Vulkan vs. DirectX: The Modern Graphics API War

The majority of game developers now utilize two well-liked graphics APIs: Microsoft's DirectX and Khronos Group's Vulkan. In essence, Vulkan and DirectX help your game perform the way it should, with fast render times and high frame rates, by facilitating the right allocation of hardware resources (CPU and GPU). However, how do Vulkan and DirectX, two graphics APIs, compare to one another? Which one is more suitable for gaming? Let's investigate.

The Development and History of Vulkan vs. DirectX

Let's start by going over the evolution and background to demonstrate the significance of graphics APIs like DirectX and Vulkan.

DirectX

Launched PC Gaming

Originally, a group at Microsoft created DirectX with the goal of encouraging more game developers to utilize it so that Windows-based PCs could have games for their customers. Prior to the debut of DirectX, game makers favored creating games for DOS and had no intention of releasing new titles for Windows.

This occurred at the time when Windows 95 was being developed. In addition to DOS games, console gaming was increasing significantly. Released in September 1995, DirectX 1.0 was formerly known as the Windows Game SDK.

"Basically, the reason DirectX was created is to remove the operating system, push Windows aside, remove it from memory, remove all the junk that was vying for resources with the games, and allow the games to function." - Alex St. John, the creator of DirectX

In an interview, DirectX team member Alex St John said that Microsoft had to keep urging game companies to begin using DirectX. Their complaints were taken seriously and subsequently used as valuable input to help enhance Windows gaming , encouraging game developers to really create new titles for the platform that millions of people use.

Picture Source: Microsoft

When DirectX first came out, various crazy marketing campaigns were created to get the game industry to use the API and encourage them to create PC games for Windows.

Game makers may use PC hardware with DirectX without having to deal with OS nags. DirectX 1.0, formerly known as "Game SDK" or "Project Manhattan," included DirectSound, which processed audio, DirectPlay, which managed in-game communications, and DirectDraw, which rendered visuals. DirectX is currently extensively utilized in many games and is recognized as a set of APIs. While DirectX 12 is the most recent version, DirectX 11 is still used in many games. With our special explanation, you can comprehend the distinctions between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12.

Although Vulkan was implemented differently, it was designed to achieve similar goals.

In relation to Vulkan, its origins may be seen in the launch of AMD's Mantle API, an American semiconductor manufacturer. Mantle was developed by AMD and DICE. It appeared in video games like Civilization: Beyond Earth, Battlefield 4, and Sniper Elite III.

It was said that Vulkan performed better than DirectX11. Furthermore, there have been assertions of enhanced performance in cases of CPU bottlenecking. Mantle became the API of choice for more gaming engines. Even with all the benefits, adoption wasn't that strong. Subsequently, AMD "donated" the Mantle API to the Khronos Group, who used it to create an entirely new API.

Later, at GDC 2015, Khronos unveiled Vulkan as a brand-new graphics API. It is a noteworthy open standard nowadays, and in addition to DirectX 11/12, many games employ Vulkan.

vulkan

The image is courtesy of Khronos Group

.A salient feature Vulkan is a cross-platform API (desktop and mobile), which sets it apart from DirectX. Vulkan's design elements, such the decreased "driver overhead" sapping away precious performance, were among the main enhancements discovered in the most recent DirectX 12 implementation.Over the last five years, DirectX and Vulkan have both advanced significantly and each has benefits of their own. So let's talk about them and contrast how well DirectX and Vulkan work in a few modern games.

