Microsoft Agility SDK Update Adds SER and OMM, Major Ray Tracing Boosts on NVIDIA RTX GPUs
Microsoft has released a substantial update to its DirectX Agility SDK, introducing two powerful features: Shader Execution Reordering (SER) and Opacity Micromaps (OMM). These advancements promise transformative improvements in ray tracing performance, particularly for titles utilizing path tracing and complex transparency effects. With NVIDIA RTX hardware already supporting both features, the update sets a new benchmark for real-time graphics rendering and optimization.
Shader Execution Reordering (SER): Improving GPU Thread Coherence
Shader Execution Reordering is now included in Agility SDK 1.717-preview, providing developers with a way to inform the GPU driver on how to reorder threads during ray tracing workloads. This reordering significantly enhances execution coherence and parallelism, reducing thread divergence and improving rendering efficiency. In practice, this translates to performance improvements of up to 2x in path-traced gaming scenarios, according to Microsoft and demonstrations from NVIDIA. Learn more about SER via Microsoft’s official blog post or for A detailed explanation was also featured in the GDC 2025 DirectX State of the Union presentation
Opacity Micromaps (OMM): Efficient Alpha Geometry Processing
Introduced in Agility SDK 1.616-retail, Opacity Micromaps are designed to optimize alpha-tested geometry in ray tracing pipelines. By reducing reliance on AnyHit shaders, OMMs allow the hardware to bypass unnecessary shader invocations, which leads to both improved rendering speed and lower computational load.
In performance benchmarks, OMM has demonstrated up to 2.3x improvements in frame rates for scenes with heavy alpha testing. A showcase by NVIDIA presented a scenario where enabling OMM increased frame rate from 55 FPS to 90 FPS. This feature is particularly beneficial for games with dense foliage, fabric, or other semi-transparent materials. Microsoft’s OMM blog post provides further insight or watch The GDC 2025 presentation also included a breakdown of OMM benefits
Alan Wake Demonstration: Real-World Impact of SER and OMM
Remedy’s Alan Wake is highlighted as a compelling example of how these technologies impact real-world performance. A single scene in the game contains up to 13.8 million triangles, 5.2 million skinned vertices, and over 2,200 instances. With ray tracing enabled and no optimizations, an NVIDIA RTX 4090 required 16.8 milliseconds to render a frame. By utilizing both SER and OMM, the same frame rendered in just 10.2 milliseconds—a 39 percent reduction in rendering time.
Additional Enhancements in Agility SDK
Cooperative Vectors, also part of SDK 1.717-preview, introduce advanced support for vector and matrix operations, enabling more efficient integration of neural rendering techniques into graphics pipelines.
Blog.
Tiled Resource Tier 4 is included in SDK 1.616-retail, removing previous limitations on mipmapped texture arrays and unlocking more efficient streaming capabilities. Official Microsoft GitHUB
Driver Support and Vendor Readiness
NVIDIA: Full support for SER and OMM on all RTX GPUs. Developers are advised to contact their NVIDIA representative for implementation guidance.
Intel: Support for Tiled Resource Tier 4 is currently available through Intel Arc drivers
AMD: Support for Tiled Resource Tier 4 will be available in early June 2025.
All updates and documentation are available via Microsoft Dev Blogs
With the addition of Shader Execution Reordering and Opacity Micromaps, Microsoft’s Agility SDK reaffirms its position as a critical tool for developers pushing the boundaries of real-time graphics. These enhancements will enable game studios to better leverage modern GPU architectures, delivering smoother frame rates, reduced latency, and visually richer experiences in next-generation titles.
Which upcoming title do you think will be the first to fully implement SER and OMM? Share your thoughts below.
