Direct X 11

What's the big deal about Direct X11?

Direct X 11 allows for the creation of more immersive and detailed worlds and experiences. It helps make gameplay smoother for players as they move through the world. Direct X 11 boasts a number of features.

Tessellation allows for the calculation of smoother curved surfaces, resulting in more graphically detailed images. This gives games a more organic feel and allows for more lifelike characters. This feature, however, is not an active feature in WoW at this time.

Direct X 11 allows for multithreading. This is the ability to scale across multi-core CPUs, which results in faster frame rates for games, while still supporting the increased visual detailing. In a nutshell, it makes everything smoother and better-looking without sacrificing speed.

Were you aware that World of Warcraft can be enabled to work with DX 11? The process is actually fairly straightforward. You can open your Config.wtf file in your World of Warcraft folder with any text editor and add this line in:

SET gxApi "d3d11"

If you are uncomfortable with editing WoW's config folder, you can use another method. Follow these steps: Right-click your WoW.exe shortcut and go to Properties. Under the shortcut tab in the target field, add "-d3d11" with a space between what is already in the target field, without the quotes.

Now, when you launch the game, it will have DX 11 enabled. Turning this on can cause higher frame rates and better processing of visual effects. If you have a graphics card that that can support it, you will be in for a treat. What really sold me on it was how things looked from underwater. Historically, when you were underneath the surface of the water, you could only see shadows and some movement above the surface. With a card that can handle the graphics and DX 11 enabled, I was able to clearly see through the surface of the water from a decent distance below. I could make out details of color, race and class. Imagine how useful that will be in the underwater zone of Vashj'ir where (as you may have guessed) you will spend most of your time completely underwater.

Upgrading you graphics card can give you a large increase in your gaming performance; it will allow you to see things more clearly and react to them accordingly. There's no time like the present to update. With Cataclysm's release, you have the perfect excuse to upgrade your gear and really crank up the graphics to awe-inspiring levels. After all, doesn't your computer deserve some epic loot as well?