FPS Issues related to DX9 and DX9 support on newer GPU hardware

[ThaDaLinkWent]

I've been observing DX9 support slowly but surely getting quietly phased out because modern games don't use that API anymore. Newer GPUs either do one of two things with it. They either still continue to support it but just barely or they emulate it. I've noticed that most of my WAY older games struggle on my brand new hardware that got me thinking that DX9 support really isn't a priority like it used to be.

If you're like me with a lot of old games that use DirectX9 API that struggle with low FPS on modern hardware, I'd strongly recommend using DXVK (DirectX Vulkan) to help fix the issue. Your miles may vary from game to game but dear lord it's a vast improvement once installed properly. I went from struggling to reach 30 FPS in this DX9 title on modern hardware to well over 100 FPS with the help of DXVK. Was shocked by such an uplift in performance.

[rarestMeow]

hello,

that is a very good advice, actually! thank you very much. I wonder whether it will fix black screen issues and bugged Uroboros-2 fight

I copypaste my answer from another thread for those who never bothered with DXVK and not sure how to run it:

1) test Vulkan-compability for your GPU
download and run small test from here - https://github.com/skeeto/vulkan-test
if it says that Vulcan-instance was created successfully then your GPU supports Vulkan
more info can be found here - https://vulkan.gpuinfo.org/

2) download DXVK
link - https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases/
version 2.0 is a major rewrite of DXVK and may not work correctly for majority of the games under Windows. better use 1.10.3

3) unpack downloaded archive
use 7-zip - https://www.7-zip.org/download.html
it can handle *.tar files

4) detect what Direct3D / DirectX the game uses
check pcGamingWiki, for example - https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Resident_Evil_5#API

5) detect the game's architecture - x32 or x64
look in Task Manager or whatever

6) once you figured that stuff put the correct DXVK into in-game folder (next to *.exe file)
for DirectX9 game - d3d9.dll
for DirectX10 game - d3d10.dll, d3d10_1.dll, d3d10core.dll, d3d11.dll * and dxgi.dll
for DirectX11 game - d3d11.dll and dxgi.dll
* - not a typo. you need d3d11.dll for DirectX10 games
mind the game's architecture! game can crash with x32 files onto x64 games and likewise

in some cases you have to put those files into a specific folders. for example games under Unreal Engine 4 require them to be put into /bin folder

7) try to launch the game
if you get an error or issue, like GPU cannot be detected or it saying that your GPU doesn't support DirectX 9 - 11 then try to use older version of DXVK. but from my experience 1.10.3 works just fine with every tested game

8) ensure that Vulkan actually works
if you see newly created *.log files (*_dxgi.log , *_d3d9.log , *_d3d10.log , *_d3d11.log) then Vulkan is working fine. congrats

Vulkan not only helps to mitigate various fps/framerate issues but also can be used to bypass Windows10/11-lock for some games like God of War, Elden Ring, Mass Effect Remake, new Assassin's Creed and etc . but actual Vulkan performance varies heavily between the games, don't expect it magically solve all your issues. in some cases Vulkan can make the game unplayable or brake its graphics