AMD try to take the pain out of PC gaming development with Mantle
With today’s newly launched R7 and R9 range of graphics cards came AMD’s announcement that it has developed a new low-level programming interface for PC gaming developers called Mantle, and it could be one of the most exciting developments in gaming for years.
Designed in collaboration with number of top gaming developers including DICE it provides easy access directly to the GPU hardware without the requirement to go through Microsoft’s DirectX API that can create GPU to CPU bottlenecks. However Mantle will be compatible with DirectX to ensure developers do not have to create separate code for non-Mantle GPUs.
Aside from the direct coding benefits, by bypassing the layers and layers of Windows webbing AMD hopes that game development will be more in line with the AMD APU
(Accelerated Processing Unit) powered Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U therefore leading to titles that are easier to port from console to PC.
This is potentially a massive change to the PC gaming landscape and could unlock a great deal more potential from PCs that have, for years, relied on more power to improve performance.
Unfortunately we will have to wait until December for Battlefield 4 to be given the Mantle update and see what benefits it can provide. In the meantime Battlefield 4 will use DirectX on the PC.
Next read: Xbox One vs PS4
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
