{"id":11445,"date":"2025-03-20T14:24:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T21:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/?p=11445"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:24:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T21:24:53","slug":"announcing-directx-raytracing-1-2-pix-neural-rendering-and-more-at-gdc-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/announcing-directx-raytracing-1-2-pix-neural-rendering-and-more-at-gdc-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing DirectX Raytracing 1.2, PIX, Neural Rendering and more at GDC 2025!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Today in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/schedule.gdconf.com\/session\/directx-state-of-the-union-raytracing-and-pix-workflows-presented-by-microsoft\/911779\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">DirectX State of the Union at GDC 2025<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, we proudly showcased the next evolution in graphics with the announcement of <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">DirectX Raytracing (DXR) 1.2<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. This update promises groundbreaking performance improvements and breathtaking visual fidelity, marking another milestone in our mission to deliver immersive, realistic experiences to gamers everywhere. We also brought developers the latest and greatest in our DirectX tooling with updates to PIX.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In partnership with industry leaders\u2014including AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm, and game studios like Remedy\u2014we demonstrated how these advancements are set to redefine graphical immersion in Windows games.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"2\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">DirectX Raytracing 1.2: Game-Changing Performance Boosts<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:299,&quot;335559739&quot;:299}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">DXR 1.2 introduces two revolutionary technologies: <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">opacity micromaps (OMM)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> and <strong>s<\/strong><\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">hader execution reordering (SER)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, both of which deliver substantial leaps in raytracing performance:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Opacity micromaps <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">s<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">ignificantly optimize alpha-tested geometry, delivering up to <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">2.3x performance improvement<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> in path-traced games. By efficiently managing opacity data, OMM reduces shader invocations and greatly enhances rendering efficiency without compromising visual quality.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Shader execution reordering <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">offers a major leap forward in rendering performance \u2014 up to <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">2x faster <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">in some scenarios \u2014 by intelligently grouping shader execution to enhance GPU efficiency, reduce divergence, and boost frame rates, making raytraced titles smoother and more immersive than ever. This feature paves the way for more path-traced games in the future.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For those of you who couldn\u2019t make it, here\u2019s a sneak peek from our GDC presentation today \u2013 the recording of the full talk will be available in the GDC Vault and freely available shortly after on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/@microsoftgamedev?si=jnBhnj8IN2jqBZGW\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Microsoft Game Dev channel<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide44.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11446 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide44-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Image Slide44\" width=\"574\" height=\"323\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide44-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide44-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide44-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide44.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We&#8217;re thrilled that our hardware partners are fully embracing these cutting-edge features. <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NVIDIA<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> has committed driver support across GeForce RTX\u2122 GPUs, and we\u2019re actively working with other hardware vendors, including AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, to ensure widespread adoption.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"2\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Powerful Updates to PIX<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:299,&quot;335559739&quot;:299}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As always, we will have day-one support for DXR 1.2 in our DirectX debugger and profiler, PIX on Windows. Additionally, at GDC we announced other fantastic additions to our tooling story. These unlock more flexibility than ever before, giving developers powerful new ways to customize PIX to meet their needs. The improvements include:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">PIX API Preview<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">: A brand-new API giving developers programmatic access to PIX functionality and data via a D3D12-like API, available in C++, C# and Python. A private preview is coming in April 2025.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:600,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Custom Visualizers<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">: Building <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/win32\/direct3dtools\/pix\/pix-custom-visualizers\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">on announcements<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> over the past year, we announced new functionality to give unprecedented customization while viewing buffers, meshes, and textures inside the PIX UI.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:600,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">PIX UX Refresh<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">: A modernized, more intuitive, and more discoverable user experience is coming to PIX in April 2025! The many improvements include a new Visual Studio-like layout editor system, unlocking more PIX UI customization than ever before.