DirectX Developer Blog
The latest news on Microsoft's Graphics and Display technology
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Announcing AgilitySDK 721 Preview and an addition to LinAlg in Shader Model 6.10
Overview Today, we are pleased to announce Agility SDK 1.721-preview with new D3D features along with DXC 1.10.2605.4 adding VectorAccumulate to LinAlg in the existing Shader Model 6.10 preview. The previous 1.720-preview and SM 6.10 preview blog is still relevant, as all of its features are available here too. Here are the new features. More detail is further below as well as download and driver links. Downloads Drivers See Appendix > Feature Support for the full table of each feature's supported hardware. The WARP software device supports all these features...
Partial Graphics Programs
Overview Following the GDC announcement of the partial graphics programs feature, we are pleased to announce that it is available today in the AgilitySDK 1.721-preview. Checkout the release blog for more details about the full release. This preview serves as a first look to explore what might be possible to ship in a future retail Agility SDK. We encourage developers to try out the feature and provide feedback to https://discord.gg/directx which may influence the final design. Downloads Drivers See Appendix > Feature Support for the full table of each feature's supported hardware. The ...
Advanced Shader Delivery expands Public Preview with AMD
Last October, we released Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) on the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. Advanced Shader Delivery addresses one of the most frustrating challenges for PC players today – long load times and disruptive stuttering during a game’s first launch. The feature works by delivering precompiled shaders to your game at download time, reducing load time by up to 90% and eliminating shader stutter. Since the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, we’ve partnered with AMD to invest in and improve the experience of players on PC. Today, Advanced Shader Delivery expands beyond ROG Xbox Ally handhelds to Window...
Automatic Super Resolution Preview Comes to the ROG Xbox Ally X for Docked Play
We previously introduced Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) on select Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs, to make games look sharper and play smoother. Today, we're excited to give Xbox Insiders the opportunity to help us test and refine this feature on the ROG Xbox Ally X for docked play, where balancing framerate (FPS) and image quality can be especially challenging. Imagine this... You've just had a great gaming session on your ROG Xbox Ally X on the go. Everything looks incredibly sharp and plays smoothly on your 7-inch screen. You dock it, lean back, and look up at your TV to keep playing, but now, stretching acro...
Announcing Shader Model 6.10 Preview and AgilitySDK 720 Preview
Overview Today, we are pleased to announce that Shader Model 6.10 and other features have been officially released with Agility SDK 1.720-preview and complementary DXC 1.10.2605.2. AgilitySDK 1.720-preview exposes the following features. There's more detail further below, including download and driver links. Downloads Hardware Support See Appendix > Feature Support for the full table of each feature's supported hardware. Features HLSL Features (Shader Model 6.10): linalg::Matrix Shader Model 6.10 introduces a set of Matrix APIs covering a br...
D3D12 LinAlg Matrix Preview
Welcome to the D3D12 LinAlg Matrix Preview release! Today, we are excited to announce the preview release for the D3D12 Linear Algebra APIs! This feature set unlocks comprehensive hardware acceleration for Matrix-oriented operations across various use cases. Previously, we announced the WaveMMA and Cooperative Vectors features which supported narrow matrix operation use cases; the LinAlg feature set being announced today subsumes these APIs into a singular set of orthogonal APIs. With today's announcement, we are enabling developers to both efficiently drive neural rendering techniques directly from individual...
Evolving DirectX for the ML Era on Windows
At GDC this year, we shared how machine learning is becoming foundational to real time graphics, and how DirectX is evolving to meet that shift across shader level and model level ML. ML is no longer a niche optimization or a postprocess trick. It’s increasingly embedded throughout the graphics pipeline, influencing how frames are generated, how content is authored, and how game developers realize their artistic vision. DirectX is evolving to support this future— one where ML is a first-class citizen alongside traditional rendering workloads. Introducing DX Linear Algebra Last year, DirectX took a major step in...
DirectX: Bringing Console-Level Developer Tools to Windows
On March 12th, 2026, the DirectX team and our hardware partners hosted DirectX: Bringing Console-Level GPU Developer Tools to Windows at GDC. We shared our dream of bringing console-level GPU developer tools to Windows, and today we are announcing a major step toward that goal with the biggest wave of new tooling features in DirectX's history.  For the first time, all four Windows GPU hardware partners joined us on stage to demonstrate these features running on their hardware. AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm have worked closely with us throughout feature development, each making significant contributions to ...
Advanced Shader Delivery: What’s New at GDC 2026
Today we announced the innovation we’re bringing in solving shader compilation for the ecosystem at our GDC Talk: Advanced Shader Delivery for Windows. Want to find out what this means for solving shader compilation for your title and customers? Read on! State of the Industry Long shader compilation times and in-game shader stutter for D3D12 apps are two of the biggest problems in PC gaming. These problems are caused by compiling shaders at runtime. Unlike console, PC games do not have a fixed driver and GPU environment, and precompiled shaders need a way to be delivered to a large matrix of drivers and GPUs in...