What does the DX9 update really do for FS9?

[Guest kd6vm]

Greetings, I have a computer manufactured last year that came with XP Home and DX9.0C. FS9 runs very well on it. What does Microsoft's updated DX9 patch improve in the game? Thanks for your help.Ralph

[Bob Scott 7,719]

Probably not much...but as you upgrade video drivers, it's relevant to note that they are written for the latest version of DirectX. Likely the biggest changes are for the newest hardware.One of those things, IMHO, that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The slightly better performance you *might* see isn't worth the risk of having to rebuild Rome if something goes wrong. With a DirectX install there is no way to backtrack...no uninstall, no rollback etc.CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-V L-300Santiago de Chile

[Guest neslesman]

I'm with Bob. I've now got FS9 purring like a kitten and I'm not going to do anything to risk that. Apparently some others have seen nice gains, others have had problems.My philosophy on these updates is always to wait a while until they prove (or disprove) themself in the real world. Let someone else do the testing. The nvidia 91.47 drivers were very useful for me though.

[Staffan 12]

Hi,After I installed the latest DX9 drivers, I noticed a clear improvment of steady framerates, but not much higher.http://www.scandicair.com/images/sa_banner.gifDell Dimension 4600 P4/2.8 at 3.0 Ghz1024 Mb DDR333 Dual channel memory (2x256,1x512)AGP 256 Mb ATI Radeon X850 Pro ViVo, flashed to a X850 XT PE. Omega 2.6.87 (CAT 5.12)DirectX 9.0cW XP Home with SP2E171FPb Flat panel monitor 17"370Gb HD (120 GB Maxtor, 250GB Samsung) 7200rpm ATA Lacie 250Gb Extern HDBlogg: http://blogg.passagen.se/primeaviFiles: http://library.avsim.net/search.php?CatID=...&Go=Change+View

[mgh 89]

I downloaded the latest patch and had no problems. On the other hand I didn't see any differences one way or the other on my ageing PC.I think that you can effectively uninstall it by creating a Restore Point first and then using System Restore to roll it back.

[Guest kd6vm]

Thanks everyone for your comments.I have read some say the improvement gained them some FPS and others say the scenery looked better. I installed it and it caused my sound to go funny in FS2002.I think I will just stay with the default that came with my 'puter.Thanks again,Ralph

[Bob Scott 7,719]

>I think that you can effectively uninstall it by creating a>Restore Point first and then using System Restore to roll it>back.The system restore will restore the registry settings, but not the various files that get overwritten in the install. Most MS updates write the old replaced files to a restore folder, but as I understand it, DX does not do that.RegardsBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-V L-300Santiago de Chile

[Au MaV 0]

HiMsoft has been (in the last year at least) doing an DX update every 2 mths This is just a house keeping thing it adds new controlers and any fixsthat maybe need for new hardware to workIve been updateing every 2 mths and have never seen an increase in fps, but some of my usb device now appear more stableso do you need it? who knows but it most certanly wont hurt :)cheersWozza

[scott967 62]

I think maybe MS have developed a new scheme for common shared dlls in recent years. There used to be the problem in Windows 3.0 days where an app like Word would be released and it would need a revised system dll which it would install when the app installed. Sometimes these revised dlls would break other installed apps (some would say this was the intent!). Anyway, now it is possible to have mulitple version of the same dll and the app can request a specific one. This way existing apps continue to use the old version dll and a new app a later version. I tthink that is the case with these revised DX9 files. If your game needs the revised DX9 dll it includes it in the install, and it gets added to the mix but doesn't impact older games.scott s..