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June 3, 2019Jun 3, 201906/3/19[Updated June 13th to clarify support for FreeSync]
With Windows Version 1903, we have added a new toggle in Graphics Settings for variable refresh rate. Variable refresh rate (VRR) is similar to NVIDIA’s G-SYNC, AMD’s FreeSync, and VESA DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync.
This new OS support is only to augment these experiences and does not replace them.
May 14, 2019May 14, 201905/14/19Our partners at IO Interactive, the developers of the award-winning HITMAN franchise, recently added DirectX 12 support to HITMAN 2, with impressive results. IO Interactive was so excited that they wanted to share a bit about how their innovative use of DirectX 12 benefits HITMAN gamers everywhere.
April 16, 2019Apr 16, 201904/16/19tl;dr;
In the next update to Windows, codenamed 19H1, D3D12 will allow drivers to use idle priority background CPU threads to dynamically recompile shader programs. This can improve GPU performance by specializing shader code to better match details of the hardware it is running on and/or the context in which it is being used.
April 9, 2019Apr 9, 201904/9/19Engineering specs for a number of DirectX features, including DirectX Raytracing, Variable Rate Shading, and all of D3D11, are now available at https://microsoft.github.io/DirectX-Specs. This supplements the official API documentation with an extra level of detail that can be useful to expert developers.
April 2, 2019Apr 2, 201904/2/19In the next update to Windows, codenamed 19H1, the DirectX12 debug layer adds support for GPU-based validation (GBV) of shader model 6.x (DXIL) as well as the previously supported shader model 5.x (DXBC).
GBV is a GPU timeline validation that modifies and injects validation instructions directly into application shaders.
March 26, 2019Mar 26, 201903/26/19In the next update to Windows, codenamed 19H1, developers can specify DXR state subobjects inside a DXIL library. This provides an easier, flexible, and modular way of defining raytracing state, removing the need for repetitive boilerplate C++ code. This usability improvement was driven by feedback from early adopters of the API,
March 21, 2019Mar 21, 201903/21/19Introduction
Last year at GDC, we shared our excitement about the many possibilities for using machine learning in game development. If you’re unfamiliar with machine learning or neural networks, I strongly encourage you to check out our blog post from last year,
March 18, 2019Mar 18, 201903/18/19One of the sides in the picture below is 14% faster when rendered on the same hardware, thanks to a new graphics feature available only on DirectX 12. Can you spot a difference in rendering quality?
Neither can we. Which is why we’re very excited to announce that DirectX 12 is the first graphics API to offer broad hardware support for Variable Rate Shading.
March 12, 2019Mar 12, 201903/12/19 Today, with game patch 8.1.5 for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard becomes the first game developer to use DirectX 12 for Windows 7! Now, Windows 7 WoW gamers can run the game using DirectX 12 and enjoy a framerate boost, though the best DirectX 12 performance will always be on Windows 10, since Windows 10 contains a number of OS optimizations designed to make DirectX 12 run even faster.
February 5, 2019Feb 5, 201902/5/19It’s been quite a while since we last talked about D3D11On12, which enables incremental porting of an application from D3D11 to D3D12 by allowing developers to use D3D11 interfaces and objects to drive the D3D12 API. Since that time, there’s been quite a few changes,
Uncategorized
June 3, 2019Jun 3, 201906/3/19[Updated June 13th to clarify support for FreeSync]
With Windows Version 1903, we have added a new toggle in Graphics Settings for variable refresh rate. Variable refresh rate (VRR) is similar to NVIDIA’s G-SYNC, AMD’s FreeSync, and VESA DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync.
This new OS support is only to augment these experiences and does not replace them.
May 14, 2019May 14, 201905/14/19Our partners at IO Interactive, the developers of the award-winning HITMAN franchise, recently added DirectX 12 support to HITMAN 2, with impressive results. IO Interactive was so excited that they wanted to share a bit about how their innovative use of DirectX 12 benefits HITMAN gamers everywhere.
April 16, 2019Apr 16, 201904/16/19tl;dr;
In the next update to Windows, codenamed 19H1, D3D12 will allow drivers to use idle priority background CPU threads to dynamically recompile shader programs. This can improve GPU performance by specializing shader code to better match details of the hardware it is running on and/or the context in which it is being used.
April 9, 2019Apr 9, 201904/9/19Engineering specs for a number of DirectX features, including DirectX Raytracing, Variable Rate Shading, and all of D3D11, are now available at https://microsoft.github.io/DirectX-Specs. This supplements the official API documentation with an extra level of detail that can be useful to expert developers.
April 2, 2019Apr 2, 201904/2/19In the next update to Windows, codenamed 19H1, the DirectX12 debug layer adds support for GPU-based validation (GBV) of shader model 6.x (DXIL) as well as the previously supported shader model 5.x (DXBC).
GBV is a GPU timeline validation that modifies and injects validation instructions directly into application shaders.
March 26, 2019Mar 26, 201903/26/19In the next update to Windows, codenamed 19H1, developers can specify DXR state subobjects inside a DXIL library. This provides an easier, flexible, and modular way of defining raytracing state, removing the need for repetitive boilerplate C++ code. This usability improvement was driven by feedback from early adopters of the API,
March 21, 2019Mar 21, 201903/21/19Introduction
Last year at GDC, we shared our excitement about the many possibilities for using machine learning in game development. If you’re unfamiliar with machine learning or neural networks, I strongly encourage you to check out our blog post from last year,
March 18, 2019Mar 18, 201903/18/19One of the sides in the picture below is 14% faster when rendered on the same hardware, thanks to a new graphics feature available only on DirectX 12. Can you spot a difference in rendering quality?
Neither can we. Which is why we’re very excited to announce that DirectX 12 is the first graphics API to offer broad hardware support for Variable Rate Shading.
March 12, 2019Mar 12, 201903/12/19 Today, with game patch 8.1.5 for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard becomes the first game developer to use DirectX 12 for Windows 7! Now, Windows 7 WoW gamers can run the game using DirectX 12 and enjoy a framerate boost, though the best DirectX 12 performance will always be on Windows 10, since Windows 10 contains a number of OS optimizations designed to make DirectX 12 run even faster.
February 5, 2019Feb 5, 201902/5/19It’s been quite a while since we last talked about D3D11On12, which enables incremental porting of an application from D3D11 to D3D12 by allowing developers to use D3D11 interfaces and objects to drive the D3D12 API. Since that time, there’s been quite a few changes,
@DirectX12 (Twitter)
DirectX-Specs (GitHub)
DirectX-Graphics-Samples (GitHub)
DirectX 12 and Graphics Education (YouTube)
PIX on Windows (Performance tuning and debugging for DirectX 12)
