Back in 2012, Intel made some big waves when their apparent demo of DirectX 11’s capabilities was found to be nothing but a ruse. Instead of actually playing a racing game on their laptop, the developers showed off a video that had been rendered previously to show off the HD graphics that Ivy Bridge was able to provide. Everyone present knew it was a video rendering, yet the development team stated that it was running live from their Ivy Bridge chip.
Fast forward now two years. Intel makes a big splash by showing off the differences between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. They show massive reductions in CPU use and how Ivy Bridge could potentially double the frames per second because of this. Was this just another trick that Intel used because they needed “expediency” as they did in 2012?
Intel Has a Reputation For Cheating
In the past, Intel has been ready to admit that they aren’t using the actual DirectX 11 platform for their GPU. This has caused developers to bumble through more than one presentation and has left Intel scrambling to pick up the pieces afterward. An important question remains from all this, however, and it has remained unanswered for nearly two years: if Intel can admit that they aren’t using live demonstrations, then is their GPU technology really able to run DirectX?
Intel has repeatedly said that they can run DirectX 11 “just fine” on their Ivy Bridge chip. They appear to have shown this using testing software that renders massive amounts of asteroids for DirectX 12. Why doesn’t Intel tell audiences that they are using rendered videos during the demonstrations so that there is a level of transparency? Because they are unwilling to do so, then gives them the long-lasting reputation for cheating.
Is Pressing Play Really That Big of a Deal?
It’s an absolutely big deal if Intel is trying to fake their way through another DirectX presentation. DirectX 11 was an epic failure in 2012 because the “expediency” allowed for engineers and developers to render the video ahead of time in order for it to seem like a live demonstration was taking place. As any basic computer user will tell you, it takes a lot more effort to render an HD game than it does to stream an HD video.
With DirectX 12 coming in a year or so, the shading and dynamic graphics that this software allows looks to change how we think gaming should be. If Ivy Bridge is unable to stand up to the test, then Intel is really going to fall behind the innovation curve with their GPU technology. It would be safe to say that they’d even be out of the game for good if they can’t catch up. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to make this public knowledge, but pretending something doesn’t exist doesn’t make it go away.
It just means that you’re living in denial. Maybe it’s time for Intel to stop living in denial too.