This post is part of the Path Tracing Optimizations in Indiana Jones series. While adding a path-tracing mode to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle in 2024, we used Shader Execution Reordering (SER), a feature available on NVIDIA GPUs since the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series, to improve the GPU performance. To optimize the use of SER in the main path-tracing pass (), we used the NVIDIA��
]]>
The first post in this series, Path Tracing Optimization in Indiana Jones?: Shader Execution Reordering and Live State Reductions, covered ray-gen shader level optimizations that sped up the main path-tracing pass (��TraceMain��) of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle?. This second blog post covers additional GPU optimizations that were made at the level of the ray-tracing acceleration��
]]>
The next generation of NVIDIA graphics hardware has arrived. Powered by NVIDIA Blackwell, GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs deliver groundbreaking new RTX features such as DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, and NVIDIA RTX Kit with RTX Mega Geometry and RTX Neural Shaders. NVIDIA RTX Blackwell architecture introduces fifth-generation Tensor Cores to drive AI workloads and fourth-generation RT Cores with��
]]>
NVIDIA recently announced a new generation of PC GPUs��the GeForce RTX 50 Series��alongside new AI-powered SDKs and tools for developers. Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, fifth-generation Tensor Cores and fourth-generation RT Cores, the GeForce RTX 50 Series delivers breakthroughs in AI-driven rendering, including neural shaders, digital human technologies, geometry and lighting.
]]>
One of the great pastimes of graphics developers and enthusiasts is comparing specifications of GPUs and marveling at the ever-increasing counts of shader cores, RT cores, teraflops, and overall computational power with each new generation. Achieving the maximum theoretical performance represented by those numbers is a major focus in the world of graphics programming. Massive amounts of rendering��
]]>
Shaders are specialized programs that run on the GPU that manipulate rays, pixels, vertices, and textures to achieve unique visual effects. With shaders, you can add creative expression and realism to the rendered image. They��re essential in ray tracing for simulating realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections. We love shaders, but they can be hard to debug. Shader calculations are complex��
]]>
The union of ray tracing and AI is pushing graphics fidelity and performance to new heights. Helping you build optimized, bug-free applications in this era of rendering technology, the latest release of NVIDIA Nsight Graphics introduces new features for ray tracing development, including tools to help you harness AI acceleration. Check out what��s new in the NVIDIA Nsight Graphics 2024.1��
]]>
As ray tracing becomes the predominant rendering technique in modern game engines, a single GPU RayGen shader can now perform most of the light simulation of a frame. To manage this level of complexity, it becomes necessary to observe a decomposition of shader performance at the HLSL or GLSL source-code level. As a result, shader profilers are now a must-have tool for optimizing ray tracing.
]]>
When it comes to game application performance, GPU-driven rendering enables better scalability for handling large virtual scenes. Direct3D 12 (D3D12) introduces work graphs as a programming paradigm that enables the GPU to generate work for itself on the fly. For an introduction to work graphs, see Advancing GPU-Driven Rendering with Work Graphs in Direct3D 12. This post features a Direct3D��
]]>
NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools provide comprehensive access to NVIDIA GPUs and graphics APIs for performance analysis, optimization, and debugging activities. When using advanced rendering techniques like ray tracing or path tracing, Nsight tools are your companion for creating a smooth and polished experience. At SIGGRAPH 2023, NVIDIA hosted a lab exploring how to use NVIDIA Nsight Tools to��
]]>
Starting in Nsight Graphics 2023.1, the GPU Trace Profiler is the best way to profile your graphics application at the frame level. The Frame Profiler activity, and the Range Profiler tool window, have been removed. Don��t worry! The key profiling information is still available, only in a different form. This post guides you through the steps in GPU Trace, for each familiar workflow in the��
]]>
Learn how to use the latest NVIDIA RTX technology in NVIDIA Nsight Graphics and get your questions answered in a live Q&A session with experts.
