Microsoft DX12 Agility SDK update to speed up GPU ML-applications and AV1 encoding

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Agility SDK update: Work Graphs, Wave Matrix, AV1 encoding

Microsoft releases a preview of Agility SDK 1.711.3, which adds powerful tools for developers.



Software developers will now be able to take advantage of work graphs, a function that will enable asynchronous shader utilization. This will provide developers with an easy API to dispatch work with GPUs instead of forcing the CPU for this task.

More importantly, work graphs will simplify the programming structure and will improve memory management for these tasks. This will greatly improve programming capabilities for modern shader-based workloads, and it appears that all major brands are on board (AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, and Qualcomm). The potential of this technology has been outlined by Epic Games Unreal Engine 5 developers, who were among the biggest advocates of GPU generated workloads.

Machine learning algorithms will also get a GPU boost through Wave Matrix Multiply Accumulate instruction support. Modern GPUs are capable of accelerating such instructions which are mainly used by AI algorithms these days. These matrix-based calculations will speed up the most common calculations such as storing, rearranging, duplicating the data cross all threads in a wave.

Microsoft is also implementing an AV1 encoding into its D3D12 Video Encode API. This will provide unified access to the same interface on all modern GPUs that support AV1 encoding. However, based on the Microsoft data, only NVIDIA supports this technology on RTX 40 series, with AMD expected to provide a compatible driver no sooner than the fourth quarter. Intel is not making this any easier, as contact with an Intel representative is required beforehand.



Work Graphs:

• • AMD: A preview AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ driver showcasing the AMD implementation of the current Work Graphs API for AMD Radeon™ RX 7000 Series graphics cards can be downloaded here. See how AMD worked with Microsoft and the developer community to bring Work Graphs to life here and when you’re ready to try this for yourself you can read the corresponding AMD GPUOpen Programmer’s Guide to Work Graphs here.
    
  • NVIDIA: To obtain the NVIDIA drivers supporting work graphs, please reach out to your developer engagement representative.
    

• Intel: Intel’s close collaboration and partnership with Microsoft on the work graphs feature set will enable developers to better harness the power of Intel Graphics processors, delivering increased performance and innovative graphics techniques. We look forward to supporting the upcoming work graphs in a future driver release. For further inquiries please reach out to Intel developer relations at gamedevtech@intel.com.
  

Wave Matrix driver support:

• AMD: AMD will be releasing a preview AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ driver with WaveMMA support in the coming weeks, watch here for an updated link to that driver.
  
• Intel: For Intel drivers, please contact your developer representative
  
• NVIDIA: For NVIDIA drivers, please reach out to your developer engagement representative
  
• Qualcomm: Future support is planned
  

AV1 Encoding driver support:

• AMD: An AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ driver with support for AV1 Encode on AMD Radeon™ RX 7000 Series graphics GPUs will be available estimated Q4 of 2023
  
• Intel: For Intel drivers, please contact your developer representative
  
• NVIDIA: RTX 40 series GPUs, driver version 545.31+
  
• Qualcomm: Future support is planned
  

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