Summary

NVIDIA has released Nsight Compute 2020.2 and Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2, bringing significant updates to their developer tools. Nsight Compute 2020.2 introduces new features such as application replay, support for CUDA Toolkit 11.1, and improved workflow and UI enhancements. Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2 integrates Nsight tools into Visual Studio, making it easier for developers to debug and profile their applications.

Nsight Compute 2020.2: Enhancing CUDA Application Profiling

Nsight Compute 2020.2 is an interactive kernel profiler for CUDA applications, providing detailed performance metrics and API debugging via a user interface and command line tool. The latest release includes several key updates:

Application Replay

Application replay is a new feature that complements the existing kernel replay activity. It allows developers to collect metric results across multiple application runs, instead of replaying individual kernels. This feature is particularly useful for profiling complex applications with multiple kernel launches.

Support for CUDA Toolkit 11.1

Nsight Compute 2020.2 supports the CUDA Toolkit 11.1, ensuring compatibility with the latest CUDA developments.

Workflow and UI Improvements

The release includes numerous workflow and UI improvements, such as an updated menu and toolbar layout, and performance improvements.

New CLI Options

The Nsight Compute CLI has been enhanced with new options, including:

  • --replay-mode to select the mechanism used for replaying a kernel launch multiple times.
  • --kill to terminate the application once all requested kernels were profiled.
  • --log-file to decide the output stream for printing tool output.
  • --check-exit-code to decide if the child application exit code should be checked.

Additional Features

Other notable features include:

  • Support for NVIDIA GA102 and GA104 GPU architectures.
  • A new launch__device_id metric.
  • CSV output now shows NVTX states.
  • CLI output now shows NVTX payload information.

Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2: Streamlining Development

Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2 integrates Nsight tools into Visual Studio, making it easier for developers to debug and profile their applications. Key features include:

Integration with Visual Studio

Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2 provides a seamless integration with Visual Studio, allowing developers to quickly select an Nsight activity and launch it with their Visual Studio project settings.

Quick Access to Nsight Tools

The integration plugin provides quick and easy access to powerful graphics debugging and profiling tools, including Nsight Graphics and Nsight Compute.

Enhanced Developer Workflow

The integration simplifies the developer workflow by eliminating the need to maintain separate settings in multiple places.

Key Takeaways

  • Nsight Compute 2020.2 introduces application replay, support for CUDA Toolkit 11.1, and improved workflow and UI enhancements.
  • Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2 integrates Nsight tools into Visual Studio, making it easier for developers to debug and profile their applications.
  • The releases aim to enhance developer productivity and efficiency in creating high-performance CUDA and graphics applications.

Future Directions

As NVIDIA continues to evolve its developer tools, future releases are expected to bring even more innovative features and enhancements. Developers can look forward to continued support and improvements in their development workflows.

Table: Nsight Compute 2020.2 Key Features

Feature Description
Application Replay Collect metric results across multiple application runs.
Support for CUDA Toolkit 11.1 Ensures compatibility with the latest CUDA developments.
Workflow and UI Improvements Updated menu and toolbar layout, performance improvements.
New CLI Options --replay-mode, --kill, --log-file, --check-exit-code.
Support for NVIDIA GA102 and GA104 GPU Architectures Expanded hardware support.
New launch__device_id Metric Additional metric for detailed profiling.
CSV Output Shows NVTX States Enhanced output for NVTX information.
CLI Output Shows NVTX Payload Information Detailed payload information in CLI output.

Table: Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2 Key Features

Feature Description
Integration with Visual Studio Seamless integration with Visual Studio.
Quick Access to Nsight Tools Easy access to Nsight Graphics and Nsight Compute.
Enhanced Developer Workflow Simplified workflow with integrated settings.

Conclusion

The release of Nsight Compute 2020.2 and Nsight Visual Studio Edition 2020.2 marks a significant step forward in NVIDIA’s developer tools. With enhanced features, improved workflows, and seamless integration with Visual Studio, these tools are poised to streamline the development process for CUDA and graphics applications.