]]>
At GDC 2023, NVIDIA released new tools that make real-time path tracing more accessible to developers while accelerating the creation of ultra-realistic game worlds. Announced with the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, DLSS 3 raised the bar not just for visuals but also performance and responsiveness. Since its introduction in 2019 with the NVIDIA Turing architecture��
]]>
Vulkan Video gives developers the choice of a powerful new API for accessing video processing acceleration. NVIDIA is expanding its commitment to Vulkan Video with tools and samples to help applications efficiently harness this significant new functionality. This post will help you discover whether Vulkan Video is right for your application��and if so, how to get started.
]]>
When developing on NVIDIA platforms, the hardware should be transparent to you. GPUs can feel like magic, but in the interest of optimized and performant games, it��s best to have an understanding of low-level processes behind the curtain. NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools are built for this very reason. Imagine a proud homeowner who lives in a house that they love and want to take care of.
]]>
NVIDIA recently announced Ada Lovelace, the next generation of GPUs. Named the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series, these are the world��s most advanced graphics cards. Featuring third-generation Ray Tracing Cores and fourth-generation Tensor Cores, they accelerate games that take advantage of the latest neural graphics and ray tracing technology. Since the introduction of the GeForce RTX 20 Series��
]]>
Discover the latest traditional and neural rendering technologies and how they are accelerating professional visualization.
]]>
Learn about the latest RTX and neural rendering technologies and how they are accelerating game development.
]]>
Graphics professionals and researchers have come together at SIGGRAPH 2022 to share their expertise and learn about recent innovations in the computer graphics industry. NVIDIA Developer Tools is excited to be a part of this year��s event, hosting the hands-on lab Using Nsight to Optimize Ray-Tracing Applications, and announcing new releases for NVIDIA Nsight Systems and NVIDIA Nsight��
]]>
Nsight Graphics 2022.3 and Nsight Aftermath 2022.2 have just been released and are now available to download. The Nsight Graphics 2022.3 release focuses on performance gains, bug fixes, and Vulkan improvements. Performance for the Ray Tracing Acceleration Structure Viewer has improved by up to 20x in some complex scenes, thanks to better occlusion culling. Additionally��
]]>
UPDATE: NVIDIA Nsight Graphics 2023.3 and later feature the new Real-Time Shader Profiler, the first temporal sampling profiler for GPU shaders. This profiler enables you to examine the most expensive shaders at each moment in your frame. For more information, see GPU Trace UI in the Nsight Graphics User Guide. A less well-known but cool feature of NVIDIA Nsight Graphics is the Shader��
]]>
This week at GDC, NVIDIA announced a number of new tools for game developers to help save time, more easily integrate NVIDIA RTX, and streamline the creation of virtual worlds. Watch this overview of three exciting new tools now available. Since NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) launched in 2019, a variety of super-resolution technologies have shipped from both hardware��
]]>
Join us at GTC, March 21-24, to explore the latest technology and research across AI, computer vision, data science, robotics, and more! With over 900 options to choose from, our NVIDIA experts put together some can��t-miss sessions to help get you started: How to Design Collaborative AR and VR worlds in Omniverse Omer Shapira, Senior Engineer, Omniverse��
]]>
The latest update to NVIDIA Nsight Systems��a performance analysis tool designed to help developers tune and scale software across CPUs and GPUs��is now available for download. Nsight Systems 2022.1 introduces several improvements aimed to enhance the profiling experience. Nsight Systems is part of the powerful debugging and profiling NVIDIA Nsight Tools Suite. A developer can start with��
]]>
Today, NVIDIA announced the latest Nsight Graphics 2022.1, which supports Direct3D (11, 12, DXR), Vulkan 1.3 ray tracing extension, OpenGL, OpenVR, and the Oculus SDK. NVIDIA Nsight Graphics is a standalone developer tool that enables you to debug, profile, and export frames built with high-fidelity, 3D-graphic applications. Download NVIDIA Nsight Graphics now.
