Steam Play Gets NVIDIA’s Reflex Technology In New VKD3D-Proton Update

VKD3D-Proton, a translation layer used for Steam Play on Linux, has seen the inclusion of NVIDIA's Reflex technology in the latest update.

Update (3/23/24): NVIDIA reached out to us and confirmed that Reflex isn't currently enabled for Steam Deck. It is only available on GeForce 900 series or better GPUs.

Phoronix reports that Valve's Steam Deck could potentially leverage NVIDIA's reflex technology after a new update on the VKD3D-Proton has added support for the feature. For those unaware,

NVIDIA's Reflex feature is used to minimize the response times of hardware and software resources through a driver-level setting, which makes it a great option for hardcore gamers, and a viable alternative to AMD's Radeon Anti-Lag. With Reflex support with the new VKD3D-Proton update, Steam Play gamers could experience a decent boost in performance, ultimately enhancing the overall experience.

Apart from the addition of NVIDIA Reflex, the new VKD3D-Proton 2.12 update brings several other additions as well, which include Shader Model 6.7, D3D12 Render Pass API, and a wide range of performance optimizations. You can look at the updated list below:

- Implement support for NVIDIA Reflex through VK_NV_low_latency2. Thanks to NVIDIA for contributing implementation - Implement D3D12 render pass API (tier 0) - Implement ID3D12DeviceRemovedExtendedDataSettings stubs. Fixes some games that rely on this existing - Implement VK_EXT_device_fault. Makes it possible to grab fault information and vendor binary if supported - Implement VK_EXT_swapchain_maintenance1 Allows seamless transition between V-Sync and tearing present modes without stutter Implemented on both Mesa and NV drivers - Expose Shader Model 6.7 by default if VK_KHR_shader_maximal_reconvergence and VK_KHR_shader_quad_control are supported - Add optimized descriptor copy path on Intel Arc GPUs that support VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer - Implement fallback for compute shader derivatives on NVIDIA Pascal and older GPUs. - Allows exposing Shader Model 6.7 by default on Pascal as well (albeit with some known cases where it does not work). - The workaround is expected to work with any known use of SM 6.6 compute derivatives in the wild

It's great to see the new wave of additions done within the VKD3D-Proton, since it enables Steam Deck users to take leverage from various technologies in the industries, ultimately boosting the performance. You can download the new version from here.

News Source: Phoronix