DirectX 11 comes to Vista

Windows 7 users have been having all the DirectX 11 fun up until now. Well, ok, there really isn't much DX11 fun to be had so far, but running Win7 was the only place possible to run DX11 up until now. As promised, Microsoft has brought the newest, bestest version of DirectX to Vista. Making the XP standouts now 2 complete version behind. DirectX 11 isn't a huge leap forward over DX10 in terms of graphical capability, but it makes things a lot easier and streamlined for the devs using the high quality capabilities. And it's more efficient for the end users, meaning higher fps with the graphics still looking purty.

Right now the only GPU capable of unlocking DirectX 11 goodness is the ATI Radeon 5000 series. Owners of those can check out the first DX11 tech demo. People not quite so luck can just watch some DX11 effects via YouTube.

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Dirt 2 DirectX 11 Tech Demo

Many PC racing fans have been upset that Codemasters' excellent rally racing game Dirt 2 has been delayed for so long. We may not know the complete reason that it's taking them so long to get it out, but at least the delay allowed the devs to code in support for DirectX 11. DX11 is the latest iteration of the API, it's coming to Windows 7 and Vista, and it is already supported by the newest ATI 5000 series video cards. We've gotta admit, the DX11 effects look pretty damn impressive, though it remains to be seen if all that new eye candy will be completely noticeable while you're actually playing the game and not just watch replays. Either way, kudos to Codemasters for being on the cutting edge and pushing PC graphics even farther ahead of the consoles.




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ATI Radeon HD 5870 X2 looks to be a beast

ATI/AMD already shook up the GPU industry last week when the reviews for the Radeon HD 5870 came out. Now some new leaked shots of some Radeon HD 5870 X2 prototypes are out, and at least at the time the photos were taken the card is going to be huge. Good luck fitting that in most cases, do they need to put "large full tower case" on the box as a system requirement?

Nvidia, still waiting on something from you...

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ATI Radeon HD 5870 sings "We're gonna run this town tonight"

ATI/AMD's new HD 5870 card is here, and it's making quite the entrance. It's getting marvelous reviews from all the people allowed to have one right now. They aren't only pleased with the excellent performance from the card, but also it's incredible power savings. It's also launching near a price point of $380, which means hopefully the day of the $600 flagship video cards is over. Promised features like DirectX 11 support and Eyefinity are also there. So ATI has shown their hand first, lets see what Nvidia has up their stream processors in the upcoming GT300 to compete.

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