Timing Capture Sampling Profiler video

Steven Pratschner May 6, 2021 May 6, 2021 05/6/21

I recently posted a new video to the PIX on Windows YouTube channel that describes some of the features in the Sampling Profiler in Timing Captures.  This video shows how to use CPU samples to analyze CPU performance in portions of your title that aren't sufficiently instrumented with PIX events. As always, use the feedback button in the ...

Converting previous versions of Timing Captures

Steven Pratschner April 29, 2021 Apr 29, 2021 04/29/21

In some releases of PIX, the Timing Capture file format must be changed as new features are added. Such a format change was made in the 2104.20 release of PIX on Windows. If you attempt to open a capture that contains an older file format, a dialog will be displayed with the following text: Please use the Convert menu to migrate this ...

Usability improvements to the Timing Capture Metrics View

Steven Pratschner April 22, 2021 Apr 22, 2021 04/22/21

The 2104.20 release of PIX on Windows includes several usability improvements to the Metrics View in Timing Captures.  These usability improvements make it easier to manage the set of metrics that are currently graphed.  Metrics analysis is also improved through the ability to customize the minimum and maximum values for the y-axis for each...

New CPU Sampling Profiler C++ Source Code View

Steven Pratschner April 22, 2021 Apr 22, 2021 04/22/21

Starting with the 2104.20 release of PIX on Windows, the Sampling Profiler that is built into Timing Captures includes a C++ source code view. The source view uses coloring to attribute the collected CPU samples with source lines, thereby identifying the hot spots within a function. The source view is available when viewing Sampled ...

Tips & Tricks: How the Pros Use PIX to Make Their Games Better on Xbox and Windows

Morgan Grobin April 20, 2021 Apr 20, 2021 04/20/21

Today, you may have caught the PIX session titled "Tips & Tricks: How the Pros Use PIX to Make Their Games Better on Xbox and Windows" at Microsoft's Game Stack Live. If you haven't seen it yet, it's available on demand through the Game Stack Live website, and will air twice more before the end of the GSL event. This blog post contains ...

PIX 2104.20: DirectX 12 Agility SDK Support, New Occupancy Graphs, Timing Capture Improvements

Morgan Grobin April 20, 2021 Apr 20, 2021 04/20/21

Today we released PIX version 2104.20 - adding support for all new DirectX 12 Agility SDK features including Shader Model 6.6. This release adds support for DXCompiler Slim PDBs, adds new occupancy graphs for supported GPUs, and includes an experimental feature that allows you to attach to a running process for GPU capture.

PIX 2103.16: Recently Launched Apps, Environment Variables, Camera Improvements in the Mesh Viewer

Morgan Grobin March 18, 2021 Mar 18, 2021 03/18/21

PIX 2103.10 was released today. This release adds new options to the app launch process, including launch history and the ability to set environment variables. We've added multi-cam support to the mesh viewer, and other bugfixes. Read the blog to learn more!

PIX Timing Captures require full PDBs

Steven Pratschner February 26, 2021 Feb 26, 2021 02/26/21

PIX Timing Captures require a title’s PDBs to be generated using the /DEBUG:FULL linker switch. PDBs generated with the /DEBUG:FASTLINK linker switch are not sufficient. Note that, depending on the version of Visual Studio you are using, the linker switch /DEBUG specified without the FULL or FASTLINK option, may default to FASTLINK...

Finding memory leaks using Timing Captures

Steven Pratschner February 23, 2021 Feb 23, 2021 02/23/21

PIX Timing Captures include several analysis features aimed at making it easy to find memory leaks in your title.  These features, coupled with the ability to take captures for extended periods of time, are a compelling combination for finding leaks, even those that can take a considerable amount of time to manifest themselves. To enable ...

WinPixEventRuntime 2102.09: Minor fixes and optimizations

Matt Amert February 16, 2021 Feb 16, 2021 02/16/21

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since our last update to WinPixEventRuntime! This update brings a couple of minor fixes and optimizations, which should hopefully lead to a slightly better quality of life when using the runtime 😊 You can download the new runtime here. Release notes: Known Issue...