Microsoft’s Direct X 12, their new set of APIs that is widely expected to give more performance benefits to developers creating games and visual software on PCs running Windows and on Xbox One, will not require you to ditch your current graphics card and get a brand new one to be able to take advantage of it, Microsoft confirmed today.
Your current graphics card, assuming it’s not ancient or terrible, should be just fine, though they did add that higher end features may be locked out unless you upgrade. “Microsoft’s recent demonstration of a few new Windows 10 game experiences powered by DirectX12 has led some people to ask what specific hardware will be supported by the DirectX12 API,” said Microsoft in a statement released today.
“While we are not yet ready to detail everything related to DirectX12, we can share that we are working closely with all of our hardware partners to help ensure that most modern PC gaming hardware will work well with DirectX12, including; NVIDIA’s Maxwell, Kepler and Fermi-based GPUs, Intel’s 4th generation (and newer) Core processors and AMD’s Graphics Core Next (GCN) based GPUs. We’ll have more to share about DirectX12 at GDC in March.”
This is contrary to what was revealed after the Windows 10 event. Regardless, this is good news for PC gamers. It appears you will be fine, and the $300 you just spent on your new graphics card won’t be going to waste after all.
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