PIX on Windows
Performance tuning and debugging for DirectX 12 games on Windows
Latest posts
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: ...
PIX 2403.08 – New D3D12 features + misc PIX improvements
Today we released PIX on Windows version 2403.08, which can be downloaded here. This release coincides with today’s Agility SDK release, which includes support for new features including the final Work Graphs API, GPU Upload Heaps, and more. Please visit this post on the DirectX blog for more information about the Agility SDK release. New features and improvements in this PIX release include: GPU Captures Timing Captures plus some bug fixes and other improvements. GPU Captures Support for new D3D12 Features Work Graphs This r...
PIX 2402.07 – misc bug fixes
Today we released PIX version 2402.07, which can be downloaded here. This release fixes two bugs: Stay tuned for our next big PIX update in March!
Circular Timing Captures
Starting with the 2402.07 version of PIX on Windows and version 1.0.231030001 of the WinPIXEventRuntime, Timing Captures can now be run in a new "Circular", or "ring-buffer" mode, in addition to the previously available "Sequential" mode. The new Circular mode is available both through the PIX UI and programmatically using the PIXBeginCapture API. When capturing in Circular mode, PIX stores the capture data in a fixed sized buffer on disk. When the buffer is full, the oldest capture data is aged out to make room for newer data. Because the amount of space needed to store capture data is fixed, Circular capt...
PIX 2312.08: misc bug fixes and improvements
Today we released PIX version 2312.08, which can be downloaded here. This fixes a lot of issues reported to us since our last major PIX release (version 2310.30, details here). Thank you all for reporting these issues. Please keep sending feedback to us through the usual ways, such as emailing us at askwinpix@microsoft.com or contacting us via the DirectX Discord. You may also want to see our Known Issues page. Here are all of the improvements: GPU Captures Timing Captures