DirectX 12 allows for better utilization of multiple graphics processors

Anyone who uses two or more graphics cards in Crossfire or SLI gets extra graphics processors, but no more available video memory. The reason is that each graphics card needs a copy of the content to be able to take turns rendering the image. At the same time, the PCI Express data bus is not powerful enough to create a unified memory pool.

On Twitter reminds AMD’s marketer Robert Hallock that this old truth is not really true for its own interface AMD Mantle and at the same time gives a hint that this will also apply to the new DirectX 12, or at least what is called “it low-overhead API following in Mantle’s footsteps “.

Unlike traditional Crossfire, where each graphics processor renders its own frame, AMD gives Mantle and now probably also DirectX 12 developers the opportunity to use split-frame rendering (SFR). With this method, each frame can be divided into several smaller sections to provide conditions for optimizing the use of video memory.

This means that each graphics processor does not need a complete copy of the video memory, but manages with what is currently used in the individual image section. Since it is up to the game developers to control the behavior, it can also open up for non-symmetrical hardware configurations, for example that a weaker integrated graphics part gets a smaller section while a more powerful graphics card takes care of the rest.

This rendering technology is already used in Civilization: Beyond Earth using AMD Mantle. Formally, however, AMD refuses to call it all Crossfire because the behavior is not controlled by the driver but is entirely determined by the game developers.