I am considering updating my vid card to a Geforce4 TI4200 model. I note that the next version of FS2004 will come with Directx version 9 . I went to the vid card manufacturers website which proudly proclaimed that it is compatable with Directx version 8.1.So the question is this - what does this all mean in practice.? How does the Directx version interrelate with the actual hardware and the driver software. Should I wait until after FS2004 comes out?Any help from somebody who actually understands vid cards!! :) much appreciated.Barry

The Geforce4 Ti4200 is a DX8-class videocard. That means that it supports all the hardware features that DirectX 8 specifies, and it can run games that use thosse specific features.The Radeon 9500-9800 videocards, and Nvidia's GeforceFX series, are DX9 cards. The main improvement in DX9 are support for higher color precision and improved pixel- and vertex shaders. I highly doubt FS2004 will use any of those. In fact, it will probably still work fine on a DX7 card such as the Geforce4 MX or Geforce2, as long as you have DX9 drivers installed.THere are DX9 drivers for most DX8 cards. Those drivers won't magically enable support for the new hardware features, but it will allow the videocard to work with the DX9 core and games written with that API in mind. DX8 and DX9 are just a set of standards, DX9 adds more features, and the core of the API is probably updated as well. A game that requires DX9, might not always require a DX9-compliant card, only a videocard which supports the hardware features that game uses, and that has DX9 drivers installed for it.The Ti4200 is a good videocard, but I would look into the Radeon 9500 Pro. It's a bit more, but it's well worth it. The 9500 Pro is faster, especially with Anti Aliasing and Anisotropic enabled.

We have covered this before. FS2004 will SHIP with DirectX9 but that doesn't mean the game USES it. It is simply one of the ways that Microsoft distributes the new API to the `average` computer user, who doesn't buy computer mags, doesn't visit geek sites, and stays away from forums and technical sites like this. Faced with the message "would you like to install Directx9 now??" as part of the installation routine for the new sim, who is going to refuse, when it looks like it NEEDS it?ChasW

Chances are it WILL need DX9 installed, especially for the multiplayer. DX isn't only about the videocard, it includes DirectSound, DirectInput, DirectPlay etc..