" however is an opinion depending on your expectations.

Also, take into account that DX9 games will run in Vista under a wrapper that translates into DX10. That will take additional horsepower to do, although probably on the CPU.

DX10's claim to fame isn't in the end going to be from new graphics effects DX9 had. DX10 will however be revolutionary because of it's efficiency improvements from the rewrite. But if games aren't DX10, such as FEAR, they'll run just as they did except for a tad worse from the wrapper, and brute stength will reign as the determining factor on whether or not the game runs decently. You can't expect the typical $50-75 card of next year to have much brute force in memory bandwidth and GPU/memory clock. While they'll run FEAR, it still won't be 1024x768 with many graphics features turned on.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina!

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Thanks a lot, I apprecate your help.
I am feeling very tempted to upgrade my entire system just to get some better gaming out of it, although my current system is totally sufficient for my work purposes. I am very undecissive about what hardware to buy and when to buy it and can never make up my mind.
Thanks a lot for your answer.
I thought that most people would definitely prefer a m/b with an onboard graphics as well because that why they will atleast be able to use their computer even if their graphics cards goes dead or something.
Another reason I want to upgrade soon is that because I am thinking that if I dont buy a new m/b soon then I wont find a m/b to which I can connect my current 160GB ata ide hard disk, and I am not sure how successfull I will be in transfering all the data from my current hard disk to the new hard disk.

Sarosh

"I am feeling very tempted to upgrade my entire system just to get some better gaming out of it, although my current system is totally sufficient for my work purposes. I am very undecissive about what hardware to buy and when to buy it and can never make up my mind."

You waited this long, so just hang tight for the CPU price wars to get going. Jump to a new motherboard, CPU, and graphics card at the same time. This allows you jump to PCI-e. You may also choose to go with a motherboard that supports DDR2 as well, although you'll obviously need new RAM if that's the case at the same time.

"I thought that most people would definitely prefer a m/b with an onboard graphics as well because that why they will atleast be able to use their computer even if their graphics cards goes dead or something."

That would be the case if...

A. Video cards died often enough to make this useful.
B. Motherboards with integrated graphics performed as well as motherboards without them while providing the same features otherwise.

But that's not the case. Video cards rarely die. Motherboards with integrated video aren't nearly as good and typically don't have as many features otherwise. And if you're that worried, pick up a cheapo PCI-e card for emergencies, but I honestly wouldn't bother.

"Another reason I want to upgrade soon is that because I am thinking that if I dont buy a new m/b soon then I wont find a m/b to which I can connect my current 160GB ata ide hard disk..."

#1. IDE isn't going away anytime soon from motherboards. Most optical drives are still IDE. ISA was barely used for a long time, and those slots were still being put on some Athlon XP motherboards!
#2. Even if they did go away...

http://www.computercablesource.com/detail.aspx?ID=344

(Newegg is down at the moment...)

"Milk was a bad choice!"

"I am very undecissive about what hardware to buy and when to buy it and can never make up my mind"

That's an understatement...lol!

Don't run out & buy another video card until you find out what's gonna happen with your old one. You've already spent WAY too much money on this fiasco. Your board has onboard video, I don't understand why you didn't just go with it in the meantime instead of buying another FX5200? And now you're asking about another 6600GT? I warned you that the RMA process would take several weeks...you've got to learn to be more patient. Do yourself a favor & do NOT waste anymore money on this system!

"LOL! That's funny! TMP-Man, you've gotta read this: http://www.computing.net/gaming/wwwboard/forum/7040.html"

Oh lol, I didn't realize that =P

Where I got the 59.99 6600GT AGP from is below.. However, after I order it, turns out to be sold out =/

http://www.pcclub.com/clearance_details.cfm?itemno=A9654991

TMP-Man

Asus P5P800-SE
P4 506 @ 4100Mhz 1.525v
Thermaltake CLP0024 w/ 2000RPM FAN + AS5
1GB Corsair 2-3-3-5 DDR400
40GB 5400RPM/120GB 7200RPM HD
Radoen 9500 mod 9700 @ 375/600 CHS+RHS

My board has an s3(or s4) savageg graphics chip. And I would really loved if that chip would have sufficed, but I could not work in photoshop in that chip. I used it for a day and got totally frustrated. I could not even move text boxes around freely, switching from photoshop to word would take me 3 seconds. That onboard chip was just not letting me work efficiently, and I ended up frustrated and decided to go out and buy the cheapest card that I could that would let me work efficiently.
Its hard for me to not have the 6600GT, I would enjoy games like fear, nfsmw, ss2 in between my breaks.
The firt time I ran fear on the fx5200 it looked so bad that I got nostalgic tears in my eyes, thinking of the 6600GT and what I lost.
Jam, the card has reached aopen, I think they will reply to my email on monday. I will let you know.

Sarosh

My eyes hurt... my ears hurt... my brain hurts after reading both of rosh's threads.

"My board has an s3(or s4) savageg graphics chip. And I would really loved if that chip would have sufficed, but I could not work in photoshop in that chip."

Hence why I said onboard mobo GPU's suck, and why would you ever want to use one?

And why in the heck would you buy an FX5200 after running a 6600GT?! That's like running an Athlon 64 and going back to a P3. EEKS!

"Milk was a bad choice!"

LOL...just read the other thread...wow...

"Milk was a bad choice!"

Haha,
Yea dudes, Its one crazy ride.
Soemtimes I feel like just going to the nearest hardware chap near me and pick up the xfx 6600GT, but then I remember jam's words and try to control my self.

And yea dude plyduster, it was an extremely painfull sight to see the way nfs-mw and fear ran on the fx5200 after having the 6600GT for few months. It looks so bad, I am afraid to play games any more, I only play online chess as recreation.

Sarosh