AMD Sees Momentum Improving for DirectX 10.1

[Apoptosis]

Momentum for Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 Grows with Major Game Titles, Next-Generation 3D Game Engines, and Windows® 7 API

GSC Game World releases patch for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky to boost performance and enhance visual impact; Unigine launches DirectX 10.1 “Tropics” demo of its powerful 3D game engine; Microsoft unveils DirectX 10.1 API in Windows 7 WDM

Only AMD offers a full DirectX10.1-compatible lineup with the ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 and ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 Series of graphics cards

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Nov. 26, 2008 - Today, Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 graphics leader AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced expanded support for DirectX 10.1 from a number of developers, demonstrating growing momentum for the most advanced Microsoft graphics API Layer to date. GSC Game World released a DirectX 10.1 patch for their newest game title, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, bringing with it frame rate improvements of up to 10 percent while at the same time enhancing the visual experience of the game. On the heels of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky announcement, game engine developer Unigine Corp. announced the availability of Tropics, a downloadable demonstration of its Unigine game engine that showcases the ability to deliver photorealistic virtual environments utilizing the power of DirectX 10.1. Lastly, Microsoft announced at the Professional Developers Conference the use of the DirectX 10.1 API in the Windows® 7 Windows Desktop Manager.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, benchmarks of DirectX 10.1 performance versus DirectX 10 have demonstrated frame rate improvements of as much as 10 percent, while delivering an improved visual experience.

“With S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, we set a very high standard for visual realism, and our efforts were rewarded with over two million copies sold,” said GSC Game World CEO Sergiy Grygorovych. “By using DirectX 10.1, we once again raise the bar with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, delivering to fans of the first person shooter genre an exhilarating exploration of a post-apocalyptic world.”

Unigine Corp., developers of Unigine cross-platform middleware for virtual 3D worlds, rolled out a DirectX 10.1 implementation in their recently announced Tropics demonstration. Using the Unigine 3D engine, Tropics delivers a stunning virtual island paradise. By drawing upon DirectX 10.1, Unigine has been able to take a step closer to their goal of delivering photo realistic virtual worlds.

"The new Tropics Demo 1.1, based on the latest Unigine technologies, pushes visual realism to new heights,” said Denis Shergin, CEO, Unigine Corp. “Our recent collaboration with the AMD team means that we’ve been able to quickly and easily add some of the killer features of DirectX 10.1 to enhance performance and raise image quality. That’s given us our first-ever chance to get perfect anti-aliasing on foliage, something that has been on our wish list for a long time. It has been a huge pleasure to see AMD’s ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series arrive this year, as the entire line showcases the benefits of our new DirectX 10.1 technology."

Adding further momentum to DirectX 10.1, Microsoft used their Professional Developers Conference to announce the use of the DirectX 10.1 API in the Windows Desktop Manager of their next operating system, Windows 7.

“Game developers are realizing that supporting DirectX 10.1 is an investment in their future,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “Microsoft has announced that the forthcoming DirectX 11 API in Windows 7 will be a superset of DirectX 10.1, making it a stepping stone in preparing for Windows 7.”

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[hercules71185]

I think it's just me, but this DirectX thing doesn't make much sense. I was playing on DX9 on XP till around may when I went to vista. Noticed. nothing. Maybe it's because I always edited the registry to allow the very high option on DX9. My point is now dx10 to 10.1... I hope there is a big difference and if there is AMD might come back.

[Apoptosis]

I think it's just me, but this DirectX thing doesn't make much sense. I was playing on DX9 on XP till around may when I went to vista. Noticed. nothing. Maybe it's because I always edited the registry to allow the very high option on DX9. My point is now dx10 to 10.1... I hope there is a big difference and if there is AMD might come back.

http://blogs.amd.com/play/archive/2008/ ... -that.aspx

You might find that an interesting read as it is a link to a blog written by Richard Huddy, AMD’s WW Developer Relations Manager, regarding ATI Radeon and DX 10.1

[hercules71185]

thanks for the link I'll bookmark it, but it's down for the time being.

[Apoptosis]

strange, but I happen to have that blog cached on my system:

DirectX 10.1 and all that...

Sometimes I just think people should be over-whelmed by all the goodness in the ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series.

In it, we have:

* DirectX 10.1
* Horsepower that crushes the competition
* Astonishing value for the money

...but I guess not everyone understands what DirectX 10.1 is yet and why it's such a big deal. So, let's take a closer look at DirectX 10.1.

