Microsoft’s DirectX update could double ray tracing performance in PC games

Although ray tracing can add visual realism to top-tier games, it can also maul the performance of otherwise top-tier PCs. It’s been a hurdle for years now, but we’re now one step closer to overcoming it with Microsoft unveiling DirectX Raytracing 1.2, a rendering API that should help improve ray tracing performance by a significant margin.

DirectX is the fundamental set of APIs handling multimedia on your Windows PC, with a subset designed specifically for 3D graphics and video. Although this new technique is being developed by Microsoft, it will require explicit support from GPU makers. Nvidia is already in it, having committed driver support for DirectX Raytracing 1.2 across its GeForce RTX GPU lineup. Microsoft also said that it’s working with other vendors, including AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm.

Microsoft is introducing two techniques—opacity micromaps and shader execution reordering—to improve ray tracing performance. Adding opacity micromaps can allegedly improve performance up to 2.3 times in path-based games, while shader execution reordering can boost performance by two times in certain scenarios.

Microsoft also said that it’s working with GPU vendors on improved realism, using techniques like neural block texture compression and using neural supersampling to help improve real-time path tracing.

DirectX Raytracing 1.2 will be released as a preview software development kit in April, paving the way for fuller adoption later on.