DirectX 9.0c

[SPaCeMaN SPiFF]

uh... i don't think that's completely true ...

i use an OLD OLD OLD radeon VE 7000 ... and it still shows directx 9.0c.... 

i really think it's your installer mr. dowals... get a new one. 

[SiCkBoY]

I made a mistake.  Sorry, I got confused there.  Posted the reply when I haven't had enough sleep.  Anyway, what I meant to say was that the ATI 9200 is a Direct X 8-based videocard.  You can still install the DX9 drivers but if you will try to play a true DX9-based game, you'll get a video error because the hardware doesn't really support programmable pixel and vertex shaders higher than DX8.1.  I'm not sure about the ATI 9250 though, but I think it's also a DX8-based card since it's a somewhat higher version of the 9200. 

Again, try a true DX9-based game like Warhammer: Dawn of War and see what happens.

Sorry to hear that you spent over 2k when your intent was to play DX9-based games but my rule of thumb is, if I can't spend well over 10k for a new videocard, better spend the money somewhere else.  Otherwise, I won't really see a significant increase in performance.  But the good news is that true DX9-based PC games are very few since the programmers take into account the aging hardware of the purchasers.  Heck, his Doom3 engine even runs on an ancient Riva TNT!

[SPaCeMaN SPiFF]

I made a mistake.  Sorry, I got confused there.  Posted the reply when I haven't had enough sleep.  Anyway, what I meant to say was that the ATI 9200 is a Direct X 8-based videocard.  You can still install the DX9 drivers but if you will try to play a true DX9-based game, you'll get a video error because the hardware doesn't really support programmable pixel and vertex shaders higher than DX8.1.  I'm not sure about the ATI 9250 though, but I think it's also a DX8-based card since it's a somewhat higher version of the 9200. 

Again, try a true DX9-based game like Warhammer: Dawn of War and see what happens.

Sorry to hear that you spent over 2k when your intent was to play DX9-based games but my rule of thumb is, if I can't spend well over 10k for a new videocard, better spend the money somewhere else.  Otherwise, I won't really see a significant increase in performance.  But the good news is that true DX9-based PC games are very few since the programmers take into account the aging hardware of the purchasers.  Heck, his Doom3 engine even runs on an ancient Riva TNT!

okay... bit of an aging gamer here who has gone astray (an currently clueless re: these new PC games)... but i am curious, won't these directx 9.0 games play sufficiently on directx 8.0 (or lower) -designed vidcards albeit at a lower framerate, less than ideal textures, etc etc.?

[SiCkBoY]

It would really depend on the game engine.  There are some games that really require a DX9-based videocard like Deus Ex: Invisible War, Silent Hill 4, and Warhammer: Dawn of War.  They won't play on DX8-based videocards.  But I've never tried these games on DX8 videocards myself since my last three videocards were all DX9-based.  But a friend of mine gets a Direct X error whenever he tries to play Dawn of War on his GeForce 4 MX400. 

But these games are few.  Most games would play on DX8-based videocards or lower, but of course, you won't be seeing much. 

[Dowals]

Thanks for the replies guys, been a learning a lot

the ATI 9250 i bought was my first vidcard.  I'm not really an extreme gamer, i just do this during my spare time on weekends.  I prefer FPS games; Medal of Honor series, Call of Duty & others

I wanted to try Medal of Honor Pacific Assault which i think requires directX 9.0c

I will try to get a new winxp installer.
 

[SiCkBoY]

Also take note of the fact that Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault requires at least 512MB of RAM.

[SPaCeMaN SPiFF]

whoa! these games are resource hungry!... sheesh! 

[Dowals]

Happy to tell you guys that i have already upgraded to 9.0c 

Thanks to all that replied  Special thanks to Bumblebee for the valid keys

I was able to finish twice CALL OF DUTY 2 during the 3 day break