Upcoming strategy title "Ashes of Singularity" released benchmarking software a few days ago, marking the start of a global transition to DX12.

DirectX is a programming interface (API) that allows developers to tap into a device's hardware for producing complex 3D graphics. DX12 is the latest version and promises to bring more efficient CPU utilization, reduced driver overheads, and various other benefits. Lead developer Max McMullen said one of DX12's goals was to bring "console-level efficiency" to PCs. Console hardware is focussed entirely on games, where PCs are often doing other tasks even while running games.

In this context, DX12 hopes to bring significant gains to PC games across the board. However, Ashes of Singularity's benchmark is proving controversial for Nvidia's high-end cards, which so far aren't seeing the benefits.

This graph shows DX12's performance (blue) against the older DX11's performance (green) using Nvidia's GTX 980 and AMD's R 390X.