Intel releases XeSS 1.2 SDK

Last year, Intel unveiled its product codenamed ‘Alchemist’ (DG2) at the launch event for its Intel Arc discrete graphics cards. Simultaneously, it introduced a sophisticated AI-driven super-sampling technology named XeSS. Through the Xe-HPG architecture’s Xe Core and its XMX AI acceleration, XeSS harnesses machine learning to reconstruct low-resolution frames into high-definition equivalents, amplifying the frame rate. Moreover, it’s seamlessly compatible with DirectX 12 and, leveraging the DP4a instruction, offers AI-based super-sampling across an array of hardware, including Arc GPUs and integrated graphics.

Intel hasn’t decelerated its efforts to enhance XeSS. Recently, they rolled out their latest SDK, version 1.2.0.13, which incorporates an updated libxess.dll file compiled on July 27th. The rejuvenated XeSS 1.2 iteration supports dynamic resolution scaling, mends stability and performance glitches, and retains backward compatibility with XeSS versions 1.0 and 1.1.

While no games currently support version 1.2.0.13, ‘Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’ has embraced up to version 1.2.0.10. The preceding XeSS 1.1 was a pivotal upgrade, introducing swifter XMX and DP4a kernel processing speeds and a novel upgrade model, enabling it to rival competitors like DLSS and FSR as a genuinely viable alternative.

Within Intel’s provided SDK, there’s a demo accessible for developers to download and experiment with, alongside comprehensive documentation and samples. Contrary to FSR, Intel touts its XeSS technology as ‘open and accessible,’ yet its core files remain proprietary at this juncture. Intel has intimated that they will open-source the XeSS technology, though the timeline remains nebulous.

Currently, more than 50 titles support the XeSS technology, spanning blockbuster AAA releases to indie gems. These include ‘Cyberpunk 2077,’ ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,’ ‘Hogwarts Legacy,’ ‘Ghostwire: Tokyo,’ ‘Dying Light 2,’ and the recent ‘Diablo IV’, among others.