DirectX: what is it?

The term DirectX appears especially when installing games, but not everyone knows what it is. We clarify it.

DirectX: What do you need it for?

DirectX is not only part of Windows, but is also used on the Xbox. It mainly supports games with complex graphics. You can download the latest version here.

• Since computer games are developed and programmed by a large number of manufacturers, uniform software is required, which mediates between the game, the hardware and the operating system.
• The manufacturer of the game does not have to make sure that his game is suitable for all possible graphics cards, but only has to adapt to the DirectX supported by all graphics cards.
• In addition to the graphics card, the sound card, mouse and network card also work with DirectX.
• The quality of the games depends not only on the graphics card, but also on the supported and installed DirectX version.
• The latest version DirectX 11 is already permanently installed in the system from Windows 7 and is kept up to date via Windows Update.
• To check which version is installed on your PC, press the "Windows" and "R" keys at the same time, enter "dxdiag" and click "OK". At the bottom of the window you can see the installed version (see picture).

Read this practical tip to find out how to fix the error message "d3dx9_43.dll missing".