To debut the Vulkan API: GPU and CPU fully exploited in video games

Khronos Group announced that it has ratified today the 1.0 specification of Vulkan API, coming out of beta becoming public. These APIs are positioned as a complementary proposal to OpenGL, resulting in fact from Mantle API developed by AMD for its GPU.

The ultimate aim of Vulkan is to offer game developers the APIs they are able to make the most of both the computing power of the latest GPU, since the availability of CPU architectures of multicore type. This is achieved by significantly reducing the overhead of the API, thus making sure that in the backgroud CPU and GPU should not be engaged to process the requests made by the hardware API. A reduction in overhead API enables increased performance as well as better use of all available CPU cores of the system and to make more efficient the operation of the video subsystem.

In order to have available hardware architectures that can be used to best advantage is evident from the available software such as the release of version 1.0 of Vulkan API represents a major leap forward for manufacturers of video cards. Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect of the Radeon Technologies Group, AMD, said in this regard that "today's announcement represents an incredible step forward for developers. The Vulkan API, which derive from Mantle, will bring all the benefits of graphics API with low overhead and high performance, together with those offered by the cross-platform applications and cross-vendor. The promotion of open and scalable technologies continues to be a focus for AMD, which has always been one of the pioneers in the field of API with a low level of overhead. The fact of being part of the Khronos Group, demonstrates our desire to collaborate with the industry-leading hardware and software to develop Vulkan API and lay the foundation for the next evolution of the PC gaming development ".

Vulkan is obviously alongside Mantle for technical specifications and implementation, as these APIs developed by AMD used as a basis for Vulkan. similar approach has also been followed by the rest with Microsoft DirectX 12, which are different from the previous generation DirectX API between the various also for the work of sull'overhead optimization of the CPU. AMD has confirmed the upcoming release of a beta version of driver of the family Radeon Software with support for Vulkan API.