Hardware upgrade DX11 2024

BLOODY HELL. I thought so.

My first thought on hearing this whole "11_1/11.1/11.whatever" vs. "11.0 or 12.0" bit was, "Oh, great. It's gonna be just like the time when ONLY DirectX9.0c would do." Got sneered at by all sorts of folks (like, the handful for whom it actually worked) for speculating like that when anything that could handle 12.0 should be able to handle this. X-P

I was right.

Uwk

Linus Tech Tips has a good description of the DX feature levels

Yeah, I'll give it a try. I can install Windows 8.1 and then will try on Linux. I've installed MangoHUD and will see if I can get sensor information while playing, too.

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Ok, tried to watch that picture/video that you uploaded, but it's not displaying anything. I see a play button but nothing happens pressing it. I'm on mobile right now, just woke up, so I'll give it another shot on my PC in a couple of minutes after some coffee. Yeah, I just saw Saladdin's post, and he also posted a follow up it seems where he explains that he had to completely uninstall DX12 on Windows via what seems to be a third party tool (?) and then install DX11 all the way up to DX12 all over again in order so that it would register DX11.1 (not sure about DX11.0) for EQ2-Test. The fact that he had to do this, which then worked all of a sudden, sounds more like a typical Windows issue to me. So in his case the hardware is alright, it was a software / compat issue with DirectX causing problems. Maybe the devs can take that feedback and find a way to deliver those files via launchpad without causing other issues, only time will tell. Linux handles this differently with Proton btw, it's much more straight forward. The reason I say this is because I've been looking up a bunch of old and newer threads on Steam and the likes where ppl have been experiencing similar DX11.0/.1 issues for other games, especially on Windows 7, and there are different solutions for this.

He is not alone and it seems to happen for a lot of other ppl too (in other games). Here is one example of a developer telling its users via FAQ that you need a very specific update / patch for Windows 7 in order for the game to work with DirectX11: https://steamcommunity.com/app/746850/discussions/1/3093389596107174437/

The user followed what the dev of that game suggested, which is selecting the Windows Update patch number above for Windows 7 and DirectX11.1 to work on his game. Didn't someone else a few posts back say Microsoft support said it wasn't available for Windows 7 like that? So maybe it has to be manually selected like the guy above did? Might be worth a try. But yeah, PC gaming is always going to be tricky like that, especially on Windows, just too many things that could go wrong. Thus far we have seen ppl with hardware below the required DirectX Feature Set (like in Quiarrah's case who is on dx10 level), some with seemingly borked DirectX Windows installations (Saladdin described it as "zoo" and that's a fair description, lol, agreed), some with outdated drivers, some with borked eq2 config files that need to be resetted, some with missing Windows updates / patches etc. and so on. Just gotta keep at it to find the culprit in each individual case. The good thing to take away from this is that usually this won't be such a hot topic after we have fully migrated over to DX11 and after we sort out most of the compat issues.

Update: Ok, looked at that video from my PC just now @Raeven and it seems that's indeed a A320M-A PRO MAX mainboard. Sweet! And right below those lines you can see the long black gpu slot where your new graphics card will be inserted. According to the data sheet (https://storage-asset.msi.com/datasheet/mb/de/A320M-A-PRO-MAX.pdf) it has PCIE 3.0 so it should be good to go with that RX 6400 that we spoke about earlier. Tbh, that mainboard is actually really decent and Gambi suggesting to keep it was wise. That computer still has a lot of life in it and it even does DDR4 and more. Like Gambi said, it has a AM4 socket and that will give you the chance to upgrade that budget cpu of yours for something more powerful in the feature which will make the RX6400 fly in terms of performance.

CPU Support Supports 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD® Ryzen™ / Ryzen™ with
Radeon™ Vega Graphics and 2nd Gen AMD® Ryzen™ with
Radeon™ Graphics / Athlon™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics
and A-series / Athlon™ X4 Desktop Processors for Socket
AM4

That's what that mobo supports according to the MSI datasheet. So you could do the graphics card now and then the cpu later if necessary. Technically we could go for an even more powerful gpu, but that would cost more. It might be better to go for the RX 6400, or something similar, and then save some of that cash for a cpu upgrade in the future which will boost fps even more. Btw, is there a sticker with wattage and voltage info on the side of that power supply in the top left? Don't forget! Always make sure that the computer is unplugged when opening it up and don't touch anything inside that could cause static to unload and potentially damage anything. I always touch the heater in our house to unload any static and ground myself before doing anything to my pc.

When we do anything like cleaning it inside and out, stem to stern, etc., it's not only power it down, unplug it, etc., but hell, carry the box outside on the balcony; the amount of dust that gets kicked up would probably get us in trouble with the apartment complex for adding to the indoor air pollution. ;->

Uwk

The bit Sturm was referring to:

Currently, I'm over at www.catalog.update.microsoft.com (which sounds terribly, terribly official, so I should probably trust them, though I don't see the incessant MS logos everywhere, so I'm a wee bit suspicious), after specifically searching for KB2670838, and there's three different possibilities for my Win7:

Platform update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-Edition
Platform Update for Windows 7
Platform Update for Windows 7 x64-Edition [I'm presuming this is the better one than the second, since I'm at 64-bit]

Not sure which one to get; would it help to provide a DxDiag copy from my Win7 to figure it out? All of them seem to be from the same date (back in 2013, so I'm not sure how encouraging that is), and at least two, the 64-bit ones, are the same size, though I don't know that I need to muck about with a Windows Server.

