Summary
NVIDIA Nsight Systems 2019.3 is a powerful tool designed to help developers optimize and debug their applications. This version includes several new features and improvements that enhance its capabilities. Key highlights include enhanced GPU trace and profiling, improved range profiler, acceleration structure viewer, and events view. These features enable developers to gain deeper insights into their applications’ performance and identify areas for improvement.
Enhanced GPU Trace and Profiling
The GPU trace feature in Nsight Systems 2019.3 has been significantly revamped. It now provides detailed performance metrics, including hardware unit throughputs, SM occupancy, instruction and memory throughput, and cache hit rates. This level of detail allows developers to pinpoint performance bottlenecks and optimize their applications more effectively.
Improved Range Profiler
The range profiler has been updated to include configurable sections, enabling developers to create custom profiling ranges and set rules that trigger notifications when specific conditions are met. This feature helps in identifying performance issues in specific parts of the application.
Acceleration Structure Viewer
The acceleration structure viewer now supports exporting standalone AS files, which can be viewed later without needing a C++ capture or the live application. This feature is particularly useful for analyzing and optimizing acceleration structures used in ray tracing and other applications.
Enhanced Events View
The events view has been improved with better marker hierarchy, providing more detailed and organized information about application events. This helps developers understand the flow of their application and identify potential issues.
New Support and Improvements
Nsight Systems 2019.3 also includes new support for Windows 19H1, OpenGL extensions such as GL_OVR_multiview and GL_OVR_multiview_multisampled_render_to_texture, and Vulkan extensions. Additionally, the runtime overhead on D3D11 applications has been dramatically reduced, and general stability has been improved with over 230 bugs fixed.
Key Features at a Glance
- Enhanced GPU Trace: Detailed performance metrics including hardware unit throughputs and cache hit rates.
- Improved Range Profiler: Configurable sections and custom profiling ranges.
- Acceleration Structure Viewer: Export standalone AS files for later analysis.
- Enhanced Events View: Better marker hierarchy for more detailed event information.
- New Support: Windows 19H1, OpenGL extensions, and Vulkan extensions.
- Improved Stability: Reduced runtime overhead and over 230 bugs fixed.
Table: Key Features and Improvements
| Feature | Improvement |
|---|---|
| GPU Trace | Detailed performance metrics including hardware unit throughputs and cache hit rates. |
| Range Profiler | Configurable sections and custom profiling ranges. |
| Acceleration Structure Viewer | Export standalone AS files for later analysis. |
| Events View | Better marker hierarchy for more detailed event information. |
| New Support | Windows 19H1, OpenGL extensions, and Vulkan extensions. |
| Stability | Reduced runtime overhead and over 230 bugs fixed. |
Conclusion
NVIDIA Nsight Systems 2019.3 is a comprehensive tool for application optimization and debugging. With its enhanced GPU trace and profiling, improved range profiler, acceleration structure viewer, and enhanced events view, developers can gain valuable insights into their applications’ performance and make targeted optimizations. This version’s new support and stability improvements further enhance its utility, making it an indispensable tool for developers working with NVIDIA GPUs.