5 ms·

PIX – A performance tuning and debugging tool for game developers

75 points by Impossible 10y ago

alt_ 10y ago
How is this different from PIX for Windows (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/manders/2006/12/15/a-painless-introduction-to-pix-for-windows/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/manders/2006/12/15/a-painle...)? Is it just an update for DX12?
- ayuvar 10y ago
  Looks like it's an update for DX12 and also a much-improved UI. PIX is a great tool that has never gotten its time in the sun and I'm glad to see it is still being maintained, at least for now.
  - bananaboy 10y ago
    Agreed! PIX is really great. I first used it while working on the X360 and I was blown away by the ability to debug a pixel and replay a scene and step through draw calls, GPU state, etc.
- MaulingMonkey 10y ago
  > How is this different from PIX for Windows That "died" with the DirectX SDK (which last recieved an update June 2010) when the DirectX SDK release cycle was merged into the general windows one AFAIK. It's had several lingering bugs - to wit, OOM issues, D3D11 support breaking on Windows 7?, and issues with managed code (64-bit specific perhaps? It's been awhile...) Visual Studio gained support for graphics debugging as a "replacement", in what appears to have at least been a complete rewrite of the UI at bare minimum - with some new features and some missing ones, at least for awhile there. Aside from "DXSDK PIX" and "VS PIX", there's also been "360 PIX" and "XB1 PIX" (referring to the consoles) - all effectively different pieces of software with their own quirks, bugs, feature sets, user interfaces, limitations... there's probably some common DLLs in the mix, but they're so varied in even 'core' functionality like capture behavior - that it wouldn't surprise me if there was minimal code shared between them. This latest standalone version looks visually similar to "XB1 PIX", but that could handle D3D11 and this apparently can't? Should I call this "12 PIX"?
  - ThePadawan 10y ago
    I used PIX back in 2012 for porting an engine from D3D9 to D3D11, and I'm happy to see that it finally got an update to be brought up back to scratch. Old PIX used to be a powerhouse, but riddled with inconsistencies with new D3D11 features, and unstable to boot. It was one of those tools you loved when it worked, and hated if it didn't.
eriknstr 10y ago
I had never heard of PIX so I didn't know what it was. I suggest changing the title from: "Introducing PIX on Windows (beta)" to: "Introducing gamedev performance tuning and debugging tool PIX on Windows (beta)"
- a012 10y ago
  I thought it's Microsoft's Pix camera app is now beta on Windows until read the actual post.
  - yincrash 10y ago
    I thought it was a modern (grown up?) version of Kid Pix. I was sorely disappointed :(
jwatte 10y ago
I was sad when old Pix was deprecated, and the visual arising built in tools didn't always live up to being a replacement. In really glad to see it gets a second chance to shine!
ensiferum 10y ago
Just FYI, if you're on NVIDIA hardware you also have these tools available: NVIDIA Nsight (GPU tracer/profiler/debugger, integrates with visual studio) https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-nsight-visual-studio-edition https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-nsight-visual-studio-edi... Tegra System Profiler (GPU tracer/profiler/debugger) for Android on Tegra https://developer.nvidia.com/tegra-system-profiler https://developer.nvidia.com/tegra-system-profiler
NTripleOne 10y ago
While the actual application itself is of no use to me, can I just point out how awful that green-on-grey colour scheme is?
jccalhoun 10y ago
Wait, so Microsoft has two totally different products called Pix? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/microsoftpix/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/microsoftpi... Or are we supposed to remember that there is a difference between PIX and pix?

75 points by Impossible 10y ago

alt_ 10y ago

How is this different from PIX for Windows (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/manders/2006/12/15/a-painless-introduction-to-pix-for-windows/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/manders/2006/12/15/a-painle...)? Is it just an update for DX12?

ayuvar 10y ago
Looks like it's an update for DX12 and also a much-improved UI. PIX is a great tool that has never gotten its time in the sun and I'm glad to see it is still being maintained, at least for now.
- bananaboy 10y ago
  Agreed! PIX is really great. I first used it while working on the X360 and I was blown away by the ability to debug a pixel and replay a scene and step through draw calls, GPU state, etc.
MaulingMonkey 10y ago
> How is this different from PIX for Windows That "died" with the DirectX SDK (which last recieved an update June 2010) when the DirectX SDK release cycle was merged into the general windows one AFAIK. It's had several lingering bugs - to wit, OOM issues, D3D11 support breaking on Windows 7?, and issues with managed code (64-bit specific perhaps? It's been awhile...) Visual Studio gained support for graphics debugging as a "replacement", in what appears to have at least been a complete rewrite of the UI at bare minimum - with some new features and some missing ones, at least for awhile there. Aside from "DXSDK PIX" and "VS PIX", there's also been "360 PIX" and "XB1 PIX" (referring to the consoles) - all effectively different pieces of software with their own quirks, bugs, feature sets, user interfaces, limitations... there's probably some common DLLs in the mix, but they're so varied in even 'core' functionality like capture behavior - that it wouldn't surprise me if there was minimal code shared between them. This latest standalone version looks visually similar to "XB1 PIX", but that could handle D3D11 and this apparently can't? Should I call this "12 PIX"?
- ThePadawan 10y ago
  I used PIX back in 2012 for porting an engine from D3D9 to D3D11, and I'm happy to see that it finally got an update to be brought up back to scratch. Old PIX used to be a powerhouse, but riddled with inconsistencies with new D3D11 features, and unstable to boot. It was one of those tools you loved when it worked, and hated if it didn't.

eriknstr 10y ago

I had never heard of PIX so I didn't know what it was. I suggest changing the title from: "Introducing PIX on Windows (beta)" to: "Introducing gamedev performance tuning and debugging tool PIX on Windows (beta)"

a012 10y ago
I thought it's Microsoft's Pix camera app is now beta on Windows until read the actual post.
- yincrash 10y ago
  I thought it was a modern (grown up?) version of Kid Pix. I was sorely disappointed :(

jwatte 10y ago

I was sad when old Pix was deprecated, and the visual arising built in tools didn't always live up to being a replacement. In really glad to see it gets a second chance to shine!

ensiferum 10y ago

Just FYI, if you're on NVIDIA hardware you also have these tools available: NVIDIA Nsight (GPU tracer/profiler/debugger, integrates with visual studio) https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-nsight-visual-studio-edition https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-nsight-visual-studio-edi... Tegra System Profiler (GPU tracer/profiler/debugger) for Android on Tegra https://developer.nvidia.com/tegra-system-profiler https://developer.nvidia.com/tegra-system-profiler

NTripleOne 10y ago

While the actual application itself is of no use to me, can I just point out how awful that green-on-grey colour scheme is?

jccalhoun 10y ago

Wait, so Microsoft has two totally different products called Pix? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/microsoftpix/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/microsoftpi... Or are we supposed to remember that there is a difference between PIX and pix?