
PIX – A performance tuning and debugging tool for game developers - Impossible
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/pix/2017/01/17/introducing-pix-on-windows-beta/
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How is this different from PIX for Windows
([https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/manders/2006/12/15/a-painle...](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/manders/2006/12/15/a-painless-
introduction-to-pix-for-windows/))? Is it just an update for DX12?

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MaulingMonkey
> How is this different from PIX for Windows

That "died" with the DirectX SDK (which last recieved an update June 2010)
when the DirectX SDK release cycle was merged into the general windows one
AFAIK. It's had several lingering bugs - to wit, OOM issues, D3D11 support
breaking on Windows 7?, and issues with managed code (64-bit specific perhaps?
It's been awhile...)

Visual Studio gained support for graphics debugging as a "replacement", in
what appears to have at least been a complete rewrite of the UI at bare
minimum - with some new features and some missing ones, at least for awhile
there.

Aside from "DXSDK PIX" and "VS PIX", there's also been "360 PIX" and "XB1 PIX"
(referring to the consoles) - all effectively different pieces of software
with their own quirks, bugs, feature sets, user interfaces, limitations...
there's probably some common DLLs in the mix, but they're so varied in even
'core' functionality like capture behavior - that it wouldn't surprise me if
there was minimal code shared between them.

This latest standalone version looks visually similar to "XB1 PIX", but that
could handle D3D11 and this apparently can't? Should I call this "12 PIX"?

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ThePadawan
I used PIX back in 2012 for porting an engine from D3D9 to D3D11, and I'm
happy to see that it finally got an update to be brought up back to scratch.

Old PIX used to be a powerhouse, but riddled with inconsistencies with new
D3D11 features, and unstable to boot. It was one of those tools you loved when
it worked, and hated if it didn't.

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ensiferum
Just FYI, if you're on NVIDIA hardware you also have these tools available:

NVIDIA Nsight (GPU tracer/profiler/debugger, integrates with visual studio)
[https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-nsight-visual-studio-
edi...](https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-nsight-visual-studio-edition)

Tegra System Profiler (GPU tracer/profiler/debugger) for Android on Tegra
[https://developer.nvidia.com/tegra-system-
profiler](https://developer.nvidia.com/tegra-system-profiler)

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jwatte
I was sad when old Pix was deprecated, and the visual arising built in tools
didn't always live up to being a replacement. In really glad to see it gets a
second chance to shine!

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jccalhoun
Wait, so Microsoft has two totally different products called Pix?
[https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/research/product/microsoftpi...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/research/product/microsoftpix/) Or are we supposed to remember that there
is a difference between PIX and pix?

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NTripleOne
While the actual application itself is of no use to me, can I just point out
how awful that green-on-grey colour scheme is?

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eriknstr
I had never heard of PIX so I didn't know what it was. I suggest changing the
title

from: "Introducing PIX on Windows (beta)"

to: "Introducing gamedev performance tuning and debugging tool PIX on Windows
(beta)"

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a012
I thought it's Microsoft's Pix camera app is now beta on Windows until read
the actual post.

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yincrash
I thought it was a modern (grown up?) version of Kid Pix. I was sorely
disappointed :(