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:600,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide77.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11449 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide77-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Image Slide77\" width=\"580\" height=\"327\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide77-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide77-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide77-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/03\/Slide77.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 aria-level=\"2\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Cooperative Vectors &amp; Neural Rendering: Next-Generation Realism<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:299,&quot;335559739&quot;:299}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">At Monday&#8217;s Advanced Graphics Summit session on neural rendering, we shared more details of our support for cooperative vectors. <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Cooperative vectors <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">are a<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"auto\">brand-new programming feature coming soon in Shader Model 6.9. It introduces powerful new hardware acceleration for vector and matrix operations, enabling developers to efficiently integrate neural rendering techniques directly into real-time graphics pipelines.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">With help on stage from our partners at Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, we highlighted key use cases for the technology:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Neural Block Texture Compression <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">is a new graphics technique that dramatically reduces memory usage, while maintaining exceptional visual fidelity. Overall, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/community.intel.com\/t5\/Blogs\/Tech-Innovation\/Artificial-Intelligence-AI\/Intel-Co-Presents-Cooperative-Vectors-with-Microsoft-at-Game\/post\/1674845\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">our partners at Intel shared that by leveraging cooperative vectors to power advanced neural compression models, they saw a 10x speed up in inference performance.<\/span><\/a><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Real-time path tracing can be enhanced by neural supersampling and denoising<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, combining two of the most cutting-edge graphics innovations to provide realistic visuals at practical performance levels.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nvidianews.nvidia.com\/news\/nvidia-and-microsoft-open-next-era-of-gaming-with-groundbreaking-neural-shading-technology\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">NVIDIA unveiled that their <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Neural Shading SDK will support DirectX and utilize cooperative vectors<\/span><\/b><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, providing developers with tools to easily integrate neural rendering techniques, significantly improving visual realism without sacrificing performance.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 aria-level=\"2\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Thank you to our Industry Partners<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:299,&quot;335559739&quot;:299}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We want to express our gratitude to our valued industry partners, <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, and the incredible game developers at <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Remedy, <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">who worked closely with us to present the future of graphics and shape these groundbreaking technologies.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In particular, we would like to thank <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">AMD\u2019s Max Oberberger,<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> who showcased the power of work graphs with mesh nodes. After last year\u2019s GDC announcement of this feature, Max put work graphs through its paces and shared a demo in our talk, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/schedule.gdconf.com\/session\/advanced-graphics-summit-gpu-work-graphs-towards-gpu-driven-games\/909736\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">as well as a talk of his own in the Advanced Graphics Summit<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Check out the video once it is available on the GDC Vault or the Microsoft Game Dev channel!<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Finally, our gratitude to our co-presenter on DirectX Raytracing 1.2, <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Remedy\u2019s CTO Mika Vehkala<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. The team at Remedy was instrumental in providing early feedback and validating performance improvements with OMMs and SER, as well as being the first to integrate these features into an Alan Wake II demo showcasing our joint efforts at GDC. Thank you for representing Remedy on stage with us, Mika!<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Developers, Bring Next-Gen Gaming to Life!<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We&#8217;re inviting all developers to leverage these powerful new capabilities. DXR 1.2, cooperative vectors, and enhanced PIX tooling will be available in a preview Agility SDK coming in late <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">April 2025<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/Y7YTP8mfuP\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Share your questions or thoughts with the team on Discord.<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today in the DirectX State of the Union at GDC 2025, we proudly showcased the next evolution in graphics with the announcement of DirectX Raytracing (DXR) 1.2. This update promises groundbreaking performance improvements and breathtaking visual fidelity, marking another milestone in our mission to deliver immersive, realistic experiences to gamers everywhere. We also brought developers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1747,"featured_media":12651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-directx"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"<p>Today in the DirectX State of the Union at GDC 2025, we proudly showcased the next evolution in graphics with the announcement of DirectX Raytracing (DXR) 1.2. This update promises groundbreaking performance improvements and breathtaking visual fidelity, marking another milestone in our mission to deliver immersive, realistic experiences to gamers everywhere. We also brought developers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1747"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}