Direct 3D 11 not available in Max 2015

[Anonymous]

When I go to the Choose Driver menu in Max Design 2015's preferences, it shows that Direct 3D 9.0 is default. I want to change to Direct 3D 11, but it doesn't show up as an option in the dropdown. I thought maybe the graphic card didn't support it, but that doesn't seem to be the case: If I run Max design 2014 on the same machine, I can choose Direct 3D 11 with no problem. Any ideas what's going on?

Op system: Win 7 Pro SP1
Gfx card: ATI FireGL V8650

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I believe this happens when there are some features in 2015 that are likely not supported with DirectX 11 on that card.  I checked the supported hardware list and it's not specifically listed, however it isn't for 2014 either.   There are likely features in 2015 that are not supported for your card on DX11.  However, just to be sure we might try to reset your user settings and see if perhaps they were corrupted.  If after reset the situation is the same, I believe it's not supported for that card in 2015.  The card was made in 2007 so it likely is missing a feature used in 2015 that wasn't used in 2014. 

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Alfred. No luck on the reset - I still don't get the option for Nitrous 11.0. I can't use Nitrous 9.0 either - Max crashes as soon as I get into wireframe mode. So I'm using legacy Direct 3D 9.0 - it's slow as a turtle. Our department just got three new machines with that same FireGL card...I'm now getting slower interactivity than I was on my old machine running Max 2014 with a card that supports Nitrous.

[Anonymous]

Alfred, do you have any recommendations on graphics cards that would be good for Max 2015? Looks like we need an upgrade.

System specs:

- Win 7 Pro

- Processor: Xeon CPU ES-1650 0 @ 3.20 GHz  3.20 GHz

- 64 bit

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I do have a concern that if it worked on 2014 and not on 2015 that maybe it's a driver issue. This page for Revit does say it's supported with DX9 on 2013... however it's not listed anywhere on any year for 3ds Max.  This page on ATI's website shows they have a history of making drivers for that era specifically for OpenGL.  

Before you go buy a bunch of stuff, can you try some different windows drivers for the card?  I'm in their web site and it does appear that they released drivers specifically for Autodesk apps back in the day.  I couldn't find any for your model but I'm not super familiar with ATI cards.  If all else fails, at least we did our due diligence together.  

That being said, I highly suggest that the next card if you buy one is on the approved list of cards.  Those are tested and verified to work with Max.  I'm not officially supposed to recommend a graphics card or hardware on the forums, so I'm a bit limited in what I can say.  

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

I went to the AMD site and downloaded their latest driver - which was from 2012. It didn't improve anything though...Max 2015 still doesn't give me the option of Nitrous 11. It gives me an option for Nitrous 9, but that makes Max crash.

I will research some of the Autodesk-certified cards then start another thread to see if anyone has recommendations.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous and thank you for the update!

I've sent an email to one of our QA analysts (nicest guy on the planet) and when I hear back I'll let you know definitively what is the final word.  I just want to cross my t's and dot my i's before you go and spend some money on anything.  Thanks so much and have a great weekend!

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Thanks Alfred!

[Alfred.DeFlaminis · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous,

I did hear back from QA and he was able to confirm that the card is not supported.  2014 technically shouldn't have listed DX11 so it's weird that it works in 2014 at all.  

I know that's not the best news but it's at least confirmation.  Thank you for your patience while I looked into this for you, I wouldn't have wanted to be wrong and then you spent money unnecessarily.  Thank you for taking the time to fill me in as I learned about your issue.

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Yes...I figured we need to upgrade the card...it came out over nine years ago. Thanks for the help.