PIX on Windows
Performance tuning and debugging for DirectX 12 games on Windows
Latest posts
PIX 2409.23 – Support for new devices, bug fixes, and everything in 2408.09
Today we released PIX version 2409.23, which can be downloaded here. This release includes everything that was in the 2408.09 version of PIX, plus the following improvements: GPU Captures: Timing Captures:
Multi-process profiling support in Timing Captures
Starting with the 2408.05 release of PIX on Windows, performance data from multiple processes can be analyzed with a single Timing Capture. The ability to analyze multiple processes simultaneously is useful in scenarios where multiple copies of a game server are running on the same machine, for example. PIX will capture data from all running processes on a machine when a Timing Capture is taken. However, callstacks are only captured for the title process that you started, or attached to, from the PIX UI. In multi-process scenarios, you'll want to check the Callstacks for non-title processes checkbox before ...
PIX 2408.09 – Bug fixes + everything in 2408.05
Today we released PIX version 2408.09, which can be downloaded here. This release includes everything that was in the 2408.05 version of PIX, plus the following bug fixes:
Timing Capture bookmarks
Starting with the 2408.05 release of PIX on Windows, developers can add bookmarks, or annotations, to lanes in the Timeline layout of Timing Captures. Bookmarks are text notes that can be added at either a specific point in time, or to a range of time, on any lane in the Timeline. These notes are used to annotate aspects of a capture that are interesting from a performance perspective. Bookmarks are saved in the capture, thereby allowing one developer to add a note for another developer to look at. The ability to save and share bookmarks helps developers collaborate on captures within a studio. The Summary lay...
Querying the PIX Timing Capture file format
The Timing Capture file format is a Sqlite database. Queries written in standard SQL syntax can be used to extract data from Timing Capture files to perform a variety of analysis tasks without requiring the PIX user interface. PIX on Windows includes a Sqlite extension that simplifies the queries for common tasks such as determining the duration and execution times for a PIX event, extracting counter values and so on. The Sqlite extension is named PixStorage.dll. The extension can be found in the PIX on Windows installation directory ("C:\Program Files\Microsoft PIX\2408.05", for example). ...
PIX 2408.05 – Custom Mesh/Texture Visualizers, faster playback, and a lot more
Today we released PIX version 2408.05, which can be downloaded here. This release includes a lot of new improvements in GPU Captures, Timing Captures and the System Monitor, including: GPU Captures Timing Captures Other Almost all of the new functionality in this release was added in direct response to customer feedback we received. Please continue to reach out to us with your thoughts, feedback, and bug reports! The best ways to reach us are via the “Send Feedback” button in the top-right of PIX and via the #pix channel on the DirectX D...
PIX 2407.17-preview: Mesh Nodes in Work Graphs
Today we released PIX version 2407.17-preview, which can be downloaded here. This release has initial support for the exciting new Mesh Nodes in Work Graphs feature that was released in a preview DirectX Agility SDK today. Please visit this blog post for more information about the Agility SDK release. 2407.17-preview is a preview version of PIX. We only recommend using this version of PIX if you are trying out Mesh Nodes in DirectX. We recommend that all other PIX users stick to the most recent regular version of PIX available on our download page. The support for Mesh Nodes includes: ...
PIX 2405.15: Agility SDK 1.614 support and misc bug fixes
Today we released PIX version 2405.15, which can be downloaded here. This release has a handful of bug fixes and also adds support for the Direct3D 12 Agility SDK version 1.614. Notably this SDK adds support for the 999e5 texture format. You can find download links and more information about the Agility SDK here.
Open sourcing the WinPixEventRuntime under MIT
The WinPixEventRuntime has been open sourced on GitHub under the MIT license! This includes the pix3.h headers (and friends), the code needed to build WinPixEventRuntime.dll, the code needed to decode PIX events, and a wide range of unit tests. The WinPixEventRuntime NuGet package has also switched to the MIT license. We hope this will make it easier than ever to integrate PIX events into your games, applications, and tools. We have also published a proposal for a new PIX CPU Frame / Task API. We would love to hear your feedback. Please visit this GitHub issue and leave your thoughts. Further links: ...