DIRECTX 12 ULTIMATE

DirectX is an API that enables developers to add amazing graphics effects to Microsoft Windows-based PC games. DirectX 12 Ultimate is the newest version of the API and new gold standard for the next-generation of games. DX12 Ultimate takes games to a whole new level of realism with support for ray tracing, mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and sampler feedback. GeForce RTX is the first and only PC platform with support for these game-changing features.

DXR (DIRECTX RAY TRACING)

DirectX Raytracing allows games to simulate how light works in real life, providing incredibly realistic and beautiful graphics effects like global illumination, reflections, and shadows. GeForce RTX GPUs were designed from the start for the demands of ray tracing workloads. Specialized RT cores, found only on GeForce RTX graphics cards, provide billions of rays per second of performance, and up to 3X the frame rates with DXR games and applications. This makes ray tracing at real-time frame rates possible for the first time.

VRS (VARIABLE RATE SHADING)

VRS is a rendering technique supported by GeForce RTX GPUs that boosts performance by adjusting the shading rate for different parts of a scene. VRS enables NVIDIA Adaptive Shading, which measures motion and changes in color from frame to frame to intelligently lower the shading rate in areas of the frame that don’t need it, such as sky boxes and walls. VRS can also be used in virtual reality games for foveated rendering—drawing more detail where your eyes are looking and less detail in the periphery where your eyes aren’t focused.

VRS supported shading rates and example application to a game frame.

MESH SHADING

If you’ve played an open-world game, you’ll know that cranking the level of detail can really impact performance as the CPU gets overwhelmed by issuing draw calls for each object in the environment. With Mesh Shading, the GPU intelligently controls level of detail selection and tessellation for objects, enabling rich, open worlds with hundreds of thousands of objects.

SAMPLER FEEDBACK

Sampler Feedback shares the same philosophy as Variable Rate Shading: work smarter to reduce GPU load, to improve performance. Sampler Feedback improves computing between the texture and shader hardware. Developers and engines can use Sampler Feedback to implement sophisticated texture streaming algorithms, allowing large open worlds with beautiful high-resolution textures, without immersion-breaking stutter or texture pop-in. Sampler Feedback can also be used to implement texture space shading, for more efficient rendering.