AMD reportedly cancelled automatic Primitive Shader Driver support

Primitive Shaders will be accessible to developers in the future

| Source: 3DCenter.org Forums Author: Mark Campbell

AMD reportedly cancelled automatic Primitive Shader Driver support

One of the most exciting aspects of AMD's Vega graphics architecture is its support for Primitive Shaders, promising the ability to offer an increase in geometry performance that could be greater than 2x. This feature was revealed long before the launch of the RX Vega, with our first mention of the function being in our Vega architectural rundown over a year ago.



AMD's aims with this feature were ambitious, with the company planning an implicit driver path that would utilise the new feature, allowing it to function without a developer's intervention. Now rumours suggest that AMD has cancelled this feature, instead opting for an explicit path where this feature can be utilised by developers using an API path.



To put things in simple terms, Primitive Shaders can combine vertex and geometry shaders into a single primitive shader that can be used to speed up throughput by a factor of over 2x. The only problem here is that developers need to work to get this feature to function as intended, which means that this will not be ported to older PC games. AMD's planned driver-based implicit version could have allowed this feature to be automatically used in all titles, though it seems that AMD could not get this more complex option to function correctly.





The lack of an implicit driver path does not mean that AMD's Primitive Shaders will go unused, just that it will require the intervention of game developers to get working. The need for developer support adds a new layer to a game's optimisation process, though it is likely that many developers will see the potential performance gains as enough to spend the time implementing Primitive Shaders.



At this time we have heard no news directly from AMD regarding their planned use of Primitive Shaders in the future, though AMD's problem s with this feature are evident given their lack of use so after the release of Vega.



You can join the discussion on AMD's Primitive Shaders on the OC3D Forums.

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