EDIT: After looking at the screeches from Windows users back when this first came out in 2013, there were huge amounts of problems with it. Not only wasn't it a crucial update (back then), but it majorly borked several people's systems. Sadly, they didn't go into much detail on it, so I'm not sure which of these to eliminate (well, probably the plain, white-bread second one on the list; it's probably just for 32-bit). :-/

EDIT: Never mind; turns out I'd indeed loaded in the KB2670838 a looooong time ago, so that isn't helping my Win7 at all. X-P

Uwk

Ok, I ordered a RX 6400 from ebay, open box item, seller has thousands of positive reviews. Cost $133 with tax, should be here in first week of March.

Thanks to Sturmlocke and Gambitak for all the useful input and advice!

I think this is a great idea, anything to make it easier to follow for other individuals.

Also, if I remember correctly, people who use Windows should be able to install several different versions of DirectX. For example, when I play on TAKP, I install a DX blob that installs DX8, DX9 and DX10. I've not used Windows in any way in many years, so this is more of a suggestion to check into than it would be a definitive statement

A "DX blob"? Que es?

And can it install DX11, DX11.1, and DX12 on a Win7? ;->

Uwk

Same here! I just did that for our old plasma TV. I always use our blower / compressor and nuke the crap out of that dust. I even have a small one for my computers, but always gotta make sure to keep the fans from spinning by blocking them to avoid messing them up. Just out of curiosity, have you ever breathed in that dust by accident? What do you think about the smell of new hardware?

Sweet! YW and be sure to keep us posted at how that upgrade performs on your end for both LIVE and TEST when it arrives. Curious to see how it runs alongside that Ahtlon 3000G cpu of yours. Did you order a full sized or low profile version of the card? Which brand / manufacturer is it?

Yup, same here! Been decades on my side as well. So everything thus far when it comes to Windows is out of sheer (dusty) memory from the old days, and ironically not much has changed, lol. Speaking of this, seeing how Uwk has two machines, one Win10 and the other Win7, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to give Linux and EQ2 a shot on one of those computers? You've been eying it for some time now, maybe the time has finally come? @UWK

Umm.... looks like it is AMD, the rest I have no idea. https://www.ebay.com/itm/126029340827

Oh sweet, look at how tiny that 6400 is. That's the low profile version that I mentioned earlier. High profile looks like this: https://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/features/SingleFanDesign-Radeon RX 6400 Challenger ITX 4GB_mobile.jpg

But that smaller low profile one is just fine too. The bigger ones are usually better for peak performance, overclocking and are able to handle the temperature better due to their bigger cooling system etc. but the small one should do just fine at stock clock rate for all things EQ2. Technically they're both 6400's anyway. The reviews are looking good too, with one person even saying: "Works amazing for how small it is. Fits perfect in my Dell Optiplex 7040. Running gta5 on max Graphics with 80fps. Really recommend if you're going for a cheaper setup."

The 6400, despite its compact size, is also capable of decoding H264/H265 and that means that watching videos offline and online with this card should further boost your performance and allow for higher resolution video playback at 60 fps.

Just to make things more fun, Windows 10 will no longer receive updates after October 14, 2025.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro

Oh wow. And then all that remains is Windows 11/12 Candy Crush edition where even really capable hardware will fall out of its support.

Ok so I sat my fears aside and logged into test. I had no problem logging in, I created a new character and did several quest on the island then zoned to Qeynos no problem there zoned into an inn room and back out with no problems. On the Island my frames were around 180, when I got to Qeynos they dropped to 140 but still pretty good. I did notice when I was running around every now and then I would do the rubber band thing not bad but just enough to notice. I haven't messed with any of my settings yet (except the stupid face camera thing) I hate that. I'll go back a bit later and mess with some settings and advise if anything goes wonkey.

Welcome to the club, B! That actually sounds really good tbh, especially those super smooth fps. Could you share some system specs pls just so others can compare to your system? I'm in the middle of some testing right now too. I have been testing for around six hours in total today on four different systems as of right now. I'll post the system specs and how it all runs a bit later though, probably by tomorrow night, but so far so good. All of these systems are running Linux and no major issues thus far. One of the systems that I'll be testing it on is the Steam Deck, but that will probably have to wait until the end of the next week when my wife can give it up for a few hours.

Looking forward to more feedback from your adventure! Btw, how are loading times for you on test?

Um ok but I am not computer savvy at all. I get the handmedowns from my better half. So I'll have to type what I think you want because I don't have diviant art or anything like that to take pictures and post so here goes.

Operating system is Windows 10 Home 64 bit
Processer Intel (r) core (tm) i5-7600k@d.80 ghz (4CPUs)
Memory 32768 mb ram
Card is Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Super

Is there anything I missed?

Also I played a bit more went from full screen to windows mode no problem didn't even drop the frame rates. Went to High quality and was still getting about 115 frames.

Forgot to answer sorry, loading times are no quicker or slower than what they are on live, probably around 3-5 seconds to zone give or take some zones longer. But I haven't really noticed any difference in the zoning the frame rate is a bit higher.

I love the smell of new objects in general, especially those involving lots of metal and plastic, especially those delightful VOC-emitting ones (nope, not being sarcastic there).

ROLFMAO!!! X-D

As for Linux, I'd have to get some sensitive business stuff off there (you were saying stuff about Linux security at one point?), but I'm sorely, sorely tempted these days. :-/

Uwk
who doesn't think Microsoft was intending to drive people away when they (and their 3rd-partiers?) came up with 11.1... :-/

Microsoft has been saying that you'll be able to continue to get updates for Windows 10, but you'll have to pay for them. No idea what they plan on charging for it. That said, Windows 10 has been so widely adopted, they may extend the support period like they did for Windows XP. I'm thinking that may be more likely since they've decided to hold off on Windows 12 for the time being (it'll just be called Windows 11 24H2).