DirectX Dump Files

DirectX Dump Files let you investigate a GPU crash after it happens, without having to reproduce it. When Windows detects a GPU hang or fault through Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR), the DirectX runtime writes a .dxdmp file that records the state of the GPU at the moment of the crash. You can open the file in PIX, or process it with the PIX API.

What a dump file contains

A DirectX Dump File can include:

  • Hardware state and driver data, such as the shader waves that were executing, their registers, and the faulting instruction.
  • Direct3D runtime state, such as API objects, resources, and Device Removed Extended Data (DRED) breadcrumbs and page fault data.
  • PIX markers and driver events that show how far the GPU got through the frame.
  • Up to 2 MB of data that your application adds when the dump is created.
  • System information, such as the adapter, driver, OS, and device configuration.

Full and partial dump files

How much hardware and driver data a dump file contains depends on the graphics driver:

  • Full dump files come from drivers that support DirectX Dump Files. They include hardware state and driver data, so PIX can show executing shader waves, the faulting instruction, and the resources involved in a page fault.
  • Partial dump files are created on any hardware that has the required OS and Agility SDK support, even without driver support. They contain Direct3D runtime state, DRED data, application data, and system information, but no hardware state or driver data.

Driver support and the data available vary by GPU vendor and driver version.

Relationship to DRED

DirectX Dump Files build on Device Removed Extended Data (DRED). When DRED features such as auto-breadcrumbs and page fault reporting are enabled, their data is included in the dump file, and PIX shows it alongside the driver data.

Workflow

  1. Configure dump files in your application with the Direct3D 12 dump file APIs. While you investigate a crash, you can also override the settings in PIX or D3DConfig. For more information, see Generate DirectX Dump Files.
  2. When a TDR occurs, the DirectX runtime writes a .dxdmp file. Your application can be notified of the file path, and can add its own data to the file.
  3. Open the dump file in PIX to find the cause of the crash. For more information, see Analyze DirectX Dump Files in PIX.
  4. Optionally, use the PIX DxDmp command-line tool or MCP server to investigate the dump with an AI agent. For more information, see Analyze DirectX Dump Files with AI agents.
  5. Optionally, process dump files with the PIX API, for example as part of a crash collection pipeline. For more information, see Analyze DirectX Dump Files programmatically.

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