Hardware Secrets
Home | Audio | Case | Cooling | CPU | Input | Memory | Mobile | Motherboard | Networking | Power | Storage | Video | Other
Content
Articles
First Look
News
Reviews
Tutorials
Main Menu
About Us
Compare Prices
Datasheets
Dictionary
Download
Drivers
Forums
Gabriel's Blog
Links
Manufacturer Finder
Newsletter
On The Web
RSS Feed
Test Your Skills
Newsletter
Subscribe today!
Search




Recommended Book
Maximum PC Guide to Extreme PC Mods (Maximum PC Guide To...)
By Jon Phillips
Que
Price: $29.99

Home » Video
DirectX Versions
Author: Gabriel Torres
Type: Tutorials Last Updated: July 1, 2008
Page: 1 of 2
$ Check REAL-TIME pricing for VisionTek RADEON HD 4850, (512 MB) PCI Express Video Card $
Circuit City: $199.99 Dell: $179.99
Best Buy: $179.99 TigerDirect.com: $184.99
Newegg: $270.00 Compuvest: $322.22

Introduction

DirectX is a programming interface that allows programs (like games) to talk with your PC hardware (like your video card). There are several DirectX versions available and in this short tutorial we will explain what the main differences between them are.

Imagine that your computer is a sandwich. The hardware is one of the bread slices and the software is the other. What go between these slices are the drivers and the programming interfaces (API). This stuffing makes the “translation” of the communication between the software and the hardware. So, instead a programmer writing programs to a specific hardware, s/he writes programs for the operating system, in which a driver will translate what the program wants and will access the hardware according to what was requested. The program can also be written for a programming interface that serves the same purpose. The advantage of this technique is that the programmer doesn't need to know the specifics of the hardware the user has; the programming interface converts what the programmer wants into a command that is compatible with the hardware the user has.

DirectX and OpenGL are currently the most popular programming interfaces for video cards. Instead of writing a game for a specific hardware, it is written using DirectX (or OpenGL) commands that will convert the commands sent by the game into instructions that the hardware (such as the video card and the sound card) understands.

There are several versions of the DirectX. When we say that a game is DirectX 9, for instance, it means this game uses DirectX version 9.0 instructions. You must have DirectX version 9.0 or superior installed in your machine to run this game, and preferentially hardware of the same generation or superior, too. If you, for instance, have a DirectX 9 game in your PC and a video card whose graphic chip is DirectX 8, when the game requests a command that DirectX knows your video card won't understand, it will make an emulation to execute the command. Of course this emulation is not perfect and the final result will be that the game won't have the same image quality as if it were run in a genuinely DirectX 9 hardware.

It is advisable to have the latest DirectX version installed in the computer. Unfortunately the lastest version available, 10, is only available for Windows Vista (it comes embedded with this operating system). If you have other operating system, like Windows XP, you will have to stick with the latest version before the 10th, 9.0c. This version is included in Service Packs 2 and 3 for this operating system. So install Service Pack 3 to have DirectX 9.0c on your Windows XP plus several other security fixes. If you have a DirectX 10-based video card and a DirectX 10 game you will have to upgrade to Windows Vista to take full advantage of DirectX 10 graphics (i.e. better image quality). Otherwise the game will run in DirectX 9.0c mode. If you use Windows Vista, you will have to install Service Pack 1 to upgrade DirectX to 10.1.

To discover the DirectX version that is installed in your PC, go to Start, Run (all Programs, Accessories, Run on Windows Vista) and enter Dxdiag. In the last line of the main window of the DirectX Diagnosis Tool you will see the DirectX version the system is using right now. On Windows Vista you will have to pay attention to the last line on this screen (“DxDiag 6.0.600x.xxxxx”) to determine that you have DirectX 10 or DirectX 10.1 installed on your system, since both of them will report “DirectX 10” on the “DirectX Version” like – compare the number your system is reporting there with the number presented on the table below. On other operating systems clicking in the DirectX Files tab you will see details of all DirectX in the machine and if there is any type of conflict in your machine, in the field “Notes”.

In the table below we compiled all DirectX versions that have already been launched. We indicate in the table which DirectX version is standard in each Windows operating system. For instance, Windows XP comes with DirectX 8.1. As you can see, all Windows systems besidesWindows Server 2008 require you to update the DirectX to get the best performance possible and enable all graphics features your video card can deliver.

DirectX Version

Version Number

Operating System

DirectX 1.0

4.02.0095

 

DirectX 2.0 / 2.0a

4.03.00.1096

Windows 95 OSR2 and NT 4.0

DirectX 3.0 / 3.0a

4.04.0068 / 69

Windows NT 4.0 SP3

DirectX 4.0

Never Launched

 

DirectX 5.0

4.05.00.0155

 

DirectX 5.0

4.05.01.1721 / 1998

Windows 98

DirectX 6.0

4.06.02.0436

Windows 98 SE and ME

DirectX 7.0

4.07.00.0700

Windows 2000

DirectX 7.0a

4.07.00.0716

 

DirectX 8.0

4.08.00.0400

 

DirectX 8.1

4.08.01.0810
4.08.01.0881

Windows XP and 2003 Server

DirectX 9.0

4.09.0000.0900

 

