A Comprehensive Guide to NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools
Summary
NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools is a suite of powerful tools and SDKs designed to help developers build, debug, profile, and optimize applications for graphics, gaming, and other use cases. This article provides an overview of the various tools within the Nsight suite, their features, and how they can be used to improve application performance.
Introduction
Developing high-performance applications requires a deep understanding of the underlying hardware and software. NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools are designed to provide developers with the necessary tools to build, debug, profile, and optimize applications for graphics, gaming, and other use cases. In this article, we will explore the various tools within the Nsight suite and how they can be used to improve application performance.
Nsight Graphics
Nsight Graphics is a standalone developer tool that enables developers to debug, profile, and export frames built with Direct3D, Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenVR, and the Oculus SDK. This tool provides detailed performance metrics and API debugging via a user interface and command-line tool.
Nsight Compute
Nsight Compute is an interactive kernel profiler for CUDA applications. It provides detailed performance metrics and API debugging via a user interface and command-line tool. This tool helps developers identify bottlenecks and optimize their CUDA code for better performance.
Nsight Deep Learning Designer
Nsight Deep Learning Designer is a tool with an integrated development environment that helps developers efficiently design and develop deep neural networks for in-app inference. This tool provides a powerful set of window management capabilities and a consistent look and feel.
Nsight Eclipse Edition
Nsight Eclipse Edition is a unified CPU plus GPU integrated development environment (IDE) for developing CUDA applications on Linux and Mac OS X for the x86, POWER, and ARM platforms. This tool provides a comprehensive development environment for building and debugging CUDA applications.
Nsight Integration
Nsight Integration is a Visual Studio extension that enables developers to access the power of Nsight Compute, Nsight Graphics, and Nsight Systems from within Visual Studio. This tool provides quick access to Nsight standalone tools and auto-populates Visual Studio project settings for improved development workflow.
Nsight Perf SDK
Nsight Perf SDK is a toolbox for collecting and analyzing GPU performance data, directly from application code. This tool provides detailed performance metrics and helps developers identify bottlenecks and optimize their code for better performance.
Nsight Systems
Nsight Systems is a system-wide performance analysis tool designed to visualize an application’s algorithms, help identify the largest opportunities to optimize, and tune to scale efficiently across any quantity or size of CPUs and GPUs. This tool provides a comprehensive view of system performance and helps developers optimize their applications for better performance.
Nsight Visual Studio Code Edition
Nsight Visual Studio Code Edition is an application development environment for heterogeneous platforms that brings CUDA development for GPUs into Microsoft Visual Studio Code. This tool provides support for CUDA development, including features such as Intellisense, debugging, debugger views, and productivity enhancements.
Nsight Visual Studio Edition
Nsight Visual Studio Edition is an application development environment for heterogeneous platforms that brings GPU computing into Microsoft Visual Studio. This tool provides a comprehensive development environment for building and debugging GPU applications.
Nsight Aftermath
Nsight Aftermath is a library that integrates into a D3D12 or Vulkan game’s crash reporter to generate GPU “mini-dumps” when an exception or TDR occurs, exposing pipeline information to resolve an unexpected crash.
Table: Nsight Tools and Their Features
| Tool | Features |
|---|---|
| Nsight Graphics | Debug, profile, and export frames built with Direct3D, Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenVR, and the Oculus SDK |
| Nsight Compute | Interactive kernel profiler for CUDA applications |
| Nsight Deep Learning Designer | Integrated development environment for designing and developing deep neural networks |
| Nsight Eclipse Edition | Unified CPU plus GPU integrated development environment for developing CUDA applications |
| Nsight Integration | Visual Studio extension for accessing Nsight Compute, Nsight Graphics, and Nsight Systems |
| Nsight Perf SDK | Toolbox for collecting and analyzing GPU performance data |
| Nsight Systems | System-wide performance analysis tool |
| Nsight Visual Studio Code Edition | Application development environment for heterogeneous platforms |
| Nsight Visual Studio Edition | Application development environment for heterogeneous platforms |
| Nsight Aftermath | Library for generating GPU “mini-dumps” when an exception or TDR occurs |
Table: Nsight Tools and Their Minimum Versions
| Tool | Minimum Version |
|---|---|
| Nsight Compute | 2019.5.1 |
| Nsight Graphics | 2020.2.0 |
| Nsight Systems | 2020.2.1 |
| Nsight Visual Studio Edition | n/a |
Table: Nsight Tools and Their Supported Platforms
| Tool | Supported Platforms |
|---|---|
| Nsight Eclipse Edition | Linux, Mac OS X, x86, POWER, ARM |
| Nsight Visual Studio Code Edition | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| Nsight Visual Studio Edition | Windows |
Conclusion
NVIDIA Nsight Developer Tools provide a comprehensive suite of tools and SDKs for building, debugging, profiling, and optimizing applications for graphics, gaming, and other use cases. By using these tools, developers can identify bottlenecks, optimize their code, and improve application performance. Whether you are developing CUDA applications, graphics applications, or deep learning models, Nsight Developer Tools have something to offer.