DX11-enabled DiRT 2 PC demo released, full version arriving this week

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Jos

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The new ATI Radeon HD 5000 series of graphics cards may have given AMD a nice long head start on DirectX 11, but it isn't like compatible games are flooding the stores right now. So far we've only seen the release of two DirectX 11 games and benchmarking tools, among them S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, which we recently ran on our Radeon HD 5970 review, but a bunch of full-fledged games are definitely on their way.


This week marks the launch of another major title to support this technology, Dirt 2, the latest in a series of off-road racing games featuring the late Colin McRae. While the game launched early September on consoles, the PC version was delayed to bring full support for DX11 graphics and should start hitting stores in the next few days. Valve's Steam quotes a December 4 unlock date, and Amazon.com says the game starts shipping December 8.

Whatever the case, Codemasters has announced a playable demo is available now from the official site. The 1.32GB download includes a Moroccan point-to-point event in the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT and an eight-trophy truck race around the Ensenada Port circuit in Baja California. A benchmarking tool is also available as part of the demo so you can test your rig against the new DirectX 11 features.

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Now if the new DX11 Radeon cards would actually become available, we'd be good to go! ;)
 
It would be nice to see DirectX 9 screenshots being compared to DirectX 11 screenshots. Most of the time, games that support older versions of DirectX are only slightly better when running with a newer version of the API.
 
I'm downloading the demo now. I'm surprised that Codemasters was able to churn out a DX11 game this quickly. I wonder just how well Dirt 2 takes advantage of the DX11 features and what I'll miss with my dual 4770 setup.
 
looking good. although I can't really tell too much difference unless you put the dx10 and dx11 side by side:)
 
I can hardly tell the difference between dx9, 10, or 11 personally. I'd need someone to explain to me how it's different. I know they render differently, but I just don't know how it supposedly looks differently.

Still neat that they're putting out DX11 games though.
 
Most of the difference I notice in comparison between DX9, 10, and 11 have to do with subtle detail... Fluids, reflections, smoothing, some lighting effects. It's a lot like watching a DVD on a good high-def TV, then watching a Blu-Ray of the same movie. There is just a bit more clarity and sharpness to the details, that you don't notice in the DVD playback until you have the Blu-Ray to compare to.
 
Heretic, here's a good article on the specific advantages of DX11 over DX10: http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/directx-11-475655

Unfortunately, screenshots don't do it justice. I've seen a number of screenies that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two (and even DX9 for that matter). However, it's the animation where DX11 really shows it's stuff. The fill rate is MUCH faster and efficient than DX10. Allowing for more sophisticated and realistic display.
 
If only i were to win a ATI 5850 video card....then i could test the DX11 performance.

Nice to see advances in the graphics world. We've come a long ways from 8-bit Nintendo.
 
I would love to see some side-by-side shots with DX9, DX 10, and DX 11. The Unigine Heaven Benchmark shows some pretty impressive increases in detailed with DX 11 tessellation enabled but it came at a big hit to your performance. Personally I can't tell a difference going between DX 10 and DX 11. If it is the same with DX 11 it would make it a lot easier to hold off on a graphics card upgrade.
 
The difference is harder to tell than Dx9 Vs Dx10..
Actually I don't really see any diff at all!!
 
You will be able to play the game on a non-DX11 card but you won't be able to enjoy the DX11 features.
 
I really never saw a huge difference between DX9 vs DX10 games. I highly doubt i'll see a difference between DX10 and 11 games. lol
 
Lets say you have a dx11 card. Whats the performance difference for 9/10/11? Thats my first question. After that, does 11 really make a visual difference over 10?
 
i just tried out the demo, and it runs great.
i have a core duo e6600 oc'd to 3ghz 4gb ram and radeon 5770 and played on 1680/1050 all settings on max, it was as smooth as a babies bottom.
 
Personally I haven't noticed a difference between running a game in Dx9 and Dx10, but then again I have an old CRT monitor. I imagine you notice the different a lot more on a nice flat screen.

I probably wont worry about upgrading my graphics card to one that can run dx11 until I have a monitor that I will be able to see the difference on.
 
Cool, but I'll have to wait a long while to try this out cause I'm waiting for Fermi. Maybe TechSpot will do a side by side comparison of DX9, DX10, and DX11 of this game.
 
a side by side would be nice but i can almost bet you that the dx 10 and 11 game looks the same. DX 11 is just a lot better at making it easier for people to code the same scene or with less passes versus dx 10 or 10.1 but it will still give dx 11 cards the edge in dx 11 titles. i need to download this demo and test it out to see what its all about.
 
Very nice. Hopefully the internship I'm signed up for goes into motion and I'll be able to afford a small upgrade from my 8800 GTS 512. I love this card, but it's about 2 years old now and I feel the need for something a little better.
 
The graphics in this game look impressive, not as neat as in GT5 but they look good, I'm planning to get a radeon 5870 as soon as it shows up around here, shouldn't take long. I'm downloading the demo in this moment, let's see how it runs, but it seems promising
 
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