NVIDIA’s Neural Texture Compression (NTC) has just received a massive performance boost with the inclusion of Microsoft’s DirectX Raytracing (DXR) version 1.2. This combination is proving to be a game-changer in VRAM consumption, reportedly reducing usage by up to 90%.
Thanks to the innovative improvements, NVIDIA’s GPU hardware is being pushed even further, and it’s not just about hardware anymore – software is catching up too.
The recent tests conducted by @opinali, who tested NVIDIA’s NTC with DirectX 1.2, reveal a substantial drop in VRAM usage. In these tests, notably during the iconic shoe-render scene, the difference was remarkable. NTC uses neural networks to compress and decompress textures, reducing the file size with almost no quality loss. The key addition from DirectX 1.2 is Cooperative Vectors, which allow GPU shaders to work in tandem on smaller operations, improving efficiency.
When combined, these technologies enable a compression and decompression process that runs smoothly within standard game shaders via DX12. During testing, the results were staggering. When Cooperative Vectors and NTC were enabled under ‘Default’ mode, the texture rendered at a jaw-dropping 2,350 FPS. Disabling both features dropped the performance to just 1,030 FPS, marking nearly an 80% difference. Alongside this, VRAM capacity also saw a significant reduction.
It’s important to note that while these advancements are impressive, NTC is currently limited to NVIDIA’s GPUs, as AMD and Intel alternatives don’t yet have the necessary neural rendering kits. The feature is available with the latest 590.26 preview drivers, which also introduce NVIDIA’s Smooth Motion technology, though using these drivers may cause some performance instability. As next-generation GPUs evolve, we can expect this technology to have an even greater impact on performance, combining hardware and software optimizations for a truly next-level experience.