AMD Mantle API [updating]

Thief won't be shipping with Mantle, planned patch in March. TrueAudio support to come in same patch as Mantle

 

Wow that's amazing. I'm guessing the DLC is very CPU heavy, perhaps deliberately to show off the benefits of Mantle.

 

Im not so sure its the dlc itself, since the release of Mantle, 3 patches have been released who have increase the performance. + this test is made with 4x MSAA + 16HQ at 1080p. ( so basically what a majoritiy of player use when playing it ).. personally i see a jump in performance with 2x 7970 @ 2560x1440, it look like it benefit too CFX at higher resolution. ( not sure for single gpu )...
( I7 4930K@4.5ghz + 16GB 2133mmhz in quadchannel ofc )

What is really still surprising me, is i cant tell if i use Mantle or Directx based on graphism.. the game, graphic wise, look absolutely the same.. ( i dont speak about performance or anything, just the graphism ). I need to go check in the setting if i use Mantle or DirectX ..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqjXRjH0gv4#t=123

 

Would you say the game has good graphism?

 

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Battl...tlefield-4-Second-Assault-Benchmarks-1109970/
Very impressive results

 

Very much in line with the fps im seeing with my 290 Tri-x OC. Very nice performance. 14.1 beta is buggy though: occasionally the frame rate gets stuck at 30-40fps and I need to reboot.

 

Found this on GAF which will probably help you:

Dunno if its true, there was no link to the report.

 

It's true, Thief "release driver"

 

Driver is released:

Downloading now

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx

 

DX and OGL will offer low level access to reduce draw overhead, excerpts from a presentation that will take place in GDC2014.

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/direc...fer-low-level-access-to-reduce-draw-overhead/

In other news, Oxide games (the maker of StarSwarm demo) is partnering with NVIDIA in a GDC presentation to talk about modern multi-core CPUs and GPUs role in designing games.

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/oxide...-engine-and-the-future-of-real-time-graphics/

 

Expected, but not so soon.

 

Little more info

Direct3D Futures - Come learn how future changes to Direct3D will enable next generation games to run faster than ever before! In this session we will discuss future improvements in Direct3D that will allow developers an unprecedented level of hardware control and reduced CPU rendering overhead across a broad ecosystem of hardware.
http://schedule.gdconf.com/session-id/828181

Evolving Microsoft's Graphics Platform - For nearly 20 years, DirectX has been the platform used by game developers to create the fastest, most visually impressive games on the planet. However, you asked us to do more. You asked us to bring you even closer to the metal and to do so on an unparalleled assortment of hardware. You also asked us for better tools so that you can squeeze every last drop of performance out of your PC, tablet, phone and console.
http://schedule.gdconf.com/session-id/828184

Approaching Zero Driver Overhead in OpenGL - Driver overhead has been a frustrating reality for game developers for the entire life of the PC game industry. On desktop systems, driver overhead can decrease frame rate, while on mobile devices driver overhead is more insidious--robbing both battery life and frame rate. In this unprecedented sponsored session, Graham Sellers (AMD), Tim Foley (Intel), Cass Everitt (NVIDIA) and John McDonald (NVIDIA) will present high-level concepts available in today's OpenGL implementations that radically reduce driver overhead--by up to 10x or more.
http://schedule.gdconf.com/session-id/828316

 

Oxide Games has announced that it will be partnering with AMD and NVIDIA to examine the future of video games.

 

Well I'm sure it wont be soon but better late than never.

 

Bravo to AMD for giving Microsoft the kick up the butt that they needed. It remains to be seen whether MS will follow through on these promises though.

 

The first two pertain to Microsoft's APIs directly, but seem to deal with a future time frame and plans.
Granted, any time frame within this decade is sufficient to make further investment in Mantle dubious, unless AMD's decision to leverage Direct3D elements like HLSL means it will share enough DNA to let it be treated as a 0.x version of the future direction of the API.
In which case, it might have some amount of utility as an interim solution.

 

Maybe a further investment in Mantle could translate into valuable contibutions to a low-overhead DirectX and OpenGL. Just like CUDA did with OpenCL.


Needless to say, Mantle did its job. Congratulations AMD.

 

The assumption is that Mantle is what provided the impetus for this, which is something I hoped would happen.
The timing of this does seem suspicious enough that I would lend credence to it, although more definitive evidence may come from what Microsoft discloses for its plans, the time frame, and whether we find out how long they've been working on it.

It could span the spectrum of possibilities from a CUDA/OpenGL scenario to a G-sync/Display Port 1.3/eDP situation.

 

The problem with Microsoft and any plans they have for DirectX (whether or not they come to fruition) is that they will tie it to a future Windows version to force upgrading. AMD don't need to (or would want to) do this.