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MS Says Windows 7 Will Run DirectX 10 On the CPU

Posted by kdawson on from the aero-capable dept.

arcticstoat writes "In what could be seen as an easy answer to the Vista-capable debacle, Microsoft has introduced a 'fully conformant software rasterizer' called WARP (Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform) 10, which does away with the need for a dedicated hardware 3D accelerator altogether. Microsoft says that WARP 10 will support all the features and precision requirements of Direct3D 10 and 10.1, as well as up to 8x multi-sampled anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and all optional texture formats. The minimum CPU spec needed is just 800MHz, and it doesn't even need MMX or SSE, although it will work much quicker on multi-core CPUs with SSE 4.1. Of course, software rendering on a single desktop CPU isn't going to be able to compete with decent dedicated 3D graphics cards when it comes to high-end games, but Microsoft has released some interesting benchmarks that show the system to be quicker than Intel's current integrated DirectX 10 graphics. Running Crysis at 800 x 600 with the lowest quality settings, an eight-core Core i7 system managed an average frame rate of 7.36fps, compared with 5.17fps from Intel's DirectX 10 integrated graphics."

3 of 503 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Grrrreat! by ceoyoyo · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Never, since MS keeps releasing new versions of DirectX that demand more features. The Intel 915 IS a "true" 3D accelerator. It just doesn't offer any of the DirectX 10 features, a few of the DX9 features or one of the DX8 features.

    WIndows 7, or Windows 8, is probably going to required DX11, so most or all of the current 3D cards aren't going to work. Does that mean they suddenly cease to be "true" 3D accelerators? Nope. It just means MS wants to try to force all the gamers to use their new OS for the "better graphics" and regular desktop users get caught in the squeeze.

  2. Re:Oh boy. by supernova_hq · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    1) Bob: Hey Joe, I bet I can drive faster than you
    2) Joe: Ok, I'll do 5 laps, then you do 5 laps
    * 5 laps latter *
    3) Bob: WTF? I can't drive that piece of shit!!!

  3. Re:Oh boy. by tzot · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Oh, come on. Your first sentence is correct. The second sentence is false, since they bought the software, they didn't illegally copied it.

    If you intended it as a joke: don't mix jokes with serious and correct stuff (i.e. your first sentence), otherwise people will think you're just uninformed, like I did.

    --
    I speak England very best