DirectX 8 Vs DirectX 9 Cards

[Twiggz]

Is there a major difference between DirectX 8 and DirectX 9 compatible video cards?

I've noticed on frame rate benchmarks that the difference in not big but when on a 3DMark2003 benchmark there is a considerable difference.

The Geforce TI4200 has better specs than the Geforce FX5200 but does not support DirectX 9 and OpenGL 1.4 whereas the FX5200 does.

Is this a major concern when looking to buy a peformance card but keeping price in mind?

Thanks in advance.

 

[edemiere]

For the time being, no. However, once games/applications are written to take advantage of DirectX 9 hardware they will outperform those written for DirectX 8.

And moving to DirectX 9 is only a matter of time, from a development standpoint.

Pros and Cons to each, in the end you have to decide.

Cheers!