I havent seen this posted and i think we are all pretty interested in DX12.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...what-amd-intel-and-nvidia-do-and-dont-deliver
The situation is pretty confusing, probably more so to people who have been through several DX updates in the past. PC gaming today is so much better than it ever has been in the past (my opinion).
Anyway, some highlights
-When Windows 10 debuts next month, it’s going to deliver the first full DirectX update since Windows 7 debuted six years ago.
-There is a lot of confusion
- Intel, Nvidia, and AMD all support DirectX 12 at various feature levels, and no GPU on the market today supports every single optional DirectX 12 capability.
-DirectX feature levels and point updates are not the same thing
-A DirectX feature level, in contrast, defines the level of support a GPU gives while still supporting the underlying specification.
So basically, the most important thing to me is not so much who supports what but......i will just quote the article:
so the article tries to clear up some of the confusion in feature levels on various graphics adapters but i will jump past that to what i think is the biggest value to us all
and this is a big deal. See, DX12 could be quickly adopted. Faster than others in the past, which were slow..... too slow.
so some more from the article
I know we argue back and forth a lot and nitpick over details but I think the biggest aspect of DX12 is how flexible it is. I think it will be adopted much faster than any other version.
Just wanted to share my opinion on what i think matters most but the article is here to discuss.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...what-amd-intel-and-nvidia-do-and-dont-deliver
The situation is pretty confusing, probably more so to people who have been through several DX updates in the past. PC gaming today is so much better than it ever has been in the past (my opinion).
Anyway, some highlights
-When Windows 10 debuts next month, it’s going to deliver the first full DirectX update since Windows 7 debuted six years ago.
-There is a lot of confusion
- Intel, Nvidia, and AMD all support DirectX 12 at various feature levels, and no GPU on the market today supports every single optional DirectX 12 capability.
-DirectX feature levels and point updates are not the same thing
-A DirectX feature level, in contrast, defines the level of support a GPU gives while still supporting the underlying specification.
So basically, the most important thing to me is not so much who supports what but......i will just quote the article:
The purpose of the feature level function is to allow developers to target a single API rather than developing separate codebases in parallel to ensure that a game can run smoothly on multiple generations of GPU hardware rather than writing separate code for DX12, DX11, DX10, and so on.
so the article tries to clear up some of the confusion in feature levels on various graphics adapters but i will jump past that to what i think is the biggest value to us all
Why DirectX 12 looks the way it does
One common concern from gamers is that if their cards only support DirectX 12 11_1 or 12_0, they’ll miss out on what DirectX 12 has to offer. It’s important to remember that the multi-threading and multi-GPU capabilities of DirectX 12 that we’ve seen previewed to-date (and demonstrated via Mantle) are still completely available to every feature level. Kepler and older GCN GPUs will absolutely benefit from the new capabilities DirectX 12 delivers. With that said, there are some specific capabilities baked into DirectX 12_0 and 12_1 that gamers with older cards won’t have access to — but as the charts above show, this isn’t a problem unique to AMD, Nvidia, or Intel. No current Intel IGP supports DirectX 12_0, while only Nvidia’s Maxwell hardware supports 12_0 or 12_1.
and this is a big deal. See, DX12 could be quickly adopted. Faster than others in the past, which were slow..... too slow.
so some more from the article
To understand why Microsoft built DirectX 12 the way it did, consider the alternative. Prior to DirectX 11, every new DirectX version was tied to new hardware requirements. From time to time, AMD or Nvidia might implement a specific feature in hardware before it became part of a future DirectX standard, but graphics cards were fixed to the DirectX APIs they supported at launch. Without the flexibility afforded by feature levels, the only gamers who could take advantage of DX12 would be those who purchased either a GCN 1.1, 1.2, or Maxwell GPU. Everyone else, including the millions of people with slightly older cards, would’ve been left out in the cold.
Adding feature levels and implementing them as part of DX12 means that millions of people will see significant benefits from adopting the new API in the here and now. No, older GPUs may not support every single DX12 feature, but no one is going to end up having to choose between a game that looks great in DX11 or a half-assed DX12 version due to graphics card implementation issues. When AMD, Nvidia, and Intel talk about supporting DirectX 12 on older hardware, they’re talking about the features that matter most — lower-overhead APIs, better CPU utilization, and multi-GPU functionality. The actual feature levels that define 12_1 as being different from 11_0 are interesting and useful in certain scenarios, but they aren’t the capabilities that will truly shape how gamers experience gaming with the API
I know we argue back and forth a lot and nitpick over details but I think the biggest aspect of DX12 is how flexible it is. I think it will be adopted much faster than any other version.
Just wanted to share my opinion on what i think matters most but the article is here to discuss.
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