DirectX 12, an upcoming newer version of Microsoft's low-level video game and graphics API, is everywhere in technical news about the company's video game console. Everyone is talking about the Xbox One optimizations and performance boost that the upcoming API will offer. Many times we have heard that DirectX 12 will really straighten up the things for Xbox One, and many times that it will do nothing more than a little good. This time again, the news is not in favor of Xbox One, as a well-known Naughty Dog developer thinks that the upcoming API suits best to the PC platform.
DirectX 12 is a Huge Step Forward in CPU Performance for PC - Can Offer a lot of Performance Boost to Stardock's Engine
We have been hearing a lot about the DirectX 12 and the optimizations that it will offer on the Xbox One since Microsoft first announced it at Game Developers Conference back in March 2014. According to many, the upcoming API will give a major performance boost to Microsoft's latest video game console and will help developers to reach 1080p/60fps mark for their next-gen games. However, some industry veterans, most prominently Phil Spencer, the boss of Xbox division, also think that DirectX 12 will surely give more power to the Xbox One developers, but it will not be a "massive change" for the console.
Some well-known developers over at Naughty Dog, which is one of the best game development studios ever, have expressed their thoughts on the DirectX 12 topic several times. Thanks to Gamepur, we got a chance to hear from Ramy El Garawany, a graphics programmer at Naughty Dog, about his thoughts on the DirectX 12 and Xbox One performance boost topic. He said:
"I wouldn't call it a game changer on xbone. But it's definitely a huge step forward in CPU performance for PC!"
@ShaikhSehran PR people gonna PR. DX12/Mantle/etc are about reducing driver overhead. There is no magic turbo button
— Ramy El Garawany (@ramyhg) June 25, 2014
On the other hand, a user tweeted to Brad Wardell, the founder and CEO of Stardock, following his comments on Phil Spencer's DirectX 12 will not be a "massive change" for the Xbox One claim. "I think Phil was asking people to be realistic with expectation," he said. "A performance boost but not 588%. That's how I read his tweets." To this, Wardell replied:
@RGTCrimsonRayne hard to tell. Mantle gave our engine a 6x boost over dx11 on same hardware.
— Brad Wardell (@draginol) June 24, 2014
@RGTCrimsonRayne and before someone takes that out of context 6x was showing lots of units at once. Ymmv.
— Brad Wardell (@draginol) June 24, 2014
Gamepur then asked Wardell that if AMD's Mantle API has provided such boost to Stardock's engine over DirectX 11, how much does he think the DirectX 12 will have to offer? "Too early to say but a lot. MS's claim of 2x sounds right," said Wardell.
@ShaikhSehran too early to say but a lot. MS's claim of 2x sounds right.
— Brad Wardell (@draginol) June 24, 2014
Answering to the question: "so can you tell us how helpful it will be to developers, will resolution-gate finally comes to end with this?," Wardell said:
@ShaikhSehran depends in the game. The more objects, the more it helps.
— Brad Wardell (@draginol) June 25, 2014
DirectX 12 is expected to launch in Holiday next year. What do you think about the upcoming API and Xbox One performance boost? Let us know in the comments section below.
