DirectX
How to set up DirectX graphics API.
Read time 2 minutesLast updated 21 days ago
Unity supports the DirectX graphics API including both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12. However, not all features are available in DirectX 11. For more information, refer to Feature comparison of DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 in Unity.
Set your default graphics API to DirectX
You can choose to set DirectX 11 (DX11) or DirectX 12 (DX12) as your default Graphics API in the Editor or Standalone Player:
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Open the Player settings (menu: Edit >> Player).Project Settings
?
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In the Other Settings > Rendering section, disable the Auto Graphics API for a platform (Windows/Mac/Linux) option.
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Select the Add (+) button, then select Direct3D11 or Direct3D12 from the list of the supported Graphics APIs.
Note
Unity compiles two sets of shaders if you add both DX11 and DX12 to the list, and you enable using the DXC compiler for DX12 in your build profile settings.
Feature comparison of DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 in Unity
The following lists include the features introduced with the DirectX 12 graphics API, which are unavailable in DirectX 11.
APIs | DirectX 11 | DirectX 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic resolution | Unsupported | Supported |
| Asynchronous compute | Unsupported | Supported |
| Native render pass | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray tracing acceleration | Unsupported | Supported |
| Graphics state collection | Unsupported | Supported |
| XR foveated rendering | Unsupported | Supported |
Render Threading Mode | DirectX 11 | DirectX 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | Supported | Supported |
| Single threaded | Supported | Supported |
| Main + render thread | Supported | Supported |
| Legacy jobified | Supported | Supported |
| Native graphics jobs | Unsupported | Supported |
| Split graphics jobs | Unsupported | Supported |
Shader features | DirectX 11 | DirectX 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Ray tracing shader | Unsupported | Supported |
Inline ray tracing ( | Unsupported | Supported |
| Compile shaders with the DXC compiler | Unsupported | Supported |
Native 16-bit ( | Unsupported | Supported |
Wave function ( | Unsupported | Supported |
Universal Render Pipeline | DirectX 11 | DirectX 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Raster pass merging | Unsupported | Supported (Windows on ARM) |
| Native RenderPass | Unsupported | Supported (Windows on ARM) |
| Framebuffer fetch | Unsupported | Supported (Windows on ARM) |
High Definition Render Pipeline | DirectX 11 | DirectX 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware dynamic resolution | Unsupported | Supported |
| Asynchronous Compute Shaders | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced ambient occlusion | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced contact shadows | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced global illumination | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced reflections | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced shadows | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced recursion | Unsupported | Supported |
| Ray traced subsurface scattering | Unsupported | Supported |