DirectX 9.0a

4.09.0000.0901

 

DirectX 9.0b

4.09.0000.0902

 

DirectX 9.0c

4.09.0000.0904

 
DirectX 106.00.6000.16386Windows Vista 
DirectX 10.16.00.6001.18000Windows Server 2008
Pages (2): [1] 2 »
Print Version | Send to Friend | | Bookmark Article | Comments (0)

Related Content
  • How to Transform your Old GeForce into a Quadro Chip
  • Video Card BIOS Upgrade
  • nVidia Chips Comparison Table
  • GeForce 7800 GTX Launch Coverage
  • Video Connectors

  • Recommended Deals
    eVGA e-GeForce® 7600 GT, (512 MB) AGP Video Card


    Amazon: $97.72 CompuVest: $107.55
    Buy.com: $95.99 TigerDirect.com: $109.99
    CompUSA.com: $109.99 Neeps: $2.22
    PNY GeForce® 8600 GT, (256 MB) PCI Express Video Card


    Dell: $99.99 CompuVest: $49.99
    Server Supply: $110.00
    ATI RADEON® 9550, (256 MB) AGP Video Card


    CompUSA.com: $29.99 TigerDirect.com: $29.99
    Costcentral: $131.29 Boomj: $136.35
    eVGA GeForce FX 5200, (128 MB) AGP Video Card


    Dell: $29.99 CompUSA.com: $34.99
    TigerDirect.com: $34.99 Circuit City: $34.99
    Boomj: $26.75
    eVGA e-GeForce FX 5500, (256 MB) AGP Video Card


    CompuVest: $34.25 CompUSA.com: $39.99
    TigerDirect.com: $39.99 Circuitcity: $99.99
    Boomj: $77.53 Superduperclub: $81.99

    RSSLatest News
    New Thermaltake Power Supplies
    August 28, 2008 - 11:43 AM PST
    Sparkle and MSI Launch GeForce 9400 GT
    August 28, 2008 - 11:13 AM PST
    NZXT Unveils Whisper Full Tower Case
    August 28, 2008 - 10:39 AM PST
    ASUS Intros Royal Knight CPU Cooler
    August 28, 2008 - 10:03 AM PST
    Arctic Cooling Launches Fusion 550R Power Supply
    August 27, 2008 - 4:08 AM PST
    nVidia Launches GeForce 9400 GT
    August 27, 2008 - 3:47 AM PST
    MSI Launches ‘P45-D8 Memory Lover’ Motherboard
    August 26, 2008 - 8:15 AM PST
    Lexar Launches 16 GB JumpDrive FireFly Flash Memory
    August 25, 2008 - 8:52 AM PST
    OCZ Launches Dominatrix Laser Gaming Mouse
    August 22, 2008 - 9:19 AM PST
    Lian Li Launches MAXIMA Force Power Supply Series
    August 21, 2008 - 10:00 AM PST
    .:: More News ::.

    RSSLatest Content
    AMD ATI Chips Comparison Table
    nVidia Chips Comparison Table
    Inside Intel Nehalem Microarchitecture
    OCZ Elixir Gaming Keyboard Review
    Everything You Need to Know About The QuickPath Interconnect (QPI)
    Me and Woz
    Introduction to Wireless USB (WUSB)
    Nikon Coolpix S600 Camera Review
    IDF Fall 2008: Opening Keynote
    Thecus N5200 NAS Review
    ECS GeForce 9800 GTX+ Hydra Video Card Review
    320 GB Hard Disk Drive Round-Up
    Razer Destructor Mouse Pad Review
    Sapphire HD 4870 X2 Video Card Review
    Antec Twelve Hundred Case Review

    Our Most Popular Articles
    Maximum CPU Temperature
    765,201 views
    nVidia Chips Comparison Table
    475,475 views
    AMD ATI Chips Comparison Table
    422,097 views
    ATI Radeon X1300 Pro Review
    412,189 views
    ATI Radeon X1600 XT Review
    407,057 views
    How to Find Out Your Motherboard Manufacturer and Model
    379,339 views
    Connecting Two PCs Using a USB-USB Cable
    343,390 views
    How To Correctly Apply Thermal Grease
    328,677 views
    Sempron vs. Athlon XP
    278,968 views
    Sempron 3400+ Review
    269,044 views

    Latest Threads in Our Forums
    New Thermaltake Power Supplies
    by Hardware Secrets Team
    Sparkle and MSI Launch GeForce 9400 GT
    by Hardware Secrets Team
    Serial ATA
    by snarley25
    Interfacing to a Hard Drive
    by snarley25
    Upgrading RAM
    by Gabriel Torres
    How can I install two power supplies
    by Gabriel Torres
    NZXT Unveils Whisper Full Tower Case
    by Hardware Secrets Team
    Extra Laptop power supply
    by Gabriel Torres
    Will this build have confilicts???
    by Gabriel Torres
    Building PC for Audio.
    by Gabriel Torres
    .:: Visit Our Forums ::.

    © 2004-8, Hardware Secrets, LLC. All rights reserved.
    Advertising | Legal Information | Privacy Policy
    All times are Pacific Standard Time (PST, GMT -08:00)