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When shopping or looking at specs for graphics card you will see the DirectX version that it supports (in my specific case the card supports 10). What I want to know is that when Microsoft released their new version 11, what would be stopping this card from performing at DX11 standards?
I would theorize that it is a matter of firmware on the actual graphics card itself, could this not be flashed to support the latest version? Or will this DX10 card support and run DX11 just fine, it is just the fact that Nvidia couldn't label it as such since DX11 wasn't out yet?
Anyone that has some good insight to this, let me know!
Edit: alright, if you downvote this thread or vote to have it closed... would you please explain why you think it is a 'stupid question'. I seriously am curious as to how or what the difference is between DX versions that would require a complete hardware change. GPU instruction sets are the same, the only difference in hardware is that the newer ones have faster VRAM, more stream processors, etc. So why can't a DX10 card be upgraded to support DX11?? Give me a reason.
1Oh, if that was only the case. . . – surfasb – 2011-07-29T03:17:43.807
From a conceptual standpoint, what would anybody that views this thread suggest would be required for hardware modifications to transition from a DX10 to DX11? The GPU and stream processors all have had the same or very similar instruction sets. And most expensive graphics cards these days have plenty of horse power that it would at least act as a mid-grade graphics card if updated to the next step up of DX versions – CenterOrbit – 2011-07-29T16:06:20.457
Note also, that historically games are behind the curve when it comes to DX versions. When a DX version is new (even up to a year after) the majority of software out there will not fully support/implement the new standards. When shopping, this is something to consider, since one often pays a premium for the cards that support the new standard. You should also look at performance of the cards in question, since some DX n cards are going to be crappier than dx n-1 cards – horatio – 2011-07-29T18:32:58.527