Microsoft PIX 1806.11

Creating a game is not easy, as even basic ones require a lot of work and a proper set of tools to carry out the task. IDEs, graphical designing programs, and motion management tools can take care of the way the game looks and behaves, but evaluating resource consumption is a whole other thing.

With a rather rich history related to the Xbox platform, the Windows edition of Microsoft PIX is designed for both professional and amateur game developers, providing them with a game performance assessment, debugging and tuning application.

Evaluates DirectX 12 games to optimize their performance
Resource consumption optimization is essential, especially for games with high resource requirements. Microsoft PIX can provide insights of the entire rendering process and the way it affects the performance of the host system. Thus, it can prove to be a real asset in a developer's toolbox, helping in spotting different issues related to image synchronization and frame rendering.

Microsoft PIX works with DirectX 12 games, connecting to a local or a remote PC to analyze and evaluate a game as it is being played. It can target UWP and Win32 processes, or attach to one of the running processes. Before using it, please make sure you have the latest GPU drivers installed. Otherwise, some features might not work properly or at all.

Assesses GPU and CPU usage, function calls, execution time and memory allocation
There are various modes it can work in, each with its own individual role; they all contribute to the bigger picture that illustrates the game performance.

To get into details, the first mode of operation is GPU capturing, which helps assess the capabilities of the game in terms of Direct3D graphics rendering. GPU captures record Direct3D API calls the game makes, which can be played back during the analysis to gather information that can be of help during debugging. It is advisable one reads the documentation to get a clear view on the capabilities of Microsoft PIX before using it.

Timing captures deliver details regarding the CPU and GPU usage in real time, as the game is running. In other words, it enables developers to check CPU threads, see how tasks are distributed to the CPU's cores, or check rendering latencies.

The Function Summary mode gathers data about the execution time and the overall number of function calls. In turn, the Callgraph mode targets a particular function to check how often it is being called.

Last but not least, the memory allocation mode aims to discover potential memory leaks and incorrect allocation patterns.

Take the time to read about the application before using it to discover its full potential
With advanced resource usage assessment tools and remote connection support, Microsoft PIX can be a powerful tool in the right hands. It only requires game developers to take the time to discover its features, either by taking a glance at the documentation, or by watching the introductory video.

Whats New
Today we released PIX 1806.11 which includes numerous new and updated features:
Timing captures now track and visualize fence signals and waits to help you understand synchronization issues.
We have updated the WinPixEventRuntime to allow you to name fences to make it easier to locate interesting fences in a capture. Please see the documentation for details.
We have streamlined the PIX UI to provide a more consistent appearance and better support for customizing your UI layout. We have simplified layouts to free up screen real-estate by moving auxiliary information and access to additional functionality into panels that can be shown or hidden as desired. Panels can be free-floating or docked to one of the four edges of its view.
Likewise, we have updated the Edit and Continue experience to make it easier to manage edits and observe effects of code changes. Shaders can be edited directly in the Pipeline view or more conveniently in the new Edits view which also gives you an overview of all the modified shaders. The new Edit menu item lets you switch between the original state of the shaders and the applied edits to allow you to inspect the effect of the modifications. Finally, the new Shader Sources view gives you a complete list of the shaders present in the capture.
The CPU sampling interval in Timing captures can now be customized to allow you to find a balance between the increased resolution you’ll get with more CPU samples and the additional overhead a higher sampling rate will incur.
PIX now supports shader resource tracking for DXIL based shaders.
Child process capture for 32-bit processes. This allows you to take GPU captures from games that use a launcher process such as Steam.
Improved DXR support. We have added additional details to GPU captures using DXR; the Resource History view now lists raytracing events and the State View shows details for DispatchRays calls.
Fixed several bugs. Thanks to all of you out there who reported issues!