Announcement: New Public Release of GPA!

[Brandon_B_Intel1]

Hi all,

The Graphics Performance Analyzers team is proud to announce a new version (14.4.239427) of Graphics Performance Analyzers as part of the INDE 2015 Update 1.

See our product announcement page for a description of the latest GPA changes: https://software.intel.com/articles/intel-gpa-product-announcement

See the INDE page for download and purchase instructions: https://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-inde

See the INDE release notes page for overall INDE suite changes: https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-inde-2015-release-notes

Thank you for your support!

[diamantis__nikos]

I'm trying to download the new 2014 R4 release by downloading Intel® Integrated Native Developer Experience (Intel® INDE) Starter Edition, but the registration server seems to not respond sufficiently.

https://registrationcenter.intel.com/RegCenter/ComForm.aspx?ProductID=2329

It always time out.

Is there any other way or other site/server to download it ?

Thanks!

[Jeffrey_F_Intel1]

Nikos,

Can you provide some details on your general location (it can help us determine if there is a problem with servers/routing to your geographic location) and what items you selected for download in INDE?

Regards,

Jeff

[diamantis__nikos]

The problem was in the link above, before any possibility of download any INDE component.

But now it is fixed, so I managed to download the new GPA 2014 R4.

Unfortunately, nothing really changed regarding GPA 2014 R4 vs GPA 2014 R3

Using latest official drivers v4080 installed on a Core i7-4790 system (Win 8.1 Pro x64)

The results:

1) System Analyzer works fine, although sometimes doesn't catch MFX decode usage and you have to close and reopen System Analyzer

2) Only a few Media metrics in this version of GPA. Definitely fewer than previous versions of GPA.

3) The Analyze Application option works only with Full Screen. No window mode.

4) It works only with EVR-CP, not plain EVR renderer.

5) It still has a low fps limit to 100fps (there are clips at 120fps)

[OMKAR_G_]

Hi,

I am glad that you are able to download new GPA 2014 R4.

as per your questions :

1) and 2 ) Last year we consolidated our media metrics into a sensible set of metrics. Its possible that the metric provider some how stops sending data for MFX decode usage. But I would not expect that to be a consistent behavior.

3), 4) and 5)  This issue appears to be work load specific is there any way that you could share the executable that you are working with, so that we could deep dive into it.

[diamantis__nikos]

Hello,

thanks for your replies.

1) I did further tests including transcoding and realize that MFX Encode has the same problem. So, both encode and decode show the exact same behavior during tests. On the other hand, MFX Engine parameter has no problems.

The buggy behavior of MFX decode and encode is consistent and you can clearly see it if you do some tests which need some time and with on/ off behavior.

For example, a playlist of HW accelerated videos like H.264 clips, using a compatible video player. You 'll see after a few clips, that MFX Decode will be a dead 0 and will never rise up again, until you close and reopen System Analyzer

2) OK, that means that we won't see again the old list of media metrics. Right ?

3)  and 4) Every video player I tried...Examples are MPC-HC and PotPlayer

5) That 100fps limitation is inside your app at Graphics Monitor -> Profiles -> HUD Options -> FPS limit

[OMKAR_G_]

Hi,

Thank you for additional information. The problem you facing with MFX encode decode is reported to the development team and they are working on it. I assume you are facing this issue on windows 8 machine (Win 8.1 Pro x64 as you previously mentioned ).

I suggest you use 'System View' option in System analyzer rather than using 'Analyze application' as it would be more suitable for the kind of application you are working with.

The FPS limitation only applies when the 'Limit FPS' override is actively enabled in System Analyzer. If you are experiencing lower FPS then  something else is most likely limiting the fps. Perhaps monitor refresh rate ( VSync enabled ) ?

[diamantis__nikos]

Hi,

thanks for your reply.

Just to clarify things for you and the development team. I use "Analyse Application", only when I want to check Media Performance with EVR-CP renderer, because as I wrote before, there is no support of HUD using plain EVR.

So, the problem of Media decode/encode performance metrics, first appeared in "Analyze Application" option.

But then, as I wrote you before, I had the exact same problem even when I use "System Analyzer" in order to test plain EVR media performance.

So, I want to clarify that zero Media encode/decode metrics occur with both "Analyze Application" and "System Analyzer" options, using a Win 8.1 Pro x64 system.

Also, about your last comment, the FPS limit is always enabled in "Analyze Application" option because is a HUD option of every profile.

How could someone disable the FPS limit using the "Analyze Application", since it's a HUD option ?

[OMKAR_G_]

Hi,

Thanks, I will send this information to the team working on the bug you reported.

About FPS limit, I would like to know bit more detail about the problem.

The FPS limit is not enabled by default.

You can enable/disabled it by pressing default key sequence CTRL+ALT+G ( toggle ).

( You might want to take look at Graphics Monitor > Profiles > Keyboard shortcuts > Overrides Keyboard Shortcuts > FPS Limit ).

Once you enable FPS Limit by pressing CTRL+ALT+G the frame rate limit value ( Graphics Monitor > Profiles > HUD Options > FPS limit ) will be applied to the attached application. Once you toggle the override, the message will be displayed momentarily at top center of screen in HUD style stating current override.

If No overrides are manually enabled then Graphics Monitor will not limit frame rate at all. I suggest you to check by setting FPS limit value  ( Graphics Monitor > Profiles > HUD Options > FPS limit ) considerably low ( something like 7 - 12 ), and toggle FPS Limit ( CTRL+ALT+G). Expected behavior here is: 1] dropping to the lower FPS only after hitting CTRL+ALT+G to enable FPS Limit and 2] Increasing FPS back again after you toggle the FPS limit off. Please let me know the results of this experiment.

Just a Note : The values min(green) and max(red) displayed in HUD reflect the min/max during the last seven seconds.( they are actual performance metrics and not applied limits ).  more info at : https://software.intel.com/sites/products/documentation/gpa/14.4/win/ ( Graphics Performance Analyzers for Windows* Host > User Interface Reference > System Analyzer HUD > Pane: Metrics Charts ).

..

[diamantis__nikos]

You were right and I was wrong about FPS limit.

Yes, if you don't turn on FPS limit, there is no FPS limit.

The reason I couldn't see more than 100fps during playback of a certain 120fps file, was because it is a difficult 2160p120fps H.264 file and using EVR-CP (in order to see the HUD) and HUD options (which also have an overhead), the GPU load went up to 100% and couldn't display more than 100fps.

So, thanks for clarifying this.

Waiting for a fix about MFX decode/encode for both "System Analyzer" and "Analyze Application" and if it's possible to be able to see the HUD options on a window (not full screen) and using plain EVR (in full screen or window)

Thanks again.

[OMKAR_G_]

Hi,

I am glad that I could help you to figure out the FPS issue.

The HUD should be visible on every application that uses the DirectX api. ( for ex. it shows up for web browsers or windows media player ). The HUD is not tied to the full screen mode at all. In case the application you testing is not using DirectX api then you may not be able to see the HUD option. How ever you should be ale to use 'SystemView' option to get the metrics irrespective of HUD ( once we fix the bug ).

Note : You can automatically attach HUD to the applications using Graphics Monitor > Preferences > Auto-detect lunched applications.

[diamantis__nikos]

Hi,

I couldn't manage to make IE11 of Win 8.1 Pro x64 work, but I don't mind because I don't use IE as media player!

WMP works OK in both Window mode and Full screen.

MPC-HC and PotPlayer which are both a lot more powerful and convenient than WMP, still don't work in window mode and using plain EVR.

They both need full screen and EVR-CP, unless I do something wrong in their setup.

Waiting for your MFX decode/ encode fix...