DirectX Developer Blog

We’re upgrading to discord!

Jacques van RhynJune 26, 2019Jun 26, 201906/26/19

We’re upgrading the directxtech.com forum to a Discord channel - go to https://discord.gg/directx to join today! We’re going to use our Discord channel in the same way as our directxtech.com forums, which means that game developers will still have a great resource to get their DirectX12 questions answered, file bug reports, and to give ...

Debugger Extension for DRED

Bill KristiansenJune 26, 2019Jun 26, 201906/26/19

Microsoft recently announced the release of DRED (Device Removed Extended Data) for D3D12 in the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (previously referred to as the Windows 10 19H1 Preview).  Buried in that post is a mention that Microsoft is working on a debugger extension to help simplify post-mortem analysis of DRED.  Good news, that debugger ...

OS Variable Refresh Rate

DanielJune 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 ...

DirectX 12 boosts performance of HITMAN 2

Jacques van RhynMay 14, 2019May 14, 201905/14/19

Our 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. The guest post below is from IO ...

New in D3D12 – background shader optimizations

Shawn HargreavesApril 16, 2019Apr 16, 201904/16/19

tl;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. Developers don...

DirectX engineering specs published

Shawn HargreavesApril 9, 2019Apr 9, 201904/9/19

Engineering 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. The specs are licensed under ...

New in D3D12 – GPU-Based Validation (GBV) is now available for Shader Model 6.x

D3D TeamApril 2, 2019Apr 2, 201904/2/19

In 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. It can provide more...

New in D3D12 – DirectX Raytracing (DXR) now supports library subobjects

D3D TeamMarch 26, 2019Mar 26, 201903/26/19

In 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, so thanks to ...

DirectML at GDC 2019

Cassie HoefMarch 21, 2019Mar 21, 201903/21/19

Introduction 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, which is a primer for many of the topics discussed in this post. This year...

Variable Rate Shading: a scalpel in a world of sledgehammers

Jacques van RhynMarch 18, 2019Mar 18, 201903/18/19

One 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 ...