Summary: NVIDIA has unveiled new releases of its Nsight Systems and Nsight Graphics tools at SIGGRAPH 2022. These updates bring expanded Vulkan API support, improved user experience, and enhanced debugging and profiling capabilities. Here, we delve into the key features and improvements of these releases.

Nsight Systems 2022.3: Enhanced Vulkan Support

Nsight Systems 2022.3 introduces significant updates, particularly in its support for Vulkan API. This release now fully integrates Vulkan Video, a solution for processing hardware-accelerated video files. Previously, Vulkan Video workloads were not identified as subsets of larger queue commands, but with this update, they are fully integrated into the timeline.

Key Features of Nsight Systems 2022.3

  • Vulkan Video Support: Full integration of Vulkan Video for processing hardware-accelerated video files.
  • VK_KHR_graphics_pipeline_library Extension: This extension allows Vulkan applications to precompile shaders and link them at runtime at a reduced cost, critical for shader-heavy applications like games.
  • Visual Improvements: Enhanced multi-report viewing for better clarity.

Nsight Graphics 2022.4: Enhanced Debugging and Profiling

Nsight Graphics 2022.4 brings a robust set of upgrades to its debugging and profiling tools. The API Inspector has been redesigned with an improved display, search functions, enhanced constant buffer views, and data export capabilities.

Key Features of Nsight Graphics 2022.4

  • Redesigned API Inspector: Improved display, search functions within API Inspector pages, enhanced constant buffer views, and data export for offline comparison.
  • OpenGL Support: GPU Trace now supports tracing and analysis for OpenGL applications on Windows and Linux.
  • Subchannel Switch Identification: GPU Trace can now identify subchannel switches with an event overlay, helping minimize idle times.
  • Shader Profiler Summary: Expanded with new columns for per-shader register numbers and theoretical warp occupancy.
  • Enhanced Barriers Support: Support for enhanced barriers available in recent DirectX 12 Agility SDKs.

Deep Dive into Nsight Graphics 2022.4 Features

GPU Trace: Detailed Performance Timeline

GPU Trace is a critical tool in Nsight Graphics 2022.4, providing a detailed performance timeline that tracks GPU throughput. This feature enables thorough profiling of hardware utilization, helping developers identify performance blockers.

API Inspector: Enhanced Debugging

The redesigned API Inspector offers an improved interface with search functions and enhanced constant buffer views. This tool is invaluable for debugging and analyzing API calls.

Shader Profiler: Detailed Analysis

The shader profiler summary has been expanded with new columns for per-shader register numbers and theoretical warp occupancy. This provides developers with detailed insights into shader performance.

Key Takeaways

  • Nsight Systems 2022.3: Enhanced Vulkan API support, including Vulkan Video and VK_KHR_graphics_pipeline_library extension.
  • Nsight Graphics 2022.4: Redesigned API Inspector, OpenGL support for GPU Trace, subchannel switch identification, and enhanced shader profiler summary.
  • GPU Trace: Detailed performance timeline for tracking GPU throughput and identifying performance blockers.
  • API Inspector: Improved interface with search functions and enhanced constant buffer views for debugging and analyzing API calls.
  • Shader Profiler: Expanded summary with new columns for per-shader register numbers and theoretical warp occupancy.

By leveraging these tools, developers can create workflows that improve application performance, making them indispensable for graphics development across all specifications.

Conclusion

The new releases of NVIDIA Nsight Systems and Nsight Graphics at SIGGRAPH 2022 bring significant enhancements to debugging and profiling capabilities. With expanded Vulkan API support, improved user experience, and detailed performance analysis tools, these updates are crucial for developers aiming to optimize their applications. Whether it’s identifying GPU bottlenecks, optimizing workloads, or analyzing ray tracing efficiency, these tools provide the necessary insights to create high-performance applications with beautiful graphics.