ALL HAIL DIRECTX 12
As far as we’re concerned at MaximumPC, the most exciting aspect of Windows 10 is the accompanying release of DirectX 12. We’ve been thrilled about the potential of previous iterations of the gaming API, but this is the first time we’ll actually see a significant focus on improving performance, as opposed to simply adding a list of features and effects that few developers ever use.
That’s partly down to a big reduction in CPU overheads when running games, with Microsoft insisting DX12 will cut CPU loads by an epic 50 percent. More good news is that it should be compatible with most recent graphics cards and be pushed out across PCs, mobile devices, and the Xbox One. One graphics API to rule them all.
It’s not clear yet which cards will be compatible, but Nvidia says all its existing DX11 GPUs will do the job. There’s no word from AMD, but it’s likely that all cards with AMD’s GCN, at the least, will be compatible.
FinalFantasy developer Square Enix gave us a little taste of what DX12 is already capable of, at Microsoft’s Build Conference, in April, and it got us excited. Simply put, it’s jaw-dropping how realistic the visuals look. “Each of these scenes is over 63 million polygons,” explained Microsoft technical fellow John Shewchuk, during the Build demo. “That’s about six to 12 times more than we could do with DX11. Just to give you an idea on the textures you’re seeing here,” Shewchuk continued, “those are 8K by 8K textures. Significantly more than we were able to do [before].”
Of course, the demo doesn’t consider even half of the graphical elements that a game released to the public would have to. The “63 million polygons” are confined to a pretty small surface area, so don’t expect the next Final Fantasy game to look quite that good. But it should be mighty close.