Upgrading a video card from DX9 to DX10

[comrade]

Okay..., probably a dumb question, but here goes.

Is there any way, or has anyone heard of someone doing a firmware/bios/or whatever, modification on a BFG Nvidia Overclocked 7900GTX, to upgrade it from DX9 to DX10?

I realize that the makers of video cards probably wouldn't be too happy about this, figuring that it might cost them a sale. But I paid a decent price for a 7900GTX last year, and although it does quite well in most things I've tried to run on it, the possiblity of convincing the wife that I need a new toy right now, is pretty low!

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Hate to break it to you but it can't be done.

It's not like the X3100 where there's yet to be unlocked programmable features.

The GF7 and X1K series just don't have the hardware to do al the DX10 work on the cards in hardware.

They can emulate and hardware assist the CPU in replicating those hardware features found in the DX10 cards, but it's wicked dog slow (think 10-50 times slower), and even then some things just wouldn't be right due to the way it's done and how it would quickly spiral out of control on the memory resources level. And basically doing anything in emulation would be so slow and stuck at such a low resolution that the plain DX9 pathway would give you a much better experience, although if you were to stitch all the frames together being rendered at like 2 seconds per frame you might have a nice looking scene, just nothing playable.

I would suggest talking to the wife and convincing her to agree on letting you spend the difference between what you sell the GF7900 for and what it costs you to buy a GF8800GTS, that's your best bet until the 256bit midrange cards come out in the fall IMO.

If you can find a good buyer for the GTX and get ~$160+ for it, then you only need about $100 more which is alot easier sell than telling her you need a $260 video card. That would be my strategy, but then again I don't have those concerns.... which explains why I have a closet full of ski gear.

 

[haywood]

That is a pretty good card and should last you a while. Start socking (hiding) 40 bucks a month and in 6 months you can buy a killer DX10 card.