Summary: Nsight Graphics and Nsight Aftermath have received significant updates, enhancing performance and adding new features to help developers debug and optimize their applications more effectively. Nsight Graphics 2022.3 focuses on performance gains, bug fixes, and Vulkan improvements, while Nsight Aftermath 2022.2 enhances GPU crash logs and provides better correlation of GPU faults.
Performance Boosts and Enhanced Features in Nsight Graphics and Nsight Aftermath
Developers working with 3D graphics applications often face challenges in optimizing performance and debugging GPU crashes. To address these issues, NVIDIA has released updates for Nsight Graphics and Nsight Aftermath, two powerful tools designed to help developers build, debug, and profile software utilizing the latest accelerated computing hardware.
Nsight Graphics 2022.3
Performance Gains
Nsight Graphics 2022.3 focuses on improving performance, particularly in the Ray Tracing Acceleration Structure Viewer. This update brings up to 20 times better performance in some complex scenes, thanks to enhanced occlusion culling. The viewer also handles large instance counts more efficiently, reducing memory usage in scenes with duplicate geometry.
Vulkan Improvements
The new VK_KHR_graphics_pipeline_library extension allows Vulkan applications to precompile shaders and link them at runtime at a reduced cost. This is crucial for large 3D graphics applications that use complex algorithms resulting in thousands of shaders. Precompiling shaders can prevent mid-frame stuttering, which negatively impacts the user experience.
Key Features
- Ray Tracing Acceleration Structure Viewer: Improved performance and handling of large instance counts.
- VK_KHR_graphics_pipeline_library: Precompile shaders and link them at runtime at a reduced cost.
Nsight Aftermath 2022.2
Enhanced GPU Crash Logs
Nsight Aftermath 2022.2 enhances the ability to find the root cause of GPU crashes on a user’s system. It provides better correlation of GPU faults by identifying the line of shader source code that initiated the memory request from the shader units.
MMU Fault Correlation
The GPU frequently accesses memory through the Memory Management Unit (MMU). Nsight Aftermath addresses MMU faults by exposing the shader source code that caused a faulty memory access. This helps developers locate and resolve issues more effectively.
Key Features
- Enhanced MMU Fault Correlation: Identify the line of shader source code that initiated the memory request.
- GPU Crash Logs: Better correlation of GPU faults to help locate and resolve issues.
Integrating Nsight Aftermath
Nsight Aftermath can be integrated into applications to collect and process debugging information. The SDK is flexible and works with existing crash reporters, capturing detailed information about the GPU pipeline at the moment of failure.
Key Integration Points
- GPU Mini-Dumps: Generate detailed information about the GPU pipeline.
- Application Integration: Integrate into user applications to collect and process debugging information.
Visualizing GPU State
Nsight Aftermath provides detailed information about the GPU at the time of an exception, including what warps were running, the status of various GPU subunits, and details about the faulting unit. This information can be visualized in Nsight Graphics, helping developers isolate the specific line of shader source code that caused an exception.
Key Visualization Features
- GPU State Information: Detailed information about the GPU at the time of an exception.
- Nsight Graphics Integration: Visualize GPU state information in Nsight Graphics.
Table: Key Features and Improvements
| Tool | Feature | Improvement |
|---|---|---|
| Nsight Graphics 2022.3 | Ray Tracing Acceleration Structure Viewer | Up to 20 times better performance in complex scenes. |
| Nsight Graphics 2022.3 | VK_KHR_graphics_pipeline_library | Precompile shaders and link them at runtime at a reduced cost. |
| Nsight Aftermath 2022.2 | Enhanced MMU Fault Correlation | Identify the line of shader source code that initiated the memory request. |
| Nsight Aftermath 2022.2 | GPU Crash Logs | Better correlation of GPU faults to help locate and resolve issues. |
Table: Integration and Visualization Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| GPU Mini-Dumps | Generate detailed information about the GPU pipeline. |
| Application Integration | Integrate into user applications to collect and process debugging information. |
| GPU State Information | Detailed information about the GPU at the time of an exception. |
| Nsight Graphics Integration | Visualize GPU state information in Nsight Graphics. |
Conclusion
The updates to Nsight Graphics and Nsight Aftermath offer significant improvements in performance and debugging capabilities. Developers can now optimize their applications more effectively and resolve GPU crashes with greater ease. By integrating these tools into their workflows, developers can build faster, more stable 3D graphics applications.