]]>
A total of 23 of the most often requested Vulkan extensions developed by NVIDIA and other Khronos members are now incorporated into the brand new Vulkan 1.3 core specification. NVIDIA is ready with day one drivers for developers to immediately try out this significant new version of the industry��s only modern, cross-platform GPU API on their own systems. Some of the most significant new core��
]]>
The Nsight suite of Developer Tools provide insightful tracing, debugging, profiling, and other analyses to optimize your complex computational applications across NVIDIA GPUs, and CPUs including x86, Arm, and Power architectures. NVIDIA Nsight Systems is a performance analysis tool designed to visualize, analyze and optimize programming models, and tune to scale efficiently across any��
]]>
Today, NVIDIA announced Nsight Graphics 2021.5, the latest release, which supports Direct3D (11, 12, and DXR), Vulkan (1.2, NV Vulkan Ray Tracing Extension), OpenGL, OpenVR, and the Oculus SDK. Nsight Graphics is a standalone developer tool that enables you to debug, profile, and export frames built with high-fidelity 3D graphics applications. Developers now have full support for��
]]>
The latest update to NVIDIA Nsight Systems��a performance analysis tool��is now available for download. Designed to help developers tune and scale software across CPUs and GPUs, this release introduces several improvements aimed to enhance the profiling experience. Nsight Systems is part of the powerful debugging and profiling NVIDIA Nsight Tools suite. A developer can start with Nsight��
]]>Nsight Graphics 2021.4 is an all-in-one graphics debugger and profiler to help game developers get the most out of NVIDIA hardware. From analyzing API setup, to solving nasty bugs, to providing deep insight into how applications use the GPU for better performance, Nsight Graphics is the ultimate tool. The latest release is available to download now >> Key features include��
]]>
This post was updated on May 19, 2023. How to optimize DX12 resource uploads from the CPU to the GPU over the PCIe bus is an old problem with many possible solutions, each with their pros and cons. In this post, I show how moving cherry-picked DX12 UPLOAD heaps to GPU upload heaps can be a simple solution to speed up PCIe-limited workloads. Take the example of a vertex buffer (VB)��
]]>
Developers, researchers, graphics professionals, and others from around the world will get a sneak peek at the latest innovations in computer graphics at the SIGGRAPH 2021 virtual conference, taking place August 9-13. NVIDIA will be presenting the breakthroughs that NVIDIA RTX technology delivers, from real-time ray tracing to AI-enhanced workflows. Watch the NVIDIA special address on��
]]>
Increasingly, game developers are making full use of real-time ray tracing and AI in their games. As a result, more gamers than ever are enjoying the beautifully realized lighting and AI-boosted images that you can only achieve with NVIDIA technology. At GDC 2021, NVIDIA��s updates, enhancements, and platform compatibility expansions enable RTX to be turned ON for a larger base than ever before.
]]>
Nsight developer tools is a suite of powerful tools and SDKs for profiling, debugging and optimizing applications focused on improving performance for graphics, gaming and other use cases. Identifying bottlenecks, highlighting code (multi-threading operations, event timing ) to improve efficiency and the unique features offerings for refined user experience. The NVIDIA Nsight Perf SDK is��
]]>
Nsight Graphics 2021.3 is an all-in-one graphics debugger and profiler to help game developers get the most out of NVIDIA hardware. From analyzing API setup to solve nasty bugs, to providing deep insight into how your application utilizes the GPU to drain every last bit of performance, Nsight Graphics is the ultimate tool in your arsenal. The latest release is available to Download Now.
