direct x 9 vs. direct x 8.1

okay, just wanted to ask a graphic card/direct x question. i currently own an ati radeon 8500le 64 mb, which does not utilize any of the direct x 9 features, which is what nba live 2004 has. however, the game runs smooth and looks great as is (i'm running direct x 9.0b). i'm thinking of upgrading to the ati 9800 pro 128mb version, but what am i really missing with the card i have now? i mean, it's not choppy or anything and looks great. what are these features that direct x 9 has that direct x 8.1 doesn't? has anyone recently done a similar upgrade and been able to pick out the new features?

thanks in advance.

With dx9 the changes include but are not limited to: pixel shader 2.0, HDR lighting, and a few more that I can't think of off the top of my head. As far as I know, Live 2004 does NOT use any real dx9 exclusive features, so really I don't think you are missing much (if anything) the way it is right now with the 8500LE. Keep in mind just because dx9 compatible drivers are released for your card it does not mean that your card can display dx9 features.

Where you WOULD see a difference is if you play the tiny amount of dx9 games that were released so far: tomb raider angel of darkness, Halo (parts of it), Gun Metal, etc. With Halo, I know the 8500LE will not cut it and does not render MANY pixel shaders properly (such as invisibility effects, water).

If you can get the 9800pro for a decent price and you have a fairly up to date computer (at least 2.0Ghz), I'd say go for it. It's MUCH faster than the 8500LE and you should be able to run the newest dx9 games at least at 30fps in the worst case scenarios.