Analyze Frame Statistics

Frame statistics are per-frame values that indicate data such as the number of times something happened per frame. Use frame statistics to:

Compare performance between frames to find poorly performing frames.
Identify performance problems within a frame.

Compare Performance Between Frames

There are two very quick ways to use PIX to find frames which are performing poorly.

Use the Use the Timeline View to find Slow Frames Visually to quickly visually compare the CPU processing time for all the frames.
Use the event view to compare the calculated frames-per-second (FPS) values for each frame.

Use the Timeline View to find Slow Frames Visually

The timeline view displays the amount of time it takes the CPU to process each frame.

For instance, here is the CPU load for an entire experiment.

Figure 1. Viewing CPU Processing Time for All Frames

Use the zoom button to expand the horizontal axis to see individual frames more clearly. For instance, this hypothetical example shows many different frames. Arrows mark frames that consume different amounts of time on the CPU.

Figure 2. CPU Load View Expanded to View Individual Frames

A slow start-up frame where resources are being created or loaded
An average quick frame
A very fast frame that collapses to a line

Use the Event View to find Slow Frames

Figure 3. Using the Events View

Get Insight about Performance Within a Frame

Once you identify fast frames and slow frames, you will probably want to figure out why the slower frames take so long to finish.

Use the Timeline graph to display counters to tell you more about what is happening within a frame.
Use the heads-up-display (HUD) feature to overlay the curves from the timeline graph over the application in realtime.

Use the Timeline Graph to View Counters

Figure 4. Using the Graph in the Timeline View

Use the HUD to View the Timeline and the Application Simultaneously

Here is an example of the heads-up-display (HUD) displaying the data that PIX is collecting on an application while it is running.

Figure 5. The HUD and an Application in Realtime

This example uses the StateManager sample. This sample is a good way to see how PIX works. The sample has three controls that vary the amount of rendering work for each frame.

Figure 6. The HUD Counters Actual Size