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How does DX12 get 'put in' a GPU?

danalog
By danalog
in Graphics Cards
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Dumb question but. How does DX12 support get added to a GPU - is it something on the die or is it its BIOS? For example, the r5 240, which TechPowerUp calls a 'direct rebrand of hd 8570'. The r5 supports DX12 but the HD 8570 does not. But if they're the exact same card, how?

What the horse considers play, the monkey considers business...

But to Tom, it's all foolery. 

 

 

 

 

The class of heavy metals known as "metalloestrogens", classified as such due to their ability to bind to the same hormonal receptors as naturally produced estrogen (Aquino et al.), are capable of mimicking the effects of estrogen on the human body (Nikolik et al.). Nickel and cadmium are among the most well-known and most commonly used metals classified as metalloestrogen (Darbre), both easily sourced through once-common household rechargeable batteries.

Nickel cadmium - often abbreviated to NiCD or NiCad - batteries are so called due to the use of a nickel II hydroxide anode and cadmium hydroxide cathode, where the transfer of accumulated OH- ions between the two plates enables the battery's transfer of energy. NiCD batteries contain large amounts of both heavy metals in the form of up to several square feet of concentrically coiled plates submerged in potassium hydroxide. Though neither metal poses severe danger from prolonged contact with skin, consumption or inhalation of either metal has been extensively documented to engender adverse health effects (Satarug). 

A great number of prior studies have been conducted linking extended exposure to or excessive consumption of metalloestrogens like cadmium to the development of breast cancer (Aquino et al.) - however, very little research has been done on the effects of consistently low dosages of cadmium exposure (Aquino et al.). Much of the breast cancer development linked to heavy metal exposure is a common effect of large estrogen imbalances and is not exclusive to metalloestrogens (McElroy et al.). Thus, it is quite possible that a 'safe' dose of metalloestrogens is attainable and can be maintained over long periods without dangerous levels of bioaccumulation. 

Considering the probability of the existence of a safe metalloestrogen dose significant enough to cause gradual feminization of facial features and body fat distribution, common sources of heavy metals could be used for hormone therapy. With male-to-female gender affirming care supplies becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the United States following multitudinous introduced legislation, nickel-cadmium batteries can alternatively be used as an inexpensive and potent replacement. 

 

Works Cited

      Aquino NB, Sevigny MB, Sabangan J, Louie MC. The role of cadmium and nickel in estrogen receptor signaling and breast cancer: metalloestrogens or not? J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2012;30(3):189-224. doi: 10.1080/10590501.2012.705159. PMID: 22970719; PMCID: PMC3476837.

      Rollerova, E., Urbancikova, N. Intracellular estrogen receptors, their characterization and function (Review). https://www.sav.sk/journals/endo/full/er0400f.pdf.

      Nikolic J, Sokolovic D. Lespeflan, a bioflavonoid, and amidinotransferase interaction in mercury chloride intoxication. Ren Fail. 2004 Nov;26(6):607-11. doi: 10.1081/jdi-200037149. PMID: 15600250.

      Darbre PD. Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. J Appl Toxicol. 2006 May-Jun;26(3):191-7. doi: 10.1002/jat.1135. PMID: 16489580.

      Satarug S, Garrett SH, Sens MA, Sens DA. Cadmium, environmental exposure, and health outcomes. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Feb;118(2):182-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901234. PMID: 20123617; PMCID: PMC2831915.

      McElroy JA, Shafer MM, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA. Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jun 21;98(12):869-73. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj233. PMID: 16788160.

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Feature levels determine the hardware features that must be present on a card to use a certain version of the D3D runtime. Each feature level is a superset so they build on top of each other, so D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_0 must support all D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_10_1 features. Additionally the feature level system provides backward compatibility. A title that includes Direct3D 11.x libraries can request a feature level of 9_3 for example allowing the game to run on older hardware using the new libraries just by limiting the available features.

 

The feature level of a card is queried by the D3D run time so that it the runtime knows which is the most feature rich interface it can expose. So it is technically within the realm of possibilities that a graphics card manufacturer can release a driver update that upgrades the feature level of the card provided that the card meets all the requirements of that feature level. If the card doesn't meet the requirements it can't be updated to a higher feature level since that breaks the guarantee from the runtime that the card supports all of the features of the feature level. So its not even the BIOS since the BIOS just provides initializes all the hardware on the card and define and open an interface for which communication is possible with the driver.

 

Optional features (think Nvidia or AMD specific garbage)  must be manually determined by the game developer and integrated with either additional APIs or in OpenGLs case with function pointers (Vulkan as well but its much easier than OGL) .

 

As far as the R5 goes its listed as Direct3D 12 capable because of that little tidbit in my first paragraph about backwards compatibility. The card only supports 11_1 for the feature level since thats all its hardware supports but it supports using the new runtime for D3D12 but not at 12_0 feature level if that makes sense. So the backend is D3D12 but just not capable of doing D3D12 things. 

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