AMD helps Firaxis create a "truly exceptional DirectX 12 renderer"

[HEXUS]

So features like Async Compute and Explicit Multi-Adapter will boost Civilization VI.

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[kalniel]

Non-propriatary help like this is exactly what vendors should be working on to best benefit gamers, kudos AMD and Firaxis.

[The Hand]

I might be getting a Radeon then, to go with a Zen cpu within the year. Looking forward to Civ 6 though I'm unlikely to buy day one. I still have Civ 5 to master and Beyond Earth to get into.

[Corky34]

Would much rather they helped implement a world class Vulkan experience.

[scaryjim]

Would much rather they helped implement a world class Vulkan experience.

I'm sure they will if a developer asks them to. But I don't think AMD are in any position to try to dictate to developers that they use Vulkan over DX12. They just need to get as much involvement in dev relations as they can.

[jimbouk]

Looking forward to Civ 6 though I'm unlikely to buy day one.

Unsure about the graphical style, but definitely will be waiting till the complete edition is a sensible price before considering it. Had enough of buying games then being expected to spend the same again on expansions packs.

Back to more on topic, I wondering if it's worth getting an OS update at some point to support all this wonderfulness? Silly Microsoft.

[kalniel]

Back to more on topic, I wondering if it's worth getting an OS update at some point to support all this wonderfulness? Silly Microsoft.

Indeed, I bit the bullet and upgraded the OS, almost entirely for DX12. What completely floored me was I got the promised ease of update. Everything works, even old hardware I was told didn't support win 10. Only thing missing is DVD player, which MS had told me would be included but turns out isn't.

[jimbouk]

Indeed, I bit the bullet and upgraded the OS, almost entirely for DX12. What completely floored me was I got the promised ease of update. Everything works, even old hardware I was told didn't support win 10. Only thing missing is DVD player, which MS had told me would be included but turns out isn't.

Bought a little 2 in 1 second hand which had been updated to Windows 10, lost a webcam (quick google shows it to be a common issue with various 'fixes') so potentially hit and miss. The other halves old all-in-one upgraded fine though, fewer non-standard parts I guess. One concern about the free upgrade are that if you change some of your hardware then you lose that upgrade entitlement and have to roll back to the old install, might not be worth it as I was hoping to retire my AM3+ rig at some point before the end of the year. Ho hum.

[kalniel]

Bought a little 2 in 1 second hand which had been updated to Windows 10, lost a webcam (quick google shows it to be a common issue with various 'fixes') so potentially hit and miss. The other halves old all-in-one upgraded fine though, fewer non-standard parts I guess. One concern about the free upgrade are that if you change some of your hardware then you lose that upgrade entitlement and have to roll back to the old install, might not be worth it as I was hoping to retire my AM3+ rig at some point before the end of the year. Ho hum.

I was worried because I had upgraded an in-laws modern off the shelf laptop and it didn't play nice at all. My desktop is far older and contains a massive list of non-standard parts. So I was most surprised. It even kept things like my custom (software controlled) GPU voltage settings, keyboard lighting schemes etc. absolutely intact.

I asked support about loss of upgrade entitlement on new hardware, they said the Win 10 license inherits the terms from the license you upgraded from. In my case win 7 pro retail allows moving between machines so I can do so with win 10, I should theoretically be able to clean install using the Win 7 key, or support would assist if needed.

[Zimano]

Would much rather they helped implement a world class Vulkan experience.

Same here. It seems everything is favouring DX12 already I keep hearing how easy it is to convert a DX12 title to Vulcan but no idea what truth there is in this. DX12 is Windows 10 only and Vulcan is everything else, doesn't make sense.

[DanceswithUnix]

Same here. It seems everything is favouring DX12 already I keep hearing how easy it is to convert a DX12 title to Vulcan but no idea what truth there is in this. DX12 is Windows 10 only and Vulcan is everything else, doesn't make sense.

Well we only just got our first title which makes truly decent use of Vulkan with the Doom patch. Will be interesting to see how much noise that generates, and whether iD get any idea of how many people are running it on older Windows versions.

On the one hand, the FuryX getting a 40% performance boost making it faster than a 1070 is very impressive, but then I expect most people with a FuryX will be using up to date hardware and running Windows 10 already.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...formance-gains

[kalniel]

Well we only just got our first title which makes truly decent use of Vulkan with the Doom patch. Will be interesting to see how much noise that generates, and whether iD get any idea of how many people are running it on older Windows versions.

Problem is iD already went their own way with previous games and it didn't really catch on with other developers. They might look at this and just go 'Oh, iD are just doing their Khronos thing as usual, nothing to see here.'

[shaithis]

Same here. It seems everything is favouring DX12 already I keep hearing how easy it is to convert a DX12 title to Vulcan but no idea what truth there is in this. DX12 is Windows 10 only and Vulcan is everything else, doesn't make sense.

I am guessing that Microsoft are a lot more forthcoming with free support for devs.

Perhaps, if Vulkan and DX12 are quite similar, once programmers are confident with DX12 they will start putting time into Vulkan as well.

[QuorTek]

Regardless of whichever people say then I have to admit that AMD usually has the best hardware when you look upon things where Nvidia still seem way more Software oriented.

Not that I am a Fanboy of either brand, had Nvidia for the last two rounds.. GTX285 and GTX690 and it is time to upgrade whether it would be Nvidia or AMD doesn't matter, mostly interested in which company develop the most speed and power.... and on the scale with all the Nvidia twice the amount of less power is really not a good position for the company when looking for performance... doesn't matter if it grant a cheaper power bill.... but much more interested in hardcore raw power.

[kalniel]

Regardless of whichever people say then I have to admit that AMD usually has the best hardware when you look upon things where Nvidia still seem way more Software oriented.

That doesn't quite seem the case at the moment - definition of 'better' is really hard to nail down. nVidia are doing more with less power wastage and less silicon area. AMD are probably more flexible.

It's almost like the old fixed function vs programmable function. The former was always quicker and more efficient, the latter more flexible.

Whether AMD's flexibility is giving them a DX12 boost, or whether DX12's features are bypassing a previous weakness in AMD, is impossible for anyone outside the company, and probably within, to know.