GeForce + Radeon: Previewing DirectX 12 Multi-Adapter with Ashes of the Singularity
by Ryan Smith on October 26, 2015 10:00 AM ESTFirst Thoughts
Wrapping up our first look at Ashes of the Singularity and DirectX 12 Explicit Multi-Adapter, when Microsoft first unveiled the technology back at BUILD 2015, I figured it would only be a matter of time until someone put together a game utilizing the technology. After all, Epic and Square already had their tech demos up and running. However with the DirectX 12 ecosystem still coming together here in the final months of 2015 – and that goes for games as well as drivers – I wasn’t expecting something quite this soon.
As it stands the Ashes of the Singularity multi-GPU tech demo is just that, a tech demo for a game that itself is only in Alpha testing. There are still optimizations to be made and numerous bugs to be squashed. But despite all of that, seeing AMD and NVIDIA video cards working together to render a game is damn impressive.
Seeing as this build of Ashes is a tech demo, I’m hesitant to read too much into the precise benchmark numbers we’re seeing. That said, the fact that the fastest multi-GPU setup was a mixed AMD/NVIDIA GPU setup was something I wasn’t expecting and definitely makes it all the more interesting. DirectX 11 games are going to be around for a while longer yet, so we’re likely still some time away from a mixed GPU gaming setup being truly viable, but it will be interesting to see just what Oxide and other developers can pull off with explicit multi-adapter as they become more familiar with the technology and implement more advanced rendering modes.
Meanwhile it’s interesting to note just how far the industry as a whole has come since 2005 or even 2010. GPU architectures have become increasingly similar and tighter API standards have greatly curtailed the number of implementation differences that would prevent interoperability. And with Explicit Multi-Adapter, Microsoft and the GPU vendors have laid down a solid path for allowing game developers to finally tap the performance of multiple GPUs in a system, both integrated and discrete.
The timing couldn’t be any better either. As integrated GPUs have consumed the low-end GPU market and both CPU vendors devote more die space than ever to their respective integrated GPUs, using a discrete GPU leaves an increasingly large amount of silicon unused in the modern gaming system. Explicit multi-adapter in turn isn’t the silver bullet to that problem, but it is a means to finally putting the integrated GPU to good use even when it’s not a system’s primary GPU.
However with that said, it’s important to note that what happens from here is ultimately more in the hands of game developers than hardware developers. Given the nature of the explicit API, it’s now the game developers that have to do most of the legwork on implementing multi-GPU, and I’m left to wonder how many of them are up to the challenge. Hardware developers have an obvious interest in promoting and developing multi-GPU technology in order to sell more GPUs – which is how we got SLI and Crossfire in the first place – but software developers don’t have that same incentive.
Ultimately as gamers all we can do is take a wait-and-see approach to the whole matter. But as DirectX 12 game development ramps up, I am cautiously optimistic that positive experiences like Ashes will help encourage other developers to plan for multi-adapter support as well.
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Scootiep7 - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - link
Actually, shouldn't that be switched? Brown would be the additive tertiary color wheel result, and yellow would be the subtractive tertiary color wheel result last I checked.xenol - Monday, October 26, 2015 - link
Now we can finally put this AMD vs. NVIDIA war to rest. Get both cards to get exclusive technologies, then when the game supports it, get the best horsepower of both.Tunnah - Monday, October 26, 2015 - link
We need to see the SLI/Xfire numbers first. It's all kinda pointless if 2 980Tis trounce em allsilverblue - Monday, October 26, 2015 - link
I doubt two 980 TIs would make much of a difference over a 980 TI and a Titan X.Refuge - Monday, October 26, 2015 - link
i think you are crazy if you are going to use any of these numbers for any argument, or buying decision.While interesting information to digest, it is merely that, this isn't Beta, this isn't even Alpha, this is is literally engineers saying "Hey guys check this shit out!"
I love what I'm seeing so far though, this is exciting, but the thought of EA, Bethesda, and Ubisoft being in control of so much does scare me...
EA = Pure evil
Bethesda = Tree's sticking through walls, Dragons having seizures in the air, and Chickens reporting your crimes to the local Police.
And Ubisoft? Well... I haven't given them much credit since the mid to late 90's...
naretla - Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - link
EA hasn't been the worst publisher for some time now. You could call them greedy, but at least they're relatively competent.Refuge - Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - link
Sim city, and Dragon Age Inquisition beg to differ.naretla - Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - link
Yeah, they went too far with SimCity, but it's been over two and a half years since then. Please elaborate re:DAI.Refuge - Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - link
I pre-ordered that game, against my better judgment I admit, and I wasn't able to play it for months because of fucking bugs. I won't pre-order anything from anyone until I see a change in the way these companies do business.I also agree that Simcity was a long time ago, but I've also not forgotten. I won't expect them to do better until I see them doing better.
it isn't just EA though, I won't pre-order Fallout 4 either for the very same reasons. Different publisher/Developer, but still the industry has left me jaded.
It is insulting to me when a publisher thinks that I'm stupid enough to be ok with paying full price for a game, only to get a beta build.
Its antics like that, that give me pause for celebration over all the new fine grained controls offered by DX12.
The potential is huge, the power and life extracted from the X 360, and PS3 were impressive towards the end of their life cycle, and I would love to see what they could do back then had they had the control they are being offered now. I also agree that the Dev's are the best ones to make the most of this technology.
But Dev's (unless Indie) are under the thumb of Publishers like EA, and their deadlines and budgets. It is this that gives me a lot of fear about the half baked disasters that could this way be headed.
SunnyNW - Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - link
I would think that the GPU vendors would help game developers with engineering resources. Probably not with this particular setup (EMA) but with say like Split Frame Rendering with two identical GPUs being utilized.