How to Check Whether Your Graphics Card is DirectX 9 Compatible

Is old still gold? Yes, under the right circumstances

4 min. read

Published onJune 28, 2024

published onJune 28, 2024

Share this article

Improve this guide

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

DirectX is a technology that has significantly improved over the years with newer versions developing and taking over the mantle from DirectX 9.

However, even as technology advances, we’re inclined to stick to older hardware and older technology for compatibility purposes. Some games are also yet to receive an update for years so they may not be compatible with newer DirectX versions.

So, yes. DirectX 9 is still supported especially for backward compatibility. It was majorly developed for Windows 10 and since theoperating system market sharereveals that a significant number of users are still on this OS, it explains why it is still being used.

Further, you may be unable to play some games and keep getting theDirectX 9 requirederror message until you install this version.

How do I check if my graphics card is compatible with DirectX 9?

You can also use the same steps tocheck whether your graphics card is DirectX 12 compatible. However, for a more advanced method of checking, you can install one of theGPU diagnostic toolsthat not only check the version but can also troubleshoot issues with your graphics card.

How do I install DirectX 9 on Windows 11?

1. Download DirectX 9

2. Enable Direct Play

DirectX is usually installed by default on most Windows versions but if you’re on a newer OS, you may need to download older versions like DirectX 9 manually. Enabling Direct Play ensures that your games play smoothly with no lags or stuttering.

What are the benefits of using DirectX 9-compatible graphics cards?

Although Windows 11 supports DirectX 12 which is the latest version, you can still use DirectX 9 for older games that do not support the newer version.

You may experience some performance bottlenecks since DirectX 9 cannot leverage fully the advancements in Windows 11 because it has a hard time matching up to modern hardware.

However, these issues are not unique to DirectX 9.DirectX 12 can be laggysometimes but as long as you have apowerful GPU, these issues may be insignificant.

Should you face any problems with DirectX 9 not working on your PC, it’s probably avideo driver issue. Reinstalling your graphic card drivers should remedy this error or reinstall DirectX. For a more detailed account on how to deal withDirectX errorshead-on, check out our guide.

That’s all we had for this article but we’d like to get your thoughts on DirectX 9. Have you used it on a newer Windows version? How was its performance? Let us know in the comment section below.

How to Check Whether Your Graphics Card is DirectX 9 Compatible#

How do I check if my graphics card is compatible with DirectX 9?#

How do I install DirectX 9 on Windows 11?#

1. Download DirectX 9#

2. Enable Direct Play#

What are the benefits of using DirectX 9-compatible graphics cards?#