]]>
The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is here, and NVIDIA will be showcasing how our latest technologies are driving the future of game development and graphics. From NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) to RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI), our latest tools and technologies are helping game developers create realistic and stunning virtual worlds for gamers. Attendees will also get an��
]]>
Nsight Graphics 2021.1 is available to download. We now provide you with the ability to set any key to be the capture shortcut. This new keybinding is supported for all activities, including GPU Trace. F11 is the default binding for both capture and trace, but if you prefer the old behavior, the original capture keybinding is still supported (when the ��Frame Capture (Target) > Legacy��
]]>
Nsight Graphics 2020.6 is now available for download. When NVIDIA RTX-series GPUs was unveiled in 2018, ray tracing became a viable alternative to rasterization. To enable this functionality, we provided the VK_NV_ray_tracing extension in Nsight Graphics. Today, Nsight Graphics ships with support for the final version of the Khronos Vulkan Ray Tracing extensions��
]]>
Nsight Graphics 2020.5 is now available for download. With the release of the brand new NVIDIA Ampere microarchitecture, we��ve made some significant updates. We also have an exciting announcement for Vulkan developers. A number of new metrics are now available with the Ampere microarchitecture. With GPU Trace, our timeline-based profiler, you can now visualize these metrics using the new��
]]>
Over the past two weeks, NVIDIA has released software to enable game development teams of all sizes. Below is a list of the releases, and how you can get started today. Available to apply for early access, the NVIDIA Reflex SDK allows game developers to implement a low latency mode that aligns game engine work to complete just-in-time for rendering, eliminating the GPU render queue and��
]]>
With the new NVIDIA Ampere GPU microarchitecture, developers have access to the most powerful consumer GPU NVIDIA has ever created. With such a massive improvement in performance, developers need glassbox access to understand the state of the GPU and what steps you can take to achieve peak performance. To make this possible, NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools provide best in class coverage for multiple��
]]>
When you are creating triangle meshes for ray tracing or reusing meshes that have been successfully used in rasterization-based rendering, there are some pitfalls that can cause surprising performance issues. Some mesh properties that have been acceptable in rasterization can be problematic in ray tracing or require specific handling to work as expected. This post reveals those pitfalls and��
]]>
Nsight Graphics 2020.3 is now available for download. We��ve added a number of features that dramatically expands the functionality of our tools. Applications that use the provisional VK_KHR_ray_tracing extension can be captured, profiled and exported to a C++ Capture. While the extension is still evolving, the NVIDIA Vulkan Beta Driver will allow for experimentation before it is fully��
]]>
While working with game developers on pre-release games, NVIDIA has had a steady flow of bugs reported where a game stutters for multiple milliseconds during gameplay. These stutter bugs can ruin the experience of the gamer, possibly making the game unplayable (as with the release of Batman Arkham Knight on PC), so they should be treated with a high priority. Until 2018, the only tool that��
]]>
Many GPU performance analysis tools are based on a capture and replay mechanism, where a frame is first captured (either in-memory or to disk), and then replayed multiple times to be profiled. Nsight Graphics: GPU Trace differs in that it directly profiles the frames emitted by a live application, with no constraint on subsequent frames to be identical. This approach makes the tool simpler than��
]]>
GPU performance events can be used to instrument your game by labeling regions and marking important occurrences. A performance event represents a logical, hierarchical grouping of work, consisting of a begin/end marker pair. There are best practices for GPU performance events that are universally used by profiling tools such as NVIDIA Nsight Graphics and NVIDIA Nsight Systems��
]]>
The Nsight family of tools includes Nsight Systems, Nsight Graphics and Nsight Compute. The typical workflow for a graphics developer would start with Nsight Systems to analyze and profile at the big picture to avoid picking less efficient optimizations based on assumptions and false-positive indicators. Next, if the issue is CPU dependent they may continue with Nsight Systems��
]]>
NVIDIA announces Nsight Graphics 2019.4! In this release, we added support for profiling OpenGL applications on Turing based GPUs with the Range Profiler, added Resource Barrier visualization in GPU Trace, and ported the Acceleration Structure Viewer to Linux. For full details on the new capabilities in the 2019.4 release, see our full release notes! In response to user requests��
]]>
Figuring out how to reduce the GPU frame time of a rendering application on PC is challenging for even the most experienced PC game developers. In this blog post, we describe a performance triage method we��ve been using internally at NVIDIA to let us figure out the main performance limiters of any given GPU workload (also known as perf marker or call range), using NVIDIA-specific hardware metrics.
]]>
Game development is complicated, and even the most mature pipelines can hit snags that will bring performance to a crawl. ��Nsight Graphics: GPU Trace�� helps developers identify GPU inefficiencies as they crop up, taking the guesswork out of the process. NVIDIA��s Louis Bavoil provides a useful tip to consider when using Nsight Graphics: GPU Trace with DX12 apps: ��If you��re in a state where GPU��
]]>
NVIDIA announces Nsight Graphics 2019.3! In this release, GPU Trace has been revamped with a new analysis mode, the Configurable Range Profiler is now the default view in the profiling activity, and the Acceleration Structure Viewer can now export acceleration structures for standalone viewing. For full details on the new capabilities in the 2019.3 release, see our full release notes!
