Running on Windows

Purpose

This section serves to:

Overview

GPU PerfStudio offers three methods for analysis of Vulkan applications. They involve different mechanisms for starting the Vulkan application, which should accommodate numerous development workflows. Additionally, users may leverage the local network in order to isolate a test machine.

Method A: Launch Vulkan Application on LOCAL Machine using GPUPerfClient

1) Launch GPUPerfClient.exe.

2) Press the blue Connect button.

3) Set the Session Type to Local.

4) Fill in Application Settings with its path, arguments, working directory, and bitness.

5) Press Next, followed by Connect, which should start-up GPUPerfServer plus the Vulkan application.

6) An API selection dialog will appear, which will list the Vulkan application if it is running. Select it and press OK.

7) Press either the API Trace, GPU Trace, or Linked Trace button to begin analysis.

Method B: Launch Vulkan Application on LOCAL Machine using GPUPerfServer

1) Launch the Vulkan application by dragging and dropping it on top of GPUPerfServer executable, or by using it as a command line argument to GPUPerfServer. Use GPUPerfServer.exe for 32-bit applications, and GPUPerfServer-x64.exe for 64-bit applications.

2) At this point, the application should be running alongside an active GPUPerfServer terminal window.

3) Launch GPUPerfClient.exe.

4) Press the blue Connect button.

5) An API selection dialog appear, which will list the Vulkan application if it is running. Select it and press OK.

6) Press either the API Trace, GPU Trace, or Linked Trace button to begin analysis.

Method C: Launch Vulkan Application on REMOTE Machine using GPUPerfServer

1) Remote machine: Launch the Vulkan application by dragging and dropping it on top of GPUPerfServer executable, or by using it as a command line argument to GPUPerfServer. Use GPUPerfServer.exe for 32-bit applications, and GPUPerfServer-x64.exe for 64-bit applications.

2) Remote machine: At this point, the application should be running alongside an active GPUPerfServer terminal window.

3) Local machine: Launch GPUPerfClient.exe.

4) Local machine: Press the blue Connect button.

5) Local machine: Set the Session Type to Remote, specify server IP, and specify port (default 8080)

6) Local machine: Press Next, followed by Connect, and an API selection dialog should appear with the Vulkan application listed. Select it and press OK.

7) Local machine: At this point, the client-server connection is established and the application may now be analyzed.

8) Local machine: Press either the API Trace, GPU Trace, or Linked Trace button to begin analysis.

Best Practices

It is recommended that users first learn GPU PerfStudio using a simple Vulkan application. Once confident that the basics work, one should then proceed to analyze more complex applications.

Run the application on its own at least once, prior to running it through GPU PerfStudio.

Repeated experimentation is encouraged.

Users are not limited to one set of data per session. Users may refresh current data by repeatedly pressing the API Trace, GPU Trace, or Linked Trace buttons on the toolbar.

The default behavior is to show information for a single frame, but GPU PerfStudio has the ability to collect data across N frames. This number can be specified in the Settings pane, under Number of Frames to Capture.

Analysis of Steam Applications

Sometimes applications may not be launched directly from their executable. This is true for some applications which are launched from Steam. In this case, users must use GPU PerfStudio to launch Steam.exe itself, instead of the application executable. After Steam loads, use it to launch the application as normal. The application should then be visible to GPU PerfStudio, and will be listed in the API selection dialog. At that point it will be ready for analysis.