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docs/frame-rate: iPad Pro M4 performance findings - #1573

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@Xipzer Xipzer commented Nov 6, 2026

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Five findings from Breath of the Wild 1.9.0 on an iPad Pro 13" M4 (iOS 27; 1920x1440, MetalFX present upscaling to 2752x2064) and one from the Mac, as reference entries with symptom index lines. Docs only.

  • docs/reference/frame-rate.md, Present interval and display rate: The present's upscale is a large share of an iPad's GPU frame. The timing line's GPU time leaves out the present command buffer (2.2 ms with MetalFX); fixes in nvn/present: MetalFX reads the swapchain and writes the drawable #1541 and nvn/present: FSR 1 upscaling option (DM_PRESENT_UPSCALE=fsr) #1542.
  • docs/reference/frame-rate.md, CPU cost and pacing: iOS runs the game on its efficiency cores at thermal state nominal. The share on performance cores fell from 78-85% to 10-20% at thermal state 0. The frame workgroup that helps is not on main.
  • docs/reference/rendering.md, Uniforms, copies and ordering: Fragment-only game barriers gave every following pass a full barrier. Fix in Draw passes: no full consumer barrier after a fragment-only game barrier #1572.
  • docs/reference/rendering.md, Render targets, passes and clears: Single-draw passes over a full-screen G-buffer cost little on Apple GPUs. 16-25 µs each despite about 54 MB of attachments in the pass dump.
  • docs/reference/rendering.md, Uniforms, copies and ordering: DM_NVN_TBDR=1 splits occlusion passes per draw in Breath of the Wild. Mac GPU p50 5.8 to 14.2 ms; open.

Also: docs/agents/symptoms.md regenerated with dm/tools/docs_symptoms.py, and a line under "Found on this game" in Breath of the Wild's note.

python3 -m unittest dm.tools.tests.test_docs: 11 tests, OK.

@github-actions github-actions Bot added docs Documentation game: 01007EF00011E000 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild labels Nov 6, 2026
@Xipzer

Xipzer commented Nov 9, 2026

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Rebased onto main (23b76a0); the new entries sit after the 30 Hz display link entry and symptoms.md is regenerated with docs_symptoms.py.

Reference: iPad Pro M4 performance findings (present cost, efficiency cores, barriers, passes)
@Xipzer Xipzer changed the title Reference: iPad Pro M4 performance findings (present cost, efficiency cores, barriers, passes) docs/frame-rate: iPad Pro M4 performance findings Nov 13, 2026
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Xipzer commented Nov 13, 2026

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Rebased onto main (2e6edda) without conflicts, retitled to the area/component form. test_docs.py passes.

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