Vulkan extensions support request!

[AliAkbar2005]

Greetings, I wanted to inquire about 4 specific Vulkan extensions:

1) VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace

2) VK_EXT_swapchain_maintenance1

3) VK_KHR_present_wait

4) VK_KHR_present_id

When will these be supported on Intel drivers/GPUs/iGPUs, especially the 2nd and 3rd ones. I am using the latest intel driver 32.0.101.6790 and my specs are the following:

CPU: Intel Core i5-11320H 4.50 GHz 3.20 GHz 2.50 GHz
GPU (Integrated): Intel Iris Xe (96 EUs, DirectX 12.1, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 3.0, Vulkan 1.4.311, 8 GB Shared VRAM)
RAM: DDR4-3200 16 GB (15.7 GB Usable)
OS: Windows 11 Home 21H2 x64
Storage: 256 GB NVMe SSD

Thanks in advance.

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi AliAkbar2005, 

Thank you for posting in the community and sharing this information. Based on my investigation, it appears that these extensions are available starting with Vulkan version 1.2. According to the release notes for Intel's drivers, the latest driver integrates Vulkan version 1.3. Therefore, it is likely that the extensions you are inquiring about are included in the latest driver.

Could you let me know if you are encountering any error messages indicating that these extensions are missing from your driver?

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AliAkbar2005]

Hi DhannielM,

Thank you for your swift reply. Unfortunately those extensions are indeed not supported. I checked and confirmed using Vulkan Hardware Capabilities Viewer, vulkaninfo and DXVK (log file). Please find attached 3 files which show that said extensions are not supported. I was unable to locate the 4 extensions mentioned above in both Vulkan Hardware Capabilities Viewer and vulkaninfo, and the DXVK log file states that said extensions are unsupported on the Iris Xe. The only supported extensions that I could find are the following:

1) VK_KHR_swapchain

2) VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format

But VK_EXT_swapchain_maintenance1 was nowhere to be found, neither were VK_KHR_present_wait or VK_KHR_present_id. And since all these extensions are related to/part of/require VK_KHR_swapchain, I was wondering why they weren't implemented already!

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi AliAkbar2005, 

Thank you for providing the log files. I was wondering if you are a game developer or working on developing an application or game. Additionally, could you share the exact model of your laptop for reference?

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AliAkbar2005]

Sure, it is a Dell Inspiron 15 5510. I use generic Intel drivers for gaming, mostly for DXVK/Vulkan games, since Dell's OEM ones are always outdated (their latest intel driver for my laptop is 32.0.101.6556).

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi AliAkbar2005, 

Thanks for sharing your laptop model to me. It seems my initial question may have been missed. Could you let me know if you are developing games and have noticed that the driver is missing certain extensions?

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AliAkbar2005]

I apologize for the misunderstanding, no I am not a game developer, but as stated above, it does seem that those extensions are indeed not supported/available on Intel's drivers, since they are missing from vulkaninfo and vulkan caps viewer, and even DXVK log files for games state that said extensions are unsupported/unavailable.

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi AliAkbar2005, 

Thank you for sharing this information with me. After reviewing the files you've provided, including vulkaninfo.txt and Vulkan Caps Viewer, I was able to identify the VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace. However, its value in the DXVK log file is 0. The other three extensions were not found in the first two files and have the same value in the DXVK log. Allow me to investigate further on my end, and I will update you as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi AliAkbar2005, 

Thank you for your patience. I've looked into the matter internally and reviewed the extensions that appear to be missing with the latest driver. The Vulkan extensions VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace, VK_EXT_swapchain_maintenance1, VK_KHR_present_wait, and VK_KHR_present_id are not supported on Intel Iris Xe GPUs, including the version integrated with the Intel Core i5-11320H CPU. Here's some insight into the situation:

• VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace and VK_EXT_swapchain_maintenance1: These extensions are typically used to optimize swapchain handling, and support for them is often prioritized in discrete GPUs or high-performance systems. Integrated GPUs like the Iris Xe are optimized for general-purpose use cases, and support for these specific extensions may not be implemented yet.
• VK_KHR_present_wait and VK_KHR_present_id: These extensions are designed for more complex synchronization scenarios and cross-GPU configurations. Integrated GPUs generally do not have the same demands as discrete GPUs, which may explain the lack of support for these extensions.

Intel is continuously working to enhance Vulkan support with each new driver release, so I encourage you to keep your drivers updated. You might also consider reaching out to Intel directly for more detailed insights into when or if these extensions might be supported in future drivers.

In the meantime, I recommend continuing to use the VK_KHR_swapchain and VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format extensions, which are supported by the Intel Iris Xe, for your Vulkan-based applications. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions or need assistance with anything else.

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AliAkbar2005]

I appreciate the detailed response! It is unfortunate though, I really hope those extensions get supported, and many others too, after all, the more the merrier 😂.

The reason I inquired about those specific extensions is because I use DXVK to play a few games since they perform better on that than on native DirectX. Games would run smooth at first, but after a while, say an hour or so, gameplay would become "jumpy" as if a few frames are being skipped or dropped, and the only solution would be to close and reopen the game.

Then I read DXVK's project wiki github page which detailed the extensions that are required for proper a gameplay experience, and the Iris Xe supports all but 2 of those extensions, the unsupported extensions being VK_EXT_swapchain_maintenance1 & VK_KHR_present_wait. The swapchain maintenance extension is used to fix performance issues, especially in games frequently using vsync (and I almost always use vsync when playing games). And the present wait extension is required for proper frame latency control.

Put two and two together and I figured that the lack of support of those 2 extensions were the cause of the performance/framerate/frametime issues mentioned above when using DXVK. And I repeat, when using DXVK games run smoothly in the first 30 to 60 minutes, but during longer playsessions, the "jumpy" framerate/frame skipping/frame dropping issues begin to pop up, with the solution being to restart the game.

Since you mentioned it, can you guide me on how to contact intel directly about this issue?

All that being said, thank you so much for your time, diligence and patience, I really appreciate it.

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi AliAkbar2005, 

Thank you for your understanding. There are several ways you can reach out to Intel for support. Firstly, you can visit our Intel Support webpage to create a ticket and submit your request. Additionally, for graphics-related inquiries, you might consider reaching out through our IGCIT GitHub page. With that in mind, would it be alright to close this inquiry?

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hello AliAkbar2005,

As I haven't heard back from you, I will be closing this inquiry. If you wish to explore this concern further, I recommend reaching out to our IGCIT GitHub page. Should you need additional assistance, please feel free to submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AliAkbar2005]

Thank you so much for all your help, take care and have a great rest of your day! Yes you may close this inquiry!