# Direct X 9.0 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831 "2011-02-10T00:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831/1 "2011-02-10T00:50:32Z")
I recently bought Civilization 5. After installing it and starting the game up, I found all the text messed up. Looking online, I found a few workarounds, none of which worked. A little more research, though, showed that there are 2 ways to run the game: With Direct X 11 or with Direct X 9. Because of my laptop’s graphics card, the game won’t run in 11 and has to use 9. I’ve looked around, but can’t find anywhere to download it that seems safe/malware free. (I searched at Microsoft for “Direct X 9”, but it was pretty confusing and _seemed_ like it wasn’t there. However, I admit I couldn’t really decipher the hits it gave me.) So here are the questions: Is there anywhere I can download DirectX 9 safely (Ideally from Microsoft)? And are there any special instructions I need to follow to make my computer use it instead of 11? Toshiba Satellite running Windows Vista, I can provide more details if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831/2 "2011-02-10T01:03:18Z")
You can get the latest version of the runtime [here](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en). ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831/3 "2011-02-10T01:26:24Z")
Civ V should provide you with a choice of DirectX 11 or DirectX 9 mode when you start it up. It does for me, anyway. Also, you don’t need to download anything; the game should have installed it for you. ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831/4 "2011-02-10T17:39:10Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > Civ V should provide you with a choice of DirectX 11 or DirectX 9 mode when you start it up. It does for me, anyway. Also, you don’t need to download anything; the game should have installed it for you. It installed something, but I think it was DirectX 11. I read that I should be given the option, but my best guess is that since I don’t have 9, the game just assumes it should run in 11. **Palooka** : Thanks for the link. I’ll download it when I get home and see how things work out. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831/5 "2011-02-11T04:29:57Z")
Welcome to Microsoft World, where despite what you might think DirectX 11 is not a replacement for DirectX 9 and they can run perfectly happily alongside each other. And where DirectX 9.0c still has new versions released every now and then without incrementing the version string in any way. **Palooka** ’s link will sort you out, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direct-x-9-0/570831/6 "2011-02-12T20:37:59Z")
Thanks for the help, I finally got things working. I had to download a workaround (PM if you need the link), but that and getting Direct X 9 worked.