minimum requirements

- The minimum supported is Shader Model 1.1. nVidia started with this in the GeForce 3 series, in February 2001, and ATI with Radeon 8500 from 2001. in If your card says DirectX 8.0 support on the box, then it's Shader Model 1.1.

- The recommended Shader Model is 2.0. Supported by GeForce FX Series, from March 2003 and newer, and ATI with Radeon 9500 in 2002. If your card says DirectX 9.0 support on the box, then it's Shader Model 2.0.

- The Xbox uses Shader Model 3.0. Geforce 6, November 2005, and newer, and ATI with Radeon X1 from October 2005. If your card says DirectX 9.0c support on the box, then it's Shader Model 3.0. nVidia and ATI reference

Windows Vista's Basic and Classic interfaces will support any graphics hardware. Vista's new Aero interface is more demanding, but not more than Shader Model 2.0, i.e. most DirectX 9 graphics cards. You should be fine if you have a card of the NVIDIA GeForce FX family and newer, a ATI Radeon 9500 and later, or Intel's GMA 950 integrated graphics. Vista Graphics

You can't buy the Xbox 360 graphics card and plop into your PC, though, as the Xenos is a custom-built chip designed by ATI for the Xbox. Xbox graphics. But Nvidia started selling Shader Model 3.0 cards in 2004, and ATI in 2005, so if your card is spanking new, you're set to go. If your card is old as heck, maybe you should upgrade.

If your wallet is as thin as mine, then ATI Radeon X850 XT is probably your best bet, comparing price/performance. It doesn't support more than Shader Model 2.0, though, so you could look at nVidia's GeForce 6800 GT, with Shader Model 3.0 support. These two cards should be pretty affordable, since both companies have released a new range of cards.

If you have money to spend, go for a Shader Model 3.0 card. The ATI Radeon X1900 is a good match for the Xbox, but it's not cheap. An alternative would be nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX, which is an improved 7800, with less heat and higher performance. More

As always: IMHO and IIRC.

JoranOmark at 2007-8-31 >

I would imagine the basic requiremnts would be the same or very close to (other than grpahics cards) C# Express.

you may find, as with all such things its your programs that take up the extra resources - textures, music, sounds, sprites and images etc (storage)

aoldenglam at 2007-8-31 >