Attention: Real difference between ION and ION LE

[runawayprisoner]

The real difference? Nothing! And I have proofs:

http://img42.imageshack.us/i/dx10unigine.png/

http://img260.imageshack.us/i/dxdiag.png/

I won't tell you how that happened just yet. nVidia and Microsoft might have... better things to say. If you are too curious, you can try finding out what I censored out from those screenshots

Short version: yes, ION LE supports DirectX 10!

Also note: remember me saying that I can run some games at 1280 x 720 smoothly? Yeah... apparently, that's related to this.

[solarnoise]

...?

Are you sure that isn't just saying what version run time is installed?

[runawayprisoner]

...?

Are you sure that isn't just saying what version run time is installed?

No, it isn't. Windows 7 has DirectX 11 so 10 can't be the runtime version. The Unigine benchmark screenshot I posted used DirectX 10 to render. See it says "Direct3D10" there? Also check your dxdiag if you're running Windows Vista or Windows 7. It should say 9Ex under DDI Version.

With DirectX 10 support, my WEI score for gaming went from 3.9 all the way to 5.4

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/8365/gpuzdx10.png

Or better yet, how about I do one run of 3DMark Vantage (which uses DirectX 10) and post the results?

[chesh]

I, and I'm sure everyone else, is interested on how you got DX10 to work. Mind sharing?

[Thinkharder]

Why not just tell us how it's done? What drivers are you using?

[Rensato]

Niceee I'll buy my compaq mini with ion le next week ^^

[runawayprisoner]

Oh well, no harm done in telling, I guess. I just hope nVidia doesn't take this further and block the support from within the drivers in upcoming driver releases.

So what I did was take the driver from the HP site, peek a bit into the INF, and I realized that the install settings are only for ION (device ID 0876, the ION LE that we have in early Mini 311s is 087F), so I added the device id of ION LE in and tried to install the drivers. The end result is just as you can see, DX10 support. DX9 games under Windows 7 also get some very nice performance boosts when you do this. HP's drivers are 186.44 by the way.

So afterwards, I took a look at all of the later drivers (the 19x series) and realized that the device IDs for ION and ION LE are using different installation profiles. I'm still trying to see what the specific reason was for nVidia to disable DirectX 10 support in these chipsets is. So far, they've been working great under DirectX 10, and if anything, at least you get up to 50% more performance out of the GPU for DX9 games by doing this.

Long story short: force the system to install ION drivers, and you get DX10 support for ION LE. I can't say "full support" yet, but I haven't found any DX10 feature that doesn't run. Games also run but you have to switch them back to DX9 either via command consoles or other methods as DX10 mode for some games slow things down quite a bit.

That should be enough hints. If you're having troubles modifying the HP drivers, I'll package mine and upload it somewhere. That's what I'm using right now. The 19x series' control panel is buggy and I can't set flat panel scaling settings right so I don't want to touch them right now...

Also note: this is almost a conspiracy story... like saying that nVidia has been having a fully working ION chip from the start and they are just crippling the ION LE series on purpose... or under Microsoft's policies to accommodate Windows XP. But in any case, the cat's already out of the bag so I guess... let's just blow it over. However, I'm sure there might be more to it than just this. For now, we have DX10 support... for all ION chipsets regardless, and let's just leave it there. Don't blame nVidia or Microsoft or HP just yet... I'm sure they'll come out on their own and offer an explanation.

[Rensato]

Really nice
Thanks for the info =)

[mrkola]

Nice work dude, I will have to try this out when I receive my 311 tomorrow .

[Rensato]

Nice work dude, I will have to try this out when I receive my 311 tomorrow .

*stares enviously*

[solarnoise]

Wow. I'm in awe right now... this is awesome!

I KNEW that they wouldn't bother releasing a whole new piece of hardware sans-DX10.... it had to be a software level thing. All they're doing is releasing a driver that says "No DX10 for you".

I think this is all perfectly legit tampering though... the Microsoft rule just says they can't SELL the XP netbooks with DX10 support, just like they can't SELL a netbook with more than 1GB...

Well, we're already "breaking the rules" by adding more RAM, because that is our right as owners, so there is NO reason why we can't enable DX10 support for ourselves.

There is also no reason for HP or nVidia to change how they handle the drivers... they just needed to meet MS's rules how they sell the devices.

EDIT: by the way. laptopvideo2go.com has been releasing drivers with modified INF's for years, and no one has ever made a fuss, so I think we're good to go

[felipe]

Well dang, here I am eating my pancakes getting bummed reading about how the Mini 311 I just ordered probably doesn't have Dx10 support. Then I stumbled across this thread and everything was better!