ID buffer and DR FP16

[Karamazov]

F1 2017 - out 25/08

The next entry in Codemaster’s officially-licensed Formula 1 series, F1 2017 brings with it all the high-octane racing action the series has become known for, alongside the industry’s latest technological advances and a range of brand new features including a 10-year Career Mode.

Launching on 25th August, the team has put the pedal to the metal with PS4 Pro hardware meaning that users will be in for something quite special.

Right out of the paddock, we see an enormous boost to image quality with a full 4K output resolution of 3840 x 2160 achieved through a checkerboard reconstruction technique, meaning that presentation of every car, component and trackside detail will be pristine.

This is followed up by full support for high dynamic range (HDR) that delivers more crisp, true-to-life colours and a brighter, more natural representation of real-world lighting conditions – all delivered super-smooth 60FPS.

The team at Codemasters were able to go even further though, explaining “we found PS4 Pro’s built-in enhancements for checkerboard rendering made the technique much more efficient, leaving valuable GPU time to spend on other visual upgrades.”

As such, players can also look forward to improved environment reflections (such as those reflected in the car’s bodywork) and enhanced shadow precision adding to the game’s realistic look and feel.

Finally, track shaders also receive an upgrade, one again thanks to the clever design of the PS4 Pro hardware. As the developers explained, “packed fp16 ALU operations, which are unique to the PS4 Pro in the console space, offer us a very powerful tool for optimising shaders, allowing us to enhance CU occupancy and reduce overall instruction count.”

For the less tech-savvie, this ultimately means the hardware design naturally lends itself to providing higher-quality environment shaders, allowing the team to give tracks a more finely-detailed overall appearance.

Last but not least, those using a regular full-HD display will also benefit from hugely-improved image quality thanks to down-sampling. This process allows the console to construct a more finely-detailed 1080p image from the full the 4K render, smoothing jagged edges and refining object and texture detail, particularly at a distance.

Dat DR FP16...

don't know how much of a boost it allows in this game, but nice to see it's used more and more with new games.

 

[AlNom]

Dat DR FP16...

"Packed", being the keyword, I think. Enhancing CU occupancy sounds more related to register pressure than ALU rate.

 

[Karamazov]

Six pack FP16 for better PRerformance.

 

[JPT]

I got suckered in by the title

http://www.techradar.com/news/why-amds-new-graphics-cards-could-mean-good-news-for-ps4-pro-owners

The title is very very misleading

 

[eloic]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread but...

RX Vega’s Rapid Packed Math Could Narrow The Power Gap Between PS4 Pro and Xbox One X

I think I read something about this in the forum, but that was a long time ago and this piece of news is recent.

 

[Globalisateur]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread but...

RX Vega’s Rapid Packed Math Could Narrow The Power Gap Between PS4 Pro and Xbox One X

I think I read something about this in the forum, but that was a long time ago and this piece of news is recent.

This probably should be in the ID buffer and DR FP16 thread.

 

[eloic]

This probably should be in the ID buffer and DR FP16 thread.

Thank you! Please, mods, move if needed.

 

[Nesh]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread but...

RX Vega’s Rapid Packed Math Could Narrow The Power Gap Between PS4 Pro and Xbox One X

I think I read something about this in the forum, but that was a long time ago and this piece of news is recent.

I find it strange that the GPU of X may not have that feature.
Also, I have no technical knowledge but can anyone shed some light what this means in practice?

 

[Globalisateur]

I find it strange that the GPU of X may not have that feature.

Well, it hasn't. Some think Microsoft wanted to reach the 6TF number with the energy efficient Polaris tech.

Also, I have no technical knowledge but can anyone shed some light what this means in practice?

Basically everything is in the dedicated thread (and Sebbbi is in the place ).
https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/id-buffer-and-dr-fp16.60209/

 

[scf]

I find it strange that the GPU of X may not have that feature.
Also, I have no technical knowledge but can anyone shed some light what this means in practice?

It means that math operations with less precision (FP16 against FP32) work twice as fast. Engine parts which don't need FP32 precision can benefit from that if developer would care to optimise.

 

[Nesh]

It means that math operations with less precision (FP16 against FP32) work twice as fast. Engine parts which don't need FP32 precision can benefit from that if developer would care to optimise.

Should we expect tangible results from this? Isnt it something developers should have been exploiting already?
Like what operations require more precision?

 

[scf]

Should we expect tangible results from this? Isnt it something developers should have been exploiting already?
Like what operations require more precision?

Well I don't know and I'm not into details that much. I guess you will find the answers in the thread mentioned above.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Should we expect tangible results from this?

Yes, but you might not notice them.

Isnt it something developers should have been exploiting already?

If they have to rewrite their shaders, and the only platform that benefits is PS4Pro with an install base of a few million, there's little incentive.

Like what operations require more precision?

See the alluded to thread. Very little needs 32 bit precision so there's opportunity for notable gains. However, it's a niche feature supported by a minuscule percentage of the gaming market. I guess if the middleware (UE) implements it, PS4 will see noteworthy RPM utilisation.

 

[Nesh]

There is a speculative article from Anandtech, based around Digital Foundry's Project Scorpio reveal, that talks about XBO-X ROPS and memory controller configuration.

Just came accross this. Isnt this a very strange decision then since it doesnt seem to bring the expected results?
Its as if MS was interested in hitting a higher number on paper than doing something practical

 

[AlNom]

Just came accross this. Isnt this a very strange decision then since it doesnt seem to bring the expected results?
Its as if MS was interested in hitting a higher number on paper than doing something practical

Not waiting/hoping for developers to experiment and see results was the practical solution.

 

[Karamazov]

the main competitor of the Xbox One X is the PS4 Pro, not new PC cards, so even without that feature the XoX is still superior overall.

 

[senis_kenis]

Now that ps4 sdk got leaked (document: "GPU Shader Core ISA - NEO Mode Delta") and vega isa documentation is released, can someone comment on similarities and differences? From what I read ps4pro is more vega than polaris. I'm not sure I can quote from leaked documentation.

 

[3dilettante]

Is there a scalar memory write instruction?

 

[Nesh]

Not waiting/hoping for developers to experiment and see results was the practical solution.

I am not following

 

[senis_kenis]

Is there a scalar memory write instruction?

You mean S_STORE* ?