]]>
If you are building Vulkan applications, Nsight Graphics is an indispensable tool in your utility belt. At GDC 2019, NVIDIA��s Jeff Kiel explained how Nsight Graphics can help solve the most puzzling graphics rendering and performance problems. Getting The Most From Your Vulkan Applications with NVIDIA Nsight Graphics, Jeff��s full GDC presentation, can be found here. The talk includes real��
]]>
Vulkan is a low-overhead, cross-platform 3D graphics and compute API targeting a wide variety of devices from cloud gaming servers, to PCs and embedded platforms. The Khronos Group manages and defines the Vulkan API. NVIDIA NsightSystems provides developers with a unified timeline view which displays how applications use computer resources. This low-overhead performance analysis tool helps��
]]>
In this video, Aurelio Reis, Director of Graphics Tools at NVIDIA, details the three most important things developers need to know about Nsight Graphics. To learn more, you can attend his talk at GDC: Title: Advanced Graphics Techniques Tutorial: ��Surfing the Wave(front)s with Radeon GPU Profiler�� & ��Debugging and Profiling DXR & Vulkan Ray Tracing�� Location: Room 303, South Hall Date��
]]>
NVIDIA Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2019.1 is now available for download in the NVIDIA Registered Developer Program. The NVIDIA Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2019.1 is now available for download. Version 2019.1 extends support to the latest Turing GPUs and Win10 RS5. The Graphics Debugger adds Vulkan Pixel History as well as OpenGL + Vulkan 1.1 interop, Vulkan Meshlets��
]]>
Every week, we��ll be delivering 3 interesting stories coming from the world of RTX Game Development. This week, we rolled out Nsight Graphics 2018.7. In this release, we enhanced our Ray Tracing support by adding the ability to view the scene Bounding Volume Hierarchy: the standardized acceleration structure in realtime ray tracing. We also greatly improved the ability to serialize C++��
]]>Today we��re announcing Nsight Graphics 2018.7. In this release, we enhanced our Ray Tracing support by adding the ability to view the scene Bounding Volume Hierarchy: the standardized acceleration structure in realtime ray tracing. We also greatly improved the ability to serialize C++ Captures of DirectX Raytracing (DXR) applications, increased Vulkan debugging capabilities with the addition of��
]]>
NVIDIA is proud to announce Nsight Graphics 2018.6! In this release, we finalized our Linux support for full release, revamped the user documentation, added full Windows Redstone 5 API support, and added support for 15 new Vulkan extensions. Nsight Graphics for Linux has been promoted from beta to full release. This release supports Vulkan and OpenGL 4.5 Core Profile on Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04.
]]>
NVIDIA is proud to announce Nsight Graphics 2018.5 with Turing GPU support! This release offers Turing profiling support for Nsight Graphics�� Range Profiler and GPU Trace activities. In addition, copy queue activity can now be visualized in GPU Trace (our new GPU Occupancy Profiler). Nsight Graphics has day zero support for the new Turing GPU architecture, unlocking the power of��
]]>Today, NVIDIA announced Nsight Graphics 2018.4, the first public release of GPU Trace. This release also adds D3D12 Pixel history, supports NVIDIA��s Vulkan ray tracing extension, completes support for the D3D12 RS3 SDK, and improves performance for D3D11 and Vulkan debugging and profiling. Additionally, with this release, the Nsight family of tools is being re-versioned to a year dot release��
]]>
Three big NVIDIA Nsight releases on the same day! NSight Systems is a brand new optimization tool; Nsight Visual Studio Edition 5.6 extends support to Volta GPUs and Win10 RS4; and NSight GRAPHICS 1.2 replaces the current Linux Graphics Debugger. NVIDIA Nsight Systems is a low overhead performance analysis tool designed to provide insights developers need to optimize their software.
]]>
NVIDIA Nsight Graphics 1.1 is now available for download for members of the NVIDIA Registered Developer Program. Nsight Graphics is a suite of debugging and profiling tools for graphics applications. It provides insights into your application��s operation and optimal performance, and reduces your time spent debugging. Built from the same core features and codebase as Nsight Visual Studio Edition��
]]>