Directx 12 backend?

walfo1 · 09-03-2015, 10:59 PM #1

I've read numerous threads from months ago regarding this, I don't buy all the hype, but is there going to be a Direct3D12 backend coming soon? Don't shoot the OP, just wondering where we're at, sorry if it's a useless thread.

LtRoyalShrimp · 09-04-2015, 02:16 AM #2

(09-03-2015, 10:59 PM)walfo1 Wrote: I've read numerous threads from months ago regarding this, I don't buy all the hype, but is there going to be a Direct3D12 backend coming soon? Don't shoot the OP, just wondering where we're at, sorry if it's a useless thread.

DX12 does not do much for Dolphin. DX12 specializes in reduces the driver overhead and by doing so increasing the amount of drawcalls it can do, improving GPU utilization, AKA performance.

Dolphin is CPU limited, not GPU limited.

mimimi · 09-04-2015, 03:35 AM #3

Some stuff dx12 does results in a lesser cpu load, and spreading that cpu load among several threads. That's exactly what Dolphin needs, but i can't tell if this is possible in Dolphin, since emulation has different requirements than gaming. There's a lot of stuff where a emulator developer has limited choices on how to implement something. And most of the "interesting" stuff in dx12 is about implementing in a certain way, which is the requirement for those advantages.

Anyways, that's something that was talked about already several times. About the question: I can think of only one developer who would and maybe even also could implement this: galop1n. He is a developer with directx knowledge, and he seemed to be interested in dx12 a lot. Too bad he didn't write anything for Dolphin the past few months(1 year?). Might be his work situation standing in the way.

Also, you want a Vulkan backend instead anyways. That will be supported by many more Dolphin developers(Windows 7 and Linux users), so the development on it would move forward much faster and better.

walfo1 · 09-04-2015, 06:08 AM #4

(09-04-2015, 03:35 AM)mimimi Wrote: Some stuff dx12 does results in a lesser cpu load, and spreading that cpu load among several threads. That's exactly what Dolphin needs, but i can't tell if this is possible in Dolphin, since emulation has different requirements than gaming. There's a lot of stuff where a emulator developer has limited choices on how to implement something. And most of the "interesting" stuff in dx12 is about implementing in a certain way, which is the requirement for those advantages.

Anyways, that's something that was talked about already several times. About the question: I can think of only one developer who would and maybe even also could implement this: galop1n. He is a developer with directx knowledge, and he seemed to be interested in dx12 a lot. Too bad he didn't write anything for Dolphin the past few months(1 year?). Might be his work situation standing in the way.

Also, you want a Vulkan backend instead anyways. That will be supported by many more Dolphin developers(Windows 7 and Linux users), so the development on it would move forward much faster and better.

Yeah I've heard good things about Vulkan. I guess if the development on Directx12 goes on, the two backends would be Direct3d11 and Vulkan... isn't Vulkan the successor of OpenGL?

djnforce9 · 09-07-2015, 03:06 AM #5

I have to say, even without Directx 12 usage, I noticed a huge improvement with the Windows 10 driver alone (or at least the nVidia one). Games that used to struggle a little now run smoothly and titles that chugged a LOT do so much less. That alone is a welcome performance boost.

**degasus** · 09-07-2015, 08:14 PM #6

(09-03-2015, 10:59 PM)walfo1 Wrote: but is there going to be a Direct3D12 backend coming soon?

I don't know anyone who is working on a new hardware video backend. To be honest, I hope to get a new software backend earlier...

Omegah · 10-07-2015, 02:40 AM #7

Its me on the latest dev builds u cant choose the directx version(for example 9 or 10 or 11) like in very old builds?

mimimi · 10-07-2015, 03:16 AM #8

(10-07-2015, 02:40 AM)Omegah Wrote: Its me on the latest dev builds u cant choose the directx version(for example 9 or 10 or 11) like in very old builds?

This is because the latest dev builds only support directx 11:
https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2013/10/12/d3d9-why-its-not-part-dolphins-future/

**Helios** · 10-07-2015, 03:55 AM #9

There's more interest in a Vulkan backend than a D3D12 backend afaik.

And afaik nobody's planning on working on that, so~

**mbc07** · 10-07-2015, 04:18 AM **#10**

(10-07-2015, 03:16 AM)mimimi Wrote:
(10-07-2015, 02:40 AM)Omegah Wrote: Its me on the latest dev builds u cant choose the directx version(for example 9 or 10 or 11) like in very old builds?

This is because the latest dev builds only support directx 11:
https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2013/10/12/d3d9-why-its-not-part-dolphins-future/

Also, our DX11 backend still works with most DX10 GPUs (although a little slower than a DX11 GPU)...