Why did NVIDIA skip the revision of Direct X 10.01 on their 9800 GTX/GX2/GTX 260/280?

[Digital_Trans]

Why did NVIDIA skip the revision of Direct X 10.01 on their 9800 GTX/9800 GX2/GTX 260/280? ATI has since added the support to their products since late last year. Why does NVIDIA continue to lack support for Direct X 10.01 even with the latest and greatest NVIDIA GTX 280?

[Muppet]

I would say that they are just wanting to jump straight to DX11.

[Viral]

It's a bit annoying, and moreso seeing the way they don't want TWIMTBP devs using DX10.1. We could be seeing faster performing DX10 games already, but we aren't. Thanks nVidia

[Rollo]

Originally Posted by Viral

It's a bit annoying, and moreso seeing the way they don't want TWIMTBP devs using DX10.1. We could be seeing faster performing DX10 games already, but we aren't. Thanks nVidia

Or perhaps developers simply aren't very interested in DX10.1, as evidenced by the lack of a single DX10.1 game. (not like NVIDIA controls what version of DX devs use)

MS themselves said DX10.1 was not very important:
http://www.edge-online.com/news/micr...ff-dx101-fears

Originally Posted by MS

"It's a minor update, so we don't expect any developers to say, 'oh, this game is DX10.1 only.'

I think NVIDIA and most devs will jump straight to DX11, and DX10.1 will end up being utilized by a couple games. The only games I've ever seen noting upcoming 10.1 support are a 4 or 5 RTS games, and some of them might end up being DX11.

[nekrosoft13]

10.1 is very minor update probably will end up like shader 2.0, not many devs cared. most went straight to 3.0

[Fathertime36]

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

10.1 is very minor update probably will end up like shader 2.0, not many devs cared. most went straight to 3.0

Lol kind like how Im staying with Windows XP and skipping Vista til "Delicious" or what ever the hell they are going to call it.....hopefully not "HELL"....haha

"Dude you must get Vista, all the best games are going to be DX10 only, like Halo 2 ....need a say more LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hemmy]

Your gameplay would likely be no different with 10.1 support

This isn't like ATI not having SM3.0 support on R420

NVIDIA probably felt 10.1 wasn't important enough to warrant implementation.

[JH24]

^ yeah, most likely that is the main reason. The issue isn't as big as what ATI did regarding
SM 3.0 support back then. I have a feeling this won't really be too important.


I did hear some controversy about Assassin's Creed and DX 10.1 support regarding ATI/AMD in the past, giving better performance for their cards but then DX 10.1 was withdrawn again in a patch by the developers, but I heard so many conflicting stories about it that I never really knew what to believe.

[Xion X2]

Originally Posted by Rollo

Or perhaps developers simply aren't very interested in DX10.1, as evidenced by the lack of a single DX10.1 game.

This isn't true. There are several games in the works:

Developers including Electronic Arts Phenomic Studio and its forthcoming fantasy online real-time strategy game Battleforge™, SEGA and its futuristic military real-time strategy game Stormrise, and NHN Games and its 3D role-playing game Cloud 9, all exploit DirectX 10.1 for advanced gaming performance and visual realism.

Only AMD graphics offer top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support: the ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 series and the new ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series.

“We welcome AMD’s broad support for DirectX 10.1 compliant hardware and we’re pleased to see our newest technology brought to market so soon. One of the great advantages of PC gaming is the rapid pace at which the experiences evolve and improve. The ATI Radeon HD 3000 series and now the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series hardware delivers on the promise of DirectX 10 gaming with significantly improved visuals and enhanced performance,” said Kevin Unangst, Global Director, Microsoft Games for Windows.

“With Battleforge, EA is pushing the boundaries of the real-time strategy genre introducing social and community technologies to deliver a whole new online experience. It only makes sense that we leverage the latest technology such as DirectX 10.1 supported by the new ATI Radeon HD 4800 series of graphics cards from AMD to deliver an amazing experience for gamers,” said Dirk Ringe, vice president, EA Phenomic. “We’re working hard to deliver a new fantasy RTS experience never seen before. Using DirectX 10.1 and AMD’s graphics technology will enable Battleforge to look its absolute best.”

“SEGA welcomes the chance to deliver one of next year’s most technologically advanced titles, Stormrise. AMD’s enthusiastic commitment to new standards such as DirectX 10.1 in the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series is helping us develop a game which looks better and runs faster than was possible on previous platforms,” said Chris Southall, CTO Europe, SEGA. “SEGA is delighted to team up with AMD on one of our forthcoming games. AMD’s firm commitment to cutting-edge technology makes them a natural partner for us on Stormrise.”

http://forevergeek.com/games/amd_wor...x101_magic.php

MS themselves said DX10.1 was not very important:
http://www.edge-online.com/news/micr...ff-dx101-fears

And they also said this:

Originally Posted by Global Director, Games for Windows - Microsoft

The ATI Radeon HD 3000 series and now the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series hardware delivers on the promise of DirectX 10 gaming with significantly improved visuals and enhanced performance,” said Kevin Unangst, Global Director, Microsoft Games for Windows.

http://forevergeek.com/games/amd_wor...x101_magic.php

It may not turn out to be a groundbreaking improvement, but developers state that it's significant, and so does Microsoft.

It's not a terrible thing that Nvidia didn't support it yet (shortens the shelf-life of the card, but Nvidia always seems more focused on current tech.) But I hope that if the rumors of the GT350 are true, and they STILL don't support it with their next card, that heads will roll somewhere. That's inexcusable as it's a significant performance enhancement that would benefit all end-users with compatible hardware.

[nekrosoft13]

you also need to note, that by the time 10.1 game shows up dx11 will either be out already, or close to being released.

dx11 hardware will be out before dx11 gets released. dx11 hardware will be backwards compatible including 10.1

[Xion X2]

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

you also need to note, that by the time 10.1 game shows up dx11 will either be out already, or close to being released.

You're right about that, but you need to consider development time. DX11 will lag behind DX10.1 development as there are already games in development that use DX10.1 technology.

ATI is already set to go with the Tesselator for DX10.1 implementation in a future driver set. Frobles, a demo utilizing the technology, will be released alongside it within the next driver or two according to Eric Demers in a recent interview over on Rage.

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by Xion X2

You're right about that, but you need to consider development time. DX11 will lag behind DX10.1 development as there are already games in development that use DX10.1 technology.

true but look at my other point, dx11 hardware will probably be out before dx11 gets released.

dx11 hardware will be also compatible with dx10.1