Is GPU hardware acceleration coming to Windows in the v1.8 versions?

[neville]

Is GPU hardware acceleration coming to Windows in the v1.8 versions of the Affinity products, or when is it coming? My understanding is that there's currently a major difference in performance depending on whether you use the Mac versions or the Windows versions.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, neville said:

My understanding is that there's currently a major difference in performance depending on whether you use the Mac versions or the Windows versions.

FWIW, there is also a major difference in performance between Macs that have one of the GPU's Affinity supports for GPU hardware accelerated computations & those that don't. So far, that is only a limited number of GPU's that Apple is shipping in current & recent Macs. If I understand it correctly they are all AMD Radeon Pro models.

From what they have said, each GPU family/model has to be coded specifically to get significantly better performance (because it is all low level, 'close to the metal' code), & since there are far fewer GPU's for Macs, it was practical to code for them first.

I am just guessing, but I think it will end up something like that for Windows, with only a limited number of GPU's supported.

[Mark Ingram]

It will come at some point. I can't say much more than that unfortunately. 

[neville]

I notice that in the Help file for version 1.8, in the 'New features in this version', it says:

▪ GPU acceleration (optimised for ???).

[Joachim_L]

22 hours ago, neville said:

▪ GPU acceleration (optimised for ???).

Yes, this means you can now type question marks much faster.

[RuuRd]

So no schedule / timepath for the implementation of GPGPU in the Windows v ersion at all … Weird development strategy …

[IanSG]

51 minutes ago, RuuRd said:

So no schedule / timepath for the implementation of GPGPU in the Windows v ersion at all … Weird development strategy …

No, there's no publicly announced schedule / timepath.  It's not weird at all - people tend to take veiled hints as solemn promises, and then they go berserk when those dates aren't met.  

[neville]

These latest couple of replies seem to be from people entirely missing the point. The 'New Features' section in the Help seems to indicate that it has now been implemented in v1.8, but as the text is obviously placeholder text that wasn't correctly/fully updated when v1.8 final was released, it's not clear exactly what the situation actually is. Was anything actually implemented, is the text in the Help simply entirely incorrect, was it actually originally intended for 1.8, what is happening now, etc.

[GarryP]

Since adding GPU acceleration to the Windows apps would be a very big thing, it would be reasonable to assume that Serif would tell people about it. Since they haven’t done so, it’s probably reasonable to assume that it hasn’t happened. Because of that it’s probably reasonable to assume that the text in the Help is a mistake.

Please ignore this unnecessary rant.
Even if GPU acceleration was planned for 1.8 but didn’t come in, no-one – except the developers perhaps – has lost anything. No-one should feel bad/angry about not getting something that has never been promised. If it comes then it comes, if not then we’re no worse off than we were before. GPU acceleration is not a basic human right.

Edited March 19, 2020 by GarryP

[neville]

Yes, GarryP, I agree that the text in the Help is probably a mistake. Nobody from Serif has responded to my comment in this thread about the Help file to confirm, though. I think it's also very valid what I said about the other recent replies missing the point.

Reading your reply, I see that the second half of it took a downturn and that you went into some kind of defensive mode, which is also a bit strange though. Did you perhaps notice somebody getting angry in this thread? Perhaps you noticed somebody crying about human rights?

Some of us are simply curious about certain functionality and wish to ask a question of the developers. That can sometimes be difficult when fellow users jump in and try to deflect the conversation for some reason.

Just a bit funny reading comments such as yours where people come out of nowhere to defend a commercial company they have nothing to do with, as if they've taken some kind of personal offense, especially when nobody even said anything controversial. I see that kind of behaviour quite often in online forums. I guess it takes all kinds, as they say.

No need to reply -- I'm not going to get into an argument with you. I just wanted you to know that I found your comments strange.

[GarryP]

Yeah, sorry, reading it again it does seem to be a bit overly ‘ranty’ doesn’t it? Can’t remember why.
I did have a middle paragraph which I deleted for some reason. Maybe I threw the contextual baby out with the proverbial bath water.
Anyway, I’ve edited my earlier post appropriately.

[P.cia]

Hi all, there just come a question, that in which way will be GPU acceleration programmed/supported (Open GL, DirectX, Vulkan...)? I am going to buy a PC and do not know, what graphic card to put in there.

Edited March 21, 2020 by P.cia