An update to the DirectX 12 API will improve performance on Windows and especially in video games. It allows the processor and the graphics card to access the VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) at the same time.
VRAM is a component of the graphics card. It is dedicated specifically and specifically to certain works such as video games, graphics processing, and others. Simultaneous access by the CPU and GPU duo is a big change. Previously, only one or the other could access it, which automatically put the second on hold. Parallelism was not possible, which could lead to bottlenecks and performance losses.
With this update of the DirectX 12 API, Microsoft corrects the situation. Our duo can sometimes work more efficiently and in parallel. A significant increase in performance can be expected for software with high graphics requirements such as games.
Windows and the GPU upload heaps feature
This advance has a name: GPU Upload Heaps, which works in conjunction with Resizable-BAR. Its use should favor DirectX 12 titles while reducing the use of the PC’s memory, RAM. The advancement is part of the Agility SDK, Microsoft’s software development kit designed to help developers create apps for Windows platforms.
As the size of the data exchanged between the graphics card and the processor continues to increase, the GPU upload heaps should prove increasingly effective. For now, however, caution is advised as we don’t have details on the potential performance gains.
Note that the resizable bar is a feature that allows Windows to directly access the graphics card’s VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) and use it more efficiently. At AMD we find SAM, a contraction of Smart Access Memory, a similar technology but designed to be used with its own CPUs and GPUs.
GPU Upload Heaps is already supported by Nvidia and Intel drivers. At AMD you have to ask.