DirectX 8.2

[SKYHN]

I saw this posted at Madonion's news.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=43347&area=search&ordinal=9

Note that it says:

"This release of DirectX is not recommended for general installation. You should only consider installing this release if you have an online gaming problem that has been identified as being fixed with DirectX 8.2. This version of DirectX can replace all previous released versions of DirectX."

Would it really screw stuff up if you downloaded it? Because say you are having problems with 1 game and downloaded it, what would happen to your other games? I read on Madonion that Combat Flight Sim 3 comes with this version of DirectX and is required to be installed.

Anyone willing to be a guinea pig?

[ZeRo_MaXwInG]

Lots of updates like this say not to install if you dont have problems. I've updated my mobo's BIOS even when the system was fine to begin with. So I'm going to d/l Direct X 8.2 and see what does.

Edit: Microsoft does not support un-installation.



Just read this. I'm gonna try it anyways.

[Tweaker]

Just in case something goes wrong this might help. ;)

Direct X Uninstaller (http://www.programfiles-download.co.uk/cgi-bin/Countme/Games/Games.cgi?DXUn_util.exe)

[ZeRo_MaXwInG]

Thanks Tweak.

Well, I passed the first test. Windows loaded. I tried playing War3 and to my surprise, it loaded much fast than in 8.1. Second, Aquanox ran the same with no speed increase or anything. Everything else seemed alright. I think I'll run a 3dMark on it soon and post up the results. Can't tell how stable is it since I came here right after testing out both games.

The install was confusing though. It was zipped for one, MS usually dont do this. this screenies says it all.


You have to run the setup file that I highlighted. The other one doesn't do anything. It's still pretty much released prematurely, you notice how it says 8.1, even when you run the setup files. I had doubts whether I was installing 8.1 or 8.2.

[SKYHN]

Rofl, I just noticed something. Look what MS's estimated download time is for this on a 28.8 modem:

Estimated Download Size/Time @28.8 - 28,325,976 kb / 2237h 27min

3 months?? Someone screwed up :)

[TheeMon]

how big is the actual file?

[bLaCkOuT]

28 Megs or so it seems by SKYHN's post

[ZeRo_MaXwInG]

Didn't notice that either. Even the page where you download is done pre-maturely.

An update:

Haven't ran 3dmark yet but played some other games and ran some multimedia stuff. WMP loaded a bit faster, somewhat noticable. War3 is pretty much the same except for the load time stated in my previous post. Nothing much else so I'm guessing 8.2 has only specfic bug fixes and the overall performance increase will not be noticed. However, I think some performance differences would appear on slower machines, since mine is fairly new.

AMD Athlon 2100+
GeForce3 Ti500
ECSk7s5a
Windows 98 SE
256 MB DDR @ 266 MHz


Recommended for people having problems with games like random hangs or graphic glitches.

[SKYHN]

I dont believe its changes anything but updates Direct Play with bug fixes. Shouldnt increase graphic performance at all.

[Outlaw]

Originally posted by SKYHN
Rofl, I just noticed something. Look what MS's estimated download time is for this on a 28.8 modem:

Estimated Download Size/Time @28.8 - 28,325,976 kb / 2237h 27min

3 months?? Someone screwed up :) 28,325,976 KB = 28,325 MB = 28 GB
That's one bigass file. :D

[bLaCkOuT]

Bah =p Didn't see the K and assumed it wouldn't be 28G :D