DirectX was first released in 1996 and is the interface that makes Windows the dominant operating system for gaming. When this feature was first introduced in Windows 95, it made it possible for game developers to access low-end hardware features and fine-tune games.
DirectX is one of the most important components of the operating system, because without this component, it is not possible for games to access the hardware in Windows. Unlike a console like the Xbox One, where there is only one graphics card, Windows gives you lots of options when it comes to hardware configurations. Depending on your budget, you can assemble hundreds of combinations of PCs with motherboards and chipsets, from the GTX 1660 to the top RTX 3090 graphics card, or from the A320 to the X570.
This wide variety of configurations requires tweaks to settings and textures in games, making things difficult for PC game developers. This is where DirectX comes in handy. This feature allows games to “talk” to the hardware directly, making it easy for game makers to offer optimized settings for each configuration.
What is DirectX Anyway?
DirectX is a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide low-level access to hardware components such as video cards, sound cards, and memory. If that sounds too complicated, let’s break things down. At a basic level, DirectX allows games to “talk” to video cards. In the DOS days, games had direct access to the video cards and motherboard, and you could directly edit the config file to make changes.
But with Windows 95, Microsoft restricted low-level access to hardware as a security measure. This meant that games could no longer interact with low-end hardware features, and that was an issue. Microsoft introduced DirectX to facilitate this access. In this context, you can think of DirectX as a tool that facilitates the communication between the game and the graphics card.
DirectX isn’t the only API protocol available today, but it’s specific to Windows – unlike the OpenGL standard – and that’s what gives it an advantage. And with DirectX 12 Ultimate, Microsoft is making the border between PC and Xbox Series X a little more transparent, making it much easier for game developers to tailor games for each platform.
Why is DirectX 12 Ultimate Important For Games?
DirectX 12 Ultimate builds on the DirectX 12 foundation and includes several new features that have emerged over the past two years. First and foremost, DirectX Raytracing 1.1; DirectX 12 Ultimate integrates ray tracing, supported by more and more games, into Windows and Microsoft’s new Xbox Series X game console.
DirectX 12 Ultimate also features variable rate shading, which allows a GPU to use its resources more effectively to render objects in focus, resulting in better frame rates and greater accuracy. It also offers features like Sampler Feedback, which improves texture quality while using fewer resources, and includes a number of changes that make next-gen games run more smoothly overall.
In fact, DirectX 12 Ultimate makes it easier for game makers to deliver more immersive games with higher quality textures and lifelike lighting. With these features added to Windows, if you have a video card compatible with the latest version of DirectX, you will immediately start to see a difference.
While it’s exciting to see DirectX 12 Ultimate debut with Xbox Series X, it’s coming to Windows PCs first. AMD RX 6000, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 and Intel’s upcoming Xe HPG graphics cards also offer DirectX 12 Ultimate support. We can say that the cards that will be released after that will also offer DX12 Ultimate support. There is no certainty about what the next DirectX version will be, but you can follow the developments on Microsoft’s DirectX Developer Blog.
