What GPU Benchmarks Don't Tell You

Intel showed us some secret GPU data, opening the door to how GPU reviews can be better as tools and benchmarking methods continue to improve. This deep-dive into frametimes and frame rendering helps to educate on what's really missing from the picture when talking about GPU performance. We've been covering frametimes (or frame-to-frame intervals) for at least 6-7 years now, but the methods and tools are continuing to advance. We also talk about Intel Smooth Sync (and Intel Speed Sync, briefly), which are new software tools for Intel Arc GPUs. We'll be reviewing these tools separately from the Arc GPU hardware.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - How Is Baby Frame Made?
01:20 - "Am I Bottlenecking?!"
02:50 - Why This Matters
03:55 - How Brains Detect Stutters
05:14 - IMPORTANT CONTEXT
08:10 - Negative Frametimes
08:55 - Bottleneck Testing Tools
10:00 - What Does That Mean?
12:42 - Intel Arc Speed Sync Technology
16:13 - Intel Arc Smooth Sync
17:00 - Live Demo of Smooth Sync
21:50 - Tom Loves Developers, Developers, Developers!
23:30 - No Cap



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Host, Editing: Steve Burke
Camera, Editing: Andrew Coleman
Guest: Tom Petersen (Intel Graphics Engineer)

[aodhanmorrissey]

This guys appearances recently has singlehandedly given Intel more personality and humanity than I knew they had. A frank discussion without any of the marketing BS.
Intel; stop wasting money on robbing your company of all the passion that it's engineers deliver on a daily basis.

[braydennturner]

Intel needs to get Tom infront of the camera more often, he brings so much credibility to the brand. Outstanding content as always Steve, and thanks for sharing with us Tom - learned a lot here!

[oppenz]

This charm offensive by Intel really is the best marketing strategy for them.

[bzrrr]

I could listen to Tom talk about this stuff for hours. I'm technical, but my area of focus is well outside of graphics/rendering/etc. I think he does a phenomenal job of taking both technical and non-technical folks down the same path-- and leaving them both satisfied. It's an extremely rare skill.

More of Tom!

[newdeathscope]

Tom is a fantastic guest. I'd love to see more content with him. He's definitely influenced this "tech elder", to quote him, to look closer at Intel gpus

[TC_here]

This series with Tom has been great for Intel.. no marketing BS.. and he seems very enthusiastic for future versions and enhancements .. If the price is right i would get one..

[jjlw]

You know I never had high hopes for Intel gpus. However, after seeing Tom's passion, I'm beginning to think they might really become a huge agitator in the gpu market and we REALLY need that.

[mynameiscammy]

Tom is a credit to intel, such a humble guy who clearly is doing the job for the love of the tech and innovation, Also did not know until the other day he actually helped create what now is called XMP - pretty cool brag.

[DrakkarCalethiel]

Toms reaction when Steve mentioned SLI was just perfect. Glad we got another vid with him.

[TJ-vhps]

I've been wanting cpu/gpu companies to do this for decades: engineers talking directly with journalists/tech communicators and explaining/confirming exactly how it works. No more guessing or speculating. It's not a trade secret: your competitors know how this stuff works too. I don't know why it took so long for the secrecy to ebb. Were they unaware of the interest? Did they think it wasn't worth the time? In any case, I'm glad things have turned around: I hope this trend of opening up and sharing information continues!

[projjwaldhar]

You guys are single handedly fighting planned obsolescence, calling out companies on malicious tactics and doing tech journalism right while setting an example of your principles and integrity for others in this space to follow. Don’t ever stop being the awesome bunch of humans that you are, GN...!!

[Christarpher]

I could listen to Tom for ages. I just want to hear him go on and on about different technologies people most likely will not notice (and for a good reason). Truly seems like a guy that wants to make the space better for everyone.

[ProjectPhysX]

Smooth Sync seems a good pragmatic solution. They can't prevent tearing, but they can make it less noticeable by doing simple dithering at the boundary when overdrawing the frame buffer.

[TurntableTV]

This was so well explained. No cap! Pretty smart of Intel to do this tour and I hope nVidia and AMD follow through.

[IRSmurf]

It's so cool that Intel is providing this level of engineering support to Gamers Nexus. This presentation was fascinating like Anand's articles of yore.

[aijena]

Trackmania2(Maniaplanet) and Trackmania"2020" actually have super extensive history profilers built in (Ctrl-F7) that literally show everything the game does from single planar reflections over shadowmaps and cube reflections and also game logic and system syncronisation.
Quite fascinating, helpful and fun :P

[nitaiginzburg]

Really happy frame-pacing is getting so much attention. Thanks to GN and DF. To anyone on PC I super recommend using SpecialK, it's really a silver bullet in many cases when it comes to controlling and narrowing down frame pacing discrepancies. It can make the delivery crazy smooth. Sadly it can't help with loading caused stutter and some game engines are going to have that no matter what, but yeah, it's been a godsend in some cases for me as I'm really sensetive to stuttering

[turk]

that is the thing many forget, the engineers and the marketing of the teams in Intel, Nvidia, AMD etc are all totally separate to the marketing and corporate, as someone who went to the tech conferences and demos and CES stuff, these engineers are super keyed on improving and making new engineering marvels and technology, they actually want to bring you better stuff . But then it goes to marketing or the bean counters and that's when you get all the bullshit coming thru, the deliberate misinformation, the deliberate slowing down of development and technology so they can make more sales, the holding back of technology so they got something different to sell next quarter etc etc . The engineers are seldom the enemy, the problem is those who simply see you as a number to be squeezed for profit.

[Junior]

I am actually happy Intel is showing their ARC GPU's like this, being entirely transparent, and not hiding behind the marketing. Good stuff is coming, and hopefully nvidia and AMD start to take notice.

[F]

I love these collaborations that Intel is doing, sending Tom all over these tech channels. Refreshing to see an engineer from intel sit down with the press and show off cool features.