Vulkan and Android N

Aggro_hamtaro · 07-06-2016, 02:42 PM #1

Can we expect any speed improvements with Vulkan and android N ? Cheers

**Helios** · 07-06-2016, 03:09 PM #2

Depends on a million variables we can't possibly predict since the Vulkan backend isn't even close to finished yet.

The most obvious variable is if mobile vendor drivers implement Vulkan correctly. Excluding nvidia, everybody's track record for implementing APIs correctly is terrible. So I wouldn't expect miracles.

Thermals are still a lot of devices' biggest issues.

LG Fanatic · 07-07-2016, 02:41 AM #3

(07-06-2016, 03:09 PM)Helios Wrote: Depends on a million variables we can't possibly predict since the Vulkan backend isn't even close to finished yet.

The most obvious variable is if mobile vendor drivers implement Vulkan correctly. Excluding nvidia, everybody's track record for implementing APIs correctly is terrible. So I wouldn't expect miracles.

Thermals are still a lot of devices' biggest issues.

With mobile SOC getting smaller and smaller(the Exynos 9 could be on a 10nm dye), do you think that thermals maybe less of an issue in the near future?

**AnyOldName3** · 07-07-2016, 05:41 AM #4

Vulkan's supposed to be a lot simpler to write drivers for, as it's closer to how the hardware actually works. That leaves less room for driver vendors to fuck it up. However it doesn't guarantee that they won't realise it's simpler, so give the task to a single intern.

Grey1213 · 07-07-2016, 01:00 PM #5

(07-07-2016, 02:41 AM)LG Fanatic Wrote: With mobile SOC getting smaller and smaller(the Exynos 9 could be on a 10nm dye), do you think that thermals maybe less of an issue in the near future?

Plus next year's a73 cores supposedly focus more on sustained peak performance, which is just what the doctor ordered. So next year the situation will definitely improve, thanks to opengl es 3.2, maybe vulkan, and better CPUs that deal better with throttling. It still remains to be seen if that will be enough though. It seems like it'll be properly playable IMO.

**Helios** · 07-07-2016, 10:42 PM #6

(07-07-2016, 01:00 PM)Grey1213 Wrote: So next year the situation will definitely improve

You're assuming that it'll live up to expectations.

Remember Krait? Kryo?

Also, ARM's cores have often been the bottleneck in CPU intensive workloads, and Mali is garbage. Vulkan may change that, but I doubt ES 3.2 will (Or that buffer_storage will be implemented)