What does it bring?

Well, it’s a pure industry standard – that’s the first thing. And why does that matter? Well, with industry standards, the gaming ecosystem is in good shape and moves forward in a consensual way. Having a standard way of asking for features means game developers know what’s what and can target the important different levels (important different levels? Not sure what you mean) of hardware. DirectX 10.1 has everything that DirectX 10 has and more. It offers a handy list of technical features which typically allow games to run faster and look better than under DirectX 10. It often means gamers get both at once.

On top of that, it's the way of the future – at least it would appear that way for the next five years or so. DirectX 10 and DirectX 10.1 are both required features for DirectX 11. That means that all DirectX 11 hardware has to support DirectX 10.1. It's not optional – it’s required. So industry players can say what they like, but everyone knows that sooner or later they'll have to support DirectX 10.1. And that’s important because it means that they too will have a reason to want games ported to what is now the most modern of graphics APIs...

We know from looking at games that DirectX 10.1 has the power to make games run faster and make them look better. Assassin’s Creed ran an astonishing 25% faster when it used DirectX 10.1 and while I can't claim that this will always be the case, it certainly points to a very significant technical advantage.

Last week, two more pieces of PC software arrived which show the power of DirectX 10.1:

1. There’s a very pretty little demo from a game engine company called Unigine. It uses DirectX 10.1 to improve the quality of its imagery quite dramatically. It does so by anti-aliasing foliage. What used to look like a twinkling sparkly mess of plant life now suddenly becomes graphically pure and smooth. The difference is quite extraordinary – and very welcome. Unigine’s CEO, Denis Shergin, said simply, "That’s given us our first ever chance to get perfect anti-aliasing on foliage, something which has been on our wish list for far too long." Check out this screenshot.

1. And there’s an important game update that arrived this week too. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky has been updated to use DirectX 10.1 and it makes quite a difference! The patched game runs faster using DirectX 10.1 than it does when using DirectX 10, and this version also looks better than ever before. It has softer more realistic shadows. It too has near perfect foliage, all of which gives it a realism rarely found in games. The new patch is available to all players of the game, and we’ve worked hard with GSC Game World to make sure that all gamers get the best experience possible, but the finest improvements have been possible only on DirectX 10.1 hardware.

The difference is striking, and like the first introduction of anti-aliasing, it’s most obvious when the scenery is moving in subtle ways. As players, that’s when we tend to be most critical of image quality. On top of that, the additional quality will give a tangible advantage to gamers using AMD’s ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series – because in my opinion, AMD hardware is the only hardware which is able to truly realize the game designer’s original vision. It’s not that we’re giving an "unfair" advantage - it’s just that games played on AMD hardware just look great. Gaming on AMD hardware will often mean you can pick out your enemies more easily and sooner that you can on alternative hardware. Superior image quality represents a fair advantage.

Plus having higher frame rates is always good news. Play at 20 frames a second against someone gaming at 30 fps and you’ll soon see what I mean - though the differences don’t have to be that large to be significant. Higher frame rates represent a fair advantage. DirectX 10.1 typically gives higher frame rates than DirectX 10, and the 10% speed up that we’ve seen represents a significant advantage for users of AMD's ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 series and ATI Radeon HD 4000 series.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky patch represents another step in the development of game technology towards perfect image quality – and I’m proud to have been involved in the team that made it happen. Kudos to Holger, Nick, Jon and Eric all from AMD who helped make it happen! And kudos to Igor and the others from GSC Game World for producing the first ever PC "Deferred rendered game to fully support anti-aliasing." These are amazing achievements for a game which had already won Voodoo Extreme’s "Best of E3 2008" awards for best graphics!

I started this blog with a question, "What does DirectX 10.1 bring?" I hope the answer is clear:

* It brings games players closer to reality
* It brings faster, prettier graphics
* It brings realism to life

It's no wonder I love my job! Take a close look at the ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 to understand why...

Richard Huddy is the Worldwide Developer Relations Manager at AMD and an evangelist for graphics and gaming. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

[hercules71185]

Does this mean I should reconsider the battle of Gtx 260 core 216 vs HD4870

[hercules71185]

Nope from what I've seen my choice is still tightly around the core 216. That doesn't mean I'm not curious to know if even tho the 260 does not advertise the 10.1 or 11. Would there be some kind of update since the cards do seem capable.