Something’s wrong with DirectX 10 gaming when even top end cards are struggling with the latest games.
With Crysis delivering a beating to everything ATi and Nvidia can throw at it, it seems like today's top-end games might be out of reach for casual players.
The latest disappointment is ATi’s new Radeon HD 3870, which struggled to post strong frame rates in our tests under DirectX 10.
The 3870 struggled to keep up with Crysis, managing 21fps at 1280 x 1024 under DirectX 10. Results for Call of Juarez weren’t any better, at 21fps under medium detail settings.
We expect better results from AMD’s dual-GPU monster, the 3870 X2, but for people not willing to shell out the premium, there’s clearly a problem for anyone wanting to play the latest under DirectX 10.
Graphics card makers and game developers may be pushing the stunning visual possibilities of Vista’s Direct X 10 (and now Direct X 10.1), but the reality is the upgrade may not be worth it for everyone.
The problem is not that you can't afford a DirectX 10 capable card – you can find them for less than $200. But the card you'll need to get decent frame rates is expensive. And even then we’re not impressed with the results.
This situation will likely improve, and more game developers will take advantage of DirectX10’s features. Until then though, we’re urging caution on that $500 graphics upgrade you’ve been thinking about.
| |
DirectX 10 |
DirectX 9 |
| Cost |
Comes with Vista |
Comes with Windows XP |
| Why would you? |
Rather than fixed shader pipelines, DirectX 10 lets games assign resources as needed, as well as using the GPU for other processing tasks. That means that whatever your card needs, whether that be geometry, shading or detail, it will get all the processing power, providing 20% improvement in performance with DirectX 10 optimised games |
If you don’t care about the most modern or hyper-realistic gaming, then DirectX 9 will quietly get on with the business of display without getting in your way. It’ll run better on an older system, and for Games like Portal, above, it’s the bee’s knees. Additionally, DirectX 9 will run better with games that aren’t optimised for DirectX 10. |
| Why wouldn't you? |
Decent DirectX 10 cards are still pricey, and without one, your system may run like a snail. There also aren’t enough games yet to make it worthwhile. |
With DirectX 10 optimised games, a DirectX 9 card will not provide slick, gorgeous graphics; it’ll hog more resources, too. |
| So should you? |
If you’ve been waiting for Crysis, and you have a Vista system, shell out the bucks for a kick-ass graphics card. |
Stick with DirectX 9 until the majority of games are DirectX 10 – by that time, it’ll be cheap to upgrade. |