Dx12 performance question

[Ryarwood99]

Now I know there's no real way to answer this right now and its pure speculation. But as I understand it, basically dx12 puts less stress on the CPU and more on the GPU. I know there is more going on and other ways it's making it more efficient.
But for someone like me who has an i7-4790k this kind of worries me. Since I have a CPU that can handle this extra workload, why would I want to take more off and put it on my GPU? Wouldn't that be counterproductive? I know this is very basic and some may not be true, but would you mind explaining this to me?

 

[Martell1977]

Actually, it's a good thing. By offloading some of the work from the CPU it allows developers to add more to the program as they will have that extra headroom available. The down side is stagnation in the CPU market until developers are stressing top end CPU's and/or AMD gets back in the game.

 

[Ryarwood99]

Ok, but can you tell me where I'm going wrong?

Say theoretically we had 2 equally stressing games, one fully optimized for dx11 and the other fully optimized for dx12, not "optimized" or "supports dx12" on the dx11 my GPU was at 99% usage and my CPU was at 50% then in dx12 my GPU would still be 99% and CPU at 35%. Since the 15% saved has to go somewhere wouldn't the the quality go down? Also stagnation in a way is kind of good because it means that I didn't spend $300 for it to need to be replaced in 3 years (complete exaggeration).

 

[Martell1977]

The primary advantage will be to mid-range and lower CPU's. But when a game is made for DX12 primarily, it's on the developer to take advantage of the possible resources available. Developers try to hit the biggest audience possible and that is why you will see less benefit. For DX11 game nothing will change, for DX12, it's on the developer to take advantage of what you have.

Stagnation is bad since it stifles developers from being able to make their programs better or more detailed. This is part of the problem consoles create. Their update cycle is very slow and games will only get so good before a good port wont really stress a computer. I'm still using a CPU from 2010 and have no need to replace it. You spent $300 and if you use it until it can't meet your needs, you will likely have it a long time.

 

[Ryarwood99]

It being on the developers is what I'm afraid of! I wish there was an option to put a more even workload on the components. I know the developers are going to try to make money, which is understandable. But with this pursuit they will aim more towards low end systems like you said, and I will feel like I wasted my money.

We are pretty much saying the same thing I think!

 

[Martell1977]

Unless you are someone that has to have the latest and greatest, you made a good investment for longevity. You GPU will become obsolete before the CPU. When/if the consoles become less popular, I believe there will be a surge in computer game requirements. Consoles have made developers lazy and things are stagnating. Can only hope that when games like Battlefield 2,000,446 comes out people wont buy it because it'll be the same game just a different twist and that will wake devs up.

 

[Ryarwood99]

Unless you are someone that has to have the latest and greatest, you made a good investment for longevity. You GPU will become obsolete before the CPU. When/if the consoles become less popular, I believe there will be a surge in computer game requirements. Consoles have made developers lazy and things are stagnating. Can only hope that when games like Battlefield 2,000,446 comes out people wont buy it because it'll be the same game just a different twist and that will wake devs up.

Yes, that's exactly what I thought when I bought it. Would I rather pay $225 now and then another $225 in a year or so or $300 now and then not worry about it for ATLEAST 3 years. It will last longer but it will be near top of the line for that long, I think. But, I think the gaming community needs annual refresh games. Because if we just sat around waiting for Bethesda to release games
a) we would lose interest
b) their games would turn to s**t as they know they have a captured audience and they try to spit out games quicker

I think the whole industry relies on those games to keep all of our attentions

 

[Martell1977]

My i7 is almost 5 years old and still going strong. If it starts lagging, I can still overclock it. You should be good for a long while. GPU's though are a different animal, I bought a second 6870 to get a cheap upgrade with crossfire but I will likely be getting a new GPU next generation.