Comparison of DirectX and Vulkan's advantages

It's said that Vulkan makes better use of your PC's hardware resources. Thus, it is claimed that this version of DirectX uses more "balanced" CPU, GPU, and RAM utilization than DirectX 12. An open-source, lower-level API is called Vulkan. Furthermore, it is cross-platform . so that if creators choose to distribute their game on both PC and mobile platforms, they may do it faster. On the other hand, others claim that Vulkan is more complicated to use, which might result in a longer development time overall than with other APIs.Vulkan is highly attractive to utilize from a developer's point of view since it is cross-platform and open-source. Additionally, if one is unfamiliar with graphics and game development, there is an abundance of instructional content available to learn Vulkan. Some even claim that compared to DirectX, the Vulkan API is more user-friendly, cleaner, and has greater documentation. Ultimately, some games decide to provide players the option to chose between the two APIs.

ray tracing — Current ray-tracing capabilities are supported by both the Vulkan and DirectX 12 APIs

.It should be noted that Xbox game consoles and Windows PCs also utilize DirectX. However, Vulkan may be used with Windows, Linux, and mobile devices. The Nvidia Tegra GPU, which powers the Nintendo Switch, is also said to support Vulkan. It is said in this Detroit Become Human game porting and optimization tale that PlayStation game consoles have better APIs. (characterized as very direct and minimal overhead) than anything on a PC since they are specialized devices designed for gaming.

Performance Comparison between DirectX and Vulkan

Let's now examine the viewpoint of the average consumer—people who play video games, like you and me. The user must utilize the graphics API that the game requires if there isn't a choice. However, if it's a choice, DirectX or Vulkan speed varies case by case. We've compared the performance of the DirectX and Vulkan graphics APIs below to provide you more information about this.I put two well-known games to the test, raising questions among users about whether to start them using DirectX or Vulkan. I used my Acer Nitro V, which we previously reviewed as a reasonably priced gaming laptop, for testing. This system has an Intel Core i5-13420H CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU.Remember that the components of your PC may affect your performance figures; in certain situations, DirectX may work better than Vulkan. Additionally, I intended to compare Vulkan vs. DirectX 11 in Baldur's Gate 3, but I was unable to do so since the game kept crashing. I'll make sure to update this area with those benchmarks as soon as that's rectified.

Red Dead Redemption 2: Vulkan vs. DirectX 12

The outcomes of Red Dead Redemption 2 were somewhat similar. Vulkan has an overall better FPS range and reached better minimum FPS. Depending on the scenario, it also seemed a little more fluid with a higher average frame rate. The game has a lower minimum frame rate but a greater maximum frame rate with DirectX 12. In my tests, the experience was somewhat better on Vulkan. While some claim to be having uneven DirectX performance, others claim to be having stuttering problems with Vulkan.In RDR2, go to your in-game graphics options, then scroll down to the advanced graphics settings to switch between Vulkan and DX12. Here, alternate between DirectX 12 and Vulkan. The FPS figures may then be obtained by running the in-game benchmark. The best graphics API selection for the game is most likely the one that increases your average frame rate.Path of Exile: Vulkan vs. DirectX 12 vs. DirectX 11Despite being an older game, Path of Exile boasts a large player base and is updated often. Three graphics APIs are available here: Vulkan, DirectX 11, and DirectX 12.After testing all three, I have concluded that, for my Acer RTX 4050 gaming laptop, Vulkan is the best. With Vulkan, I was generally getting around 80 frames per second. Despite having greater performance results, DirectX11 is older than Vulkan (which was introduced in 2015), having been released in 2009. We were disappointed with DirectX12's performance, since in some cases the frame rate dropped below 60.

Which Should You Use, DirectX or Vulkan?

Either of these two APIs may work better for you, depending on how your system specs work together. It also relies on how well the game is optimized. In order to choose which graphics API—DirectX or Vulkan—to utilize, you need evaluate your gaming performance and compare frames per second.Although DirectX often has more reliability, this isn't always the case. Since Vulkan is reputed to have a balanced API with little cost, I think it's superior. Owners of AMD GPUs may also profit from utilizing Vulkan, perhaps as a result of AMD having basically written the framework for Vulkan (Mantle).For those that play games, however, you should choose whatever API performs best overall. What do you think about Vulkan vs. DirectX? Tell us in the comments section below.