As the title states what is the better backend? Are their major differences? And is there graphical differences between the two, (image quality etc)
I'm not really worried about speed as i can run pretty much any game just fine. I just want to know what one is superior. Also sorry for the noob question =P
D3D11 is better in some games, OpenGL is better in others.
D3D11 is faster in some games, OpenGL is faster in others.
There are two backends because there is no singular best one.
(02-21-2014, 12:36 PM)JMC47 Wrote: [ -> ]D3D11 is better in some games, OpenGL is better in others.
D3D11 is faster in some games, OpenGL is faster in others.
Those statements really doesn't tell the OP a whole lot (if anything) aside from the general notion that "it depends".
To be more descriptive, it really depends on which games you're playing, what hardware you're running, your drivers, and which revision of Dolphin you're using. Some people seem to get bad combos and OpenGL gives them no love no matter what they do, but others will find that it boosts speed significantly. There seem to be a lot of factors that go into the mix such that OpenGL is not always outright faster D3D11 (even when disregarding OpenGL's lower EFB2RAM performance) and vice versa.
Generally speaking though, a lot of people (at least those vocal enough to post about their experiences) report OpenGL being faster than D3D11 for them, while it appears a lower number of people report that to be the other way around. In terms of accuracy, the two are pretty much tied afaik; a minority of games have backend specific issues, like Sonic Heroes having graphical errors in OpenGL but not D3D11, or like Skyward Sword crashing in the Silent Realm when using D3D11 instead of OpenGL.
Ideally, I say you should just choose one, stick with it until you think it becomes a problem, then switch as needed. Using per-game .ini files to manage your settings, you don't even have to switch between backends in the GUI before playing.
It's just that there is no pattern, the more I look into it. For a few months, OpenGL was faster on NVIDIA and D3D was faster on Radeon, and there were almost no exceptions. Now? Even though OpenGL seems to be faster, D3D is too; and even on my NVIDIA card I have no idea what games/settings are going to be faster on which backend. It doesn't just very per game, it varies per IR, per hacks, etc.
That's why I said it depends.
I see, Thanks for your reply guys!
(02-21-2014, 03:02 PM)JMC47 Wrote: [ -> ]That's why I said it depends.
But you didn't say "it depends", you said something that really didn't describe a whole lot about anything :p
Saying something to the effect of "x is better at some, y is better at others" doesn't actually provide a whole lot of useful information (which is why I'm nitpicking on you). At least elaborate on matters a little next time.
You're acting like I'm responsible for the words and actions I do. I don't like this direction at all.
(02-21-2014, 07:56 PM)JMC47 Wrote: [ -> ]You're acting like I'm responsible for the words and actions I do. I don't like this direction at all.
I feel betrayed. You asked for the better graphics backend, yet you excluded one option - the software renderer. I edited the poll to include that option, and I set the vote count to the appropriate number of votes that it would've gotten if you had included it in the first place.
(02-22-2014, 10:35 AM)neobrain Wrote: [ -> ]I feel betrayed. You asked for the better graphics backend, yet you excluded one option - the software renderer. I edited the poll to include that option, and I set the vote count to the appropriate number of votes that it would've gotten if you had included it in the first place.
70% for software? Yeah, ok, sounds about right.