Question about DX12/Win10 ...

[sno0ks]

Ok, so I'm not the most fluent pc gamer, and this DX12 thing is confusing the hell out of me.
Is it even out yet? I'm seeing things from almost a year ago that it was released, but now I'm seeing that it's not released yet. I'm seeing that it's the standard API for Win10, but then I'm seeing it isn't out yet...

I just want to know if upgrading to Win10 and getting DX12 with it will improve the performance of my games, and when it's coming out if it hasn't already. That's it.

Also what the hell is Vulkan?

 

[anti-duck]

DirectX 12 is out and it has been for a while now, but it's not been implemented in many games yet. When it's utilised properly by developers, it will increase performance compared to serial API's (basically any API before DirectX 12, not including Mantle) but you won't see any performance difference whatsoever if a game is not upgraded to work with DirectX 12.

Vulkan is essentially carrying on from where AMD's Mantle left off. The idea is essentially the same as DirectX 12 but it's not tied to a particular OS; it's cross platform and you will only see a performance increase if it is implemented and utilised properly.

 

[sno0ks]

Ok, thanks. Doesn't seem worth it right now if I won't see perf increases in Witcher 3 or DOOM and the like.

 

[anti-duck]

Ok, thanks. Doesn't seem worth it right now if I won't see perf increases in Witcher 3 or DOOM and the like.

DOOM is a Vulkan title. Not sure if the Witcher 3 is getting an update. You'll be able to compare how it runs using OpenGL 4.4 and Vulkan and use that to decide if DirectX 12 might benefit you down the line.

 

[sno0ks]

Ok, thanks. Doesn't seem worth it right now if I won't see perf increases in Witcher 3 or DOOM and the like.

DOOM is a Vulkan title. Not sure if the Witcher 3 is getting an update. You'll be able to compare how it runs using OpenGL 4.4 and Vulkan and use that to decide if DirectX 12 might benefit you down the line.

Can you run Vulkan with DX on your machine? Like how you can run all the versions of DX on one machine?

 

[anti-duck]

You can have any amount of API's on your machine without any conflict whatsoever, they just won't be used until a game uses the library of a specific API. A game can use 2 API's, e.g - DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.4, but not at the same time and the end user usually chooses the renderer at startup. (This for example - https://gyazo.com/48ee8349c71a7387b2e6d9128db3bf17).

DirectX 12 for example will contain all the features of previous iterations of DirectX until those features are obsolete

 

[sno0ks]

You can have any amount of API's on your machine without any conflict whatsoever, they just won't be used until a game uses the library of a specific API. A game can use 2 API's, e.g - DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.4, but not at the same time and the end user usually chooses the renderer at startup. (This for example - https://gyazo.com/48ee8349c71a7387b2e6d9128db3bf17).

DirectX 12 for example will contain all the features of previous iterations of DirectX until those features are obsolete

Cool. I appreciate the info. Cheers.