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Ray Tracing To Debut in DirectX 11

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the directx-11-is-confusing-to-my-brain dept.

crazyeyes writes "This is breaking news. Microsoft has not only decided to support ray tracing in DirectX 11, but they will also be basing it on Intel's x86 ray-tracing technology and get this ... it will be out by the end of the year! In this article, we will examine what ray tracing is all about and why it would be superior to the current raster-based technology. As for performance, well, let Intel dazzle you with some numbers. Here's a quote from the article: 'You need not worry about your old raster-based DirectX 10 or older games or graphics cards. DirectX 11 will continue to support rasterization. It just includes support for ray-tracing as well. There will be two DirectX 11 modes, based on support by the application and the hardware.'"

10 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Call me old and grumpy by Bullseye_blam · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I am really annoyed that April Fool's has now become a multi-day event.

    1. Re:Call me old and grumpy by Nimey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Shit. That reminds me that I'm going to have to ignore Slashdot tomorrow because it'll be full of unfunny-because-they're-trying-too-hard stories.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    2. Re:Call me old and grumpy by pohl · · Score: 5, Funny

      No doubt. At this point the best slashdot could do on April 1 is post 100% real stories and watch everybody try to figure out where the silly fake stuff is.

      --

      The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...

    3. Re:Call me old and grumpy by Ed+Avis · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just like any other day of the year then?

      --
      -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
  2. John Carmack on Ray Tracing by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    An interesting read on this very subject here. Quote:

    "I have my own personal hobby horse in this race and have some fairly firm opinions on the way things are going right now. I think that ray tracing in the classical sense, of analytically intersecting rays with conventionally defined geometry, whether they be triangle meshes or higher order primitives, I'm not really bullish on that taking over for primary rendering tasks which is essentially what Intel is pushing."

    Carmack admits he has his own personal preference, but generally he's pretty sensible about these things. He's usually called it correctly in the past when people have pushed various technologies that were supposed to take over the world, and they've fallen by the wayside.

    Hopefully he'll chime into this latest article with some further thoughts.

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  3. Some less breathless articles by jmichaelg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Intel has this article about the hardware needed to run at 50fps at 1920x1080p. They're claiming you need 8 cores. In a couple of years, that could well be within reach for most gamers.

    There's also this John Carmack Interview. Carmack isn't too optimistic about ray tracing replacing rasterized graphics.

  4. Re:Only available with Windows 7 by Shade+of+Pyrrhus · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Yeah, for anyone who reads up to the last page, it seems pretty clear that it's not true. Something like this would be more likely announced by Microsoft PR a good while before release, in order to grow some hype.

    TFA states

    "As DirectX 11 is a work in progress, Microsoft does not have an exact timeline. But the source claims that DirectX 11 could be part of Windows Vista by late 2008."
    I don't know where these guys get their information, but even Microsoft does planning ahead of time for products they create - especially if it's to be released the same year! The absurdity climaxes at the third page...do yourself a favor and read it for a little laugh.

    "They also plan to have DirectX 11 ready in time to debut with Windows Vista Service Pack 2"
    Service Pack 2? Sure, SP1 wasn't an improvement and SP2 might be needed - but, again, plans for this would have been more well announced or planned by Microsoft.

    Sorry guys, article is simply BS.
  5. Thankyou GOD! by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought PC gaming was in the throes of death. Fortunately now PC game developers will be able to use Ray Tracing instead of implementing the much ballyhooed 'fun' that graphically inferior console games seem to be touting.

    --
    I have nothing compelling to say
  6. Re:Surprisingly forward thinking on MS' part by powersponge · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am anaspeptic, frasmotic, compunctious even, for the writer to have caused you such pericombobulations. Here's to hoping that he will apologize interfrastically.

  7. That's a lie. by pavon · · Score: 5, Funny

    This can't be Windows 7 only - Linux has had Direct X11 for years. This is yet another case of Microsoft playing catchup.