Get Started with Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers (Intel® GPA)

Getting Started Guide

  • 06/26/2020
  • Public Content
Contents

Get Started with Intel® GPA for Windows* Host

Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers (Intel® GPA) provide a solution for graphics analysis and optimization that can help you improve the performance of games and other graphics-intensive Microsoft DirectX*, Apple Metal*, Vulkan*, and OpenGL* applications.
Intel® GPA is available on Windows*, macOS*, and Ubuntu* hosts.

 

Choose your target application type:
Analyzing
DirectX
 and Vulkan Applications on
Windows
 Host
To profile a
DirectX or Vulkan
 application, you need to have the tools installed on the system where your application runs (target system). If you want to profile an application remotely, install the tools on both host and target systems.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following software installed:
  • Intel® GPA tools
  • Microsoft .NET* 4.0 (only for DirectX 9/10)
For detailed system requirements, see the Release Notes.
Step 1. Launch your
DirectX or Vulkan
 application for analysis
  1. Launch Graphics Monitor on your
    Windows
     target system.
  2. Depending on the type of the application that you want to launch, click the
    Desktop Application
     tab or the
    Universal Windows Applications
     tab (DirectX only).
  3. Select an application for analysis.
  4. Choose the required
    Application Startup
     mode:
    • Frame
      : Choose this mode to capture a frame for a DirectX application.
    • Trace
      : Choose this mode to capture a trace for a DirectX or a Vulkan application.
    • Stream
      : Choose this mode to capture a multi-frame stream for a DirectX 11/12 or Vulkan application.
  5. Click
    Start
    . The application opens for real-time analysis with the Heads-Up Display (HUD) overlay. Press CTRL+F1 to toggle between different HUD display modes that show frame rate, real-time performance metrics, and HUD controls.
Learn more about modifying analysis settings.
Step 2. Run high-level system analysis
  1. Using the HUD, examine various CPU, GPU, graphics API, or system metrics while your application is running. You can select the metrics for analysis in the
    Options
     screen accessible through the Graphics Monitor Launcher Screen.
  2. Modify render states and observe
     performance changes in frame rate and in metrics charts to identify performance bottlenecks. Click Ctrl+F1 to view the list of the available overrides and the respective keyboard shortcuts.
  3. Capture frame/stream
    and trace (DirectX only)
     files for further in-depth analysis with
    Graphics Frame Analyzer and Graphics Trace Analyzer, respectively.
Learn more about system analysis.
[embed]https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/videos/run-system-analysis-with-intel-graphics-performance-analyzers-intel-gpa-heads-up-display[/embed]
Step 3. Perform stream analysis for DirectX11 and Vulkan applications
  1. Explore the performance impact of specific frames in the stream at different stages of the rendering pipeline:
  • detect frames with potential bottlenecks
  • profile the detected frames in the Graphics Frame Analyzer
Learn more about stream analysis.
Step 4. Perform frame analysis for GPU-bound applications
  1. Find the most expensive draw calls in the frame and analyze their optimization opportunities.
  2. Experiment with state overrides to correlate performance issues with specific stages of the graphics pipeline.
  3. Depending on the results of your experiments, explore the following optimization opportunities:
    • analyze texture bandwidth
    • optimize complex geometry
    • experiment with states and shaders
    • minimize overdraw
Learn more about frame analysis.
[embed]https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/videos/perform-frame-analysis-for-gpu-bound-applications-using-intel-graphics-performance-analyzers[/embed]
Step 5. Perform platform analysis for CPU-bound applications
  1. From the Graphics Monitor context menu, launch
    Graphics
    Trace Analyzer
    . In the opened window, you can see all the captured trace files.
  2. From the
    Graphics
    Trace Analyzer
     window, select and open the captured trace file by a double-click.
Learn more about platform analysis.
[embed]https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/videos/perform-trace-analysis-for-cpu-bound-applications-using-intel-graphics-performance-analyzers[/embed]
Analyzing Microsoft Windows Mixed Reality (WinMR) Applications on Windows Host

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following software installed:
  • Mixed Reality Portal
  • Intel® GPA tools
For detailed system requirements, see the Release Notes.
 
Launch your WinMR application for analysis
  1. Launch Graphics Monitor on your Windows target system.
  2. Launch the WinMR portal from the start menu, ensuring that the head mounted display (HMD) is fully set up.
  3. In the task notification area, right-click the Graphics Monitor icon and select
    Graphics Monitor
     from the context menu.
  4. Click the
    Universal
    Windows Applications
    tab.
  5. Select an application from the provided list and click
    Start
    . The application opens for real-time analysis with the Heads-Up Display (HUD) overlay.
Note
When analyzing on Intel® Integrated Graphics, the mirrored display may not be created, the HUD will appear only in the HMD. In this case, keyboard shortcuts are not available. It is recommended to start System Analyzer, connect it to an application, and perform a run-time analysis.
However, when analyzing on discrete graphics cards, the HUD will appear on both the mirrored display and the HMD. You can click CTRL+F1 to toggle between different HUD display modes that show frame rate, real-time performance metrics, and HUD controls.
 
Learn more about launching a WinMR title
.
Note
Analysis for WinMR applications is the same as DirectX applications. The only difference between the two is the way in which you launch the application for analysis.
 
Training and Documentation
To learn more about the product, see the following resources:
Get access to Intel® GPA videos and tutorials.
Learn about Intel® GPA new features and supported system configurations.
View documentation for all the Intel® GPA features.
Ask your questions about Intel® GPA and get help and support.
Legal Information
Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
© Intel Corporation.
This software and the related documents are Intel copyrighted materials, and your use of them is governed by the express license under which they were provided to you (
License
). Unless the License provides otherwise, you may not use, modify, copy, publish, distribute, disclose or transmit this software or the related documents without Intel's prior written permission.
This software and the related documents are provided as is, with no express or implied warranties, other than those that are expressly stated in the License.

Product and Performance Information

1

Intel's compilers may or may not optimize to the same degree for non-Intel microprocessors for optimizations that are not unique to Intel microprocessors. These optimizations include SSE2, SSE3, and SSSE3 instruction sets and other optimizations. Intel does not guarantee the availability, functionality, or effectiveness of any optimization on microprocessors not manufactured by Intel. Microprocessor-dependent optimizations in this product are intended for use with Intel microprocessors. Certain optimizations not specific to Intel microarchitecture are reserved for Intel microprocessors. Please refer to the applicable product User and Reference Guides for more information regarding the specific instruction sets covered by this notice.

Notice revision #20110804