Testing Directx

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1 comment, last by Armadon 17 years, 11 months ago
Are there any programs to test direct x features other than dxdiag? I need something more comprehensive than a textured rotating primitive... it seems like there is either an issue with loading many textures or using 2d sprites with my graphics card so I was hoping there might be something to specifically test features such as those? (I could make my own but it would be in managed directx which could add a slew of extra issues, plus I don't trust my own coding.) Any help appreciated, thanks...
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Years ago I used to use 3DMark for these purposes. The latest versions are bastardised beyond belief unless you pay for them, but 3DMark 2001 probably will work. However, that's only a little better than running games to test if things show up correctly.

If you really want to go hard code, you can try Microsoft's WHQL test kit. Haven't done it myself, so I don't know how it works or whether you need extra stuff for it. However, it tests 3D features, which is what you want. (And it's not completely comprehensive, as drivers continue to not work fully with every title even though they pass WHQL.)

BTW, the normal procedure is just to run your code with the reference device and the debug runtime. If you don't get any errors this way, then it's likely that the card/driver is the problem. It's unlikely that 3rd party programs will test for exactly the problem you're experiencing.

As for white textures, make sure you test the return code for your texture allocations. If you run out of memory for textures, and you don't notice this, you'll be setting null textures to the samplers.
I'd agree with ET3D,
The latest versions of 3DMark are somewhat dissapointing. I would also reiterate that 3DMark2001 will probably suite your needs. It would be an interesting project at least to try and create your own. You could run everything from checking shader capabilities and more.

I hope this helps.
Take care.

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