Tweet
Civilization VI DX12 Full Support for Asynchronous Compute and Explicit Multi-Adapter
INTRODUCING EXPLICIT MULTI-ADAPTER
DirectX? 12 addresses these challenges by incorporating multi-GPU support directly into the DirectX? specification for the first time with a feature called ?explicit multi-adapter.? Explicit multi-adapter empowers game developers with precise control over the workloads of their engine, and direct control over the resources offered by each GPU in a system. How can that be used in games? Let?s take a look at a few of the options.
SPLIT-FRAME RENDERING
New DirectX? 12 multi-GPU rendering modes like ?split-frame rendering? (SFR) can break each frame of a game into multiple smaller tiles, and assign one tile to each GPU in the system. These tiles are rendered in parallel by the GPUs and combined into a completed scene for the user. Parallel use of GPUs reduces render latency to improve FPS and VR responsiveness.
4+4=8?
In the world of DirectX? 9 and 11, gamers are accustomed to a dual-GPU system only offering one GPU?s worth of RAM. This, too, is a drawback of AFR, which requires that each GPU contain an identical copy of a game?s data set to ensure synchronization and prevent scene corruption.
But DirectX? 12 once again turns conventional wisdom on its head. It?s not an absolute requirement that AFR be used, therefore it?s not a requirement that each GPU maintain an identical copy of a game?s data. This opens the door to larger game workloads and data sets that are divisible across GPUs, allowing for multiple GPUs to combine their memory into a single larger pool. This could certainly improve the texture fidelity of future games!
Comment