AnandTech: DirectX 12 Multi-Adapter Preview with Ashes of the Singularity

from AshesoftheSingularity Forums

 
AnandTech has a preview of some of the tech innovations that are happening with DirectX 12 and Ashes of the Singularity. They have a preview up of DirectX 12’s multi-GPU Explicit Multi-Adapter functionality using GeForce and Radeon GPUs.

"So in an article only fitting for the week of Halloween, today we will be combining NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon cards into a single system – a single rendering setup – to see how well Stardock’s early implementation of the technology works. It may be unnatural and perhaps even a bit unholy, but there’s something undeniably awesome about watching a single game rendered by two similar cards in this fashion."

Read all about it at AnandTech: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9740/directx-12-geforce-plus-radeon-mgpu-preview


49,282 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Hi! May I ask a question about technical side of this? Mantle docs say:

Different generations of GPUs might produce images of slightly different quality. In particular, texture filtering is one area that is under constant improvement, both in terms of quality and performance. When using the alternate frame rendering mode, it is important to produce images of similar quality on the alternating frames.

If GPUs from the same family produce slightly different pictures, if ought to be even more true for GPUs from different vendors. Do you need to do anything specific in order to compensate the architectural difference in hardware?

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Quoting lunadog3, reply 3

so maybe it's time to stop showing off and provide some basic support for sli and crossfire in game.

That's what they're working on. :)

Reply #4 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Very cool stuff.

Reply #5 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

I'm VERY curious as to which card family tech marks the low end for supporting the primary video card.

 

We've seen that using a 2nd card for PhysX means having to use one that's just behind the primary card in specs or risk lowering FPS, etc. Will this be the same for DX12 usage of a second GPU? Or is using any old GPU with some ability able to impact numbers? Does the secondary GPU have to support a certain DX level? Have a certain amount of memory? Etc.?

 

VERY curious to see how this turns out!

Reply #6 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Quoting Kazzerigian, reply 6

VERY curious to see how this turns out!

 

Me too, though I really hope this is not wasted time by the developers. At one point you could run an AMD card as main and use a Nvidia card for Phys X but Nvidia didn't like this and put a stop to it. If they did that here then all that lovely engineering may go to waste. If it is allowed to develop and continue it really will be interesting to see different combinations and what effects they have etc.

 

I imagine it is hard to do so may take a long time to become more common, especially as with DX12 the onerous to get things working is much more on the developer than was the case with dx11. Ideally it would be something that could be "copied and pasted" so to speak and then tweaked by the individual developers so it becomes easier to implement and thus becomes more common quicker. 

Reply #8 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Rather than SLI/Xfire I would rather have a full pull zoom, like we had in SINS and multi-monitor support like in SupCom.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting lunadog3, reply 8

just a reminder, we are still waiting

Patience please. ;)

 

Reply #10 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Quoting lunadog3, reply 3

so maybe it's time to stop showing off and provide some basic support for sli and crossfire in game.

As Brad said here https://forums.ashesofthesingularity.com/472701/page/1/#3600848 , this is out of our hands, these have to be done by the driver writers.