Microsoft shipped DirectX Dump Files for retail games on October 28, 2026, moving the June public preview into Agility SDK 1.620 and PIX 2610.28. According to Microsoft’s DirectX Dump Files announcement, the system captures a GPU crash on a player’s PC or a developer’s own machine before Windows resets the GPU, then lets PIX decode the result through one workflow across AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm hardware. The final .dxdmp format no longer requires Developer Mode, and the NO_OVERHEAD dump file driver option is on by default for shipping games.
The release builds on a GDC 2026 push to bring console-level GPU developer tools to Windows. The June preview used a .dxdmp_preview extension and required Developer Mode. Retail removes that requirement, finalizes the file extension as .dxdmp, adds Retail PIX Markers, and makes the PIX API generally available in PIX 2610.28. A crash artifact can now flow through a normal retail build without a special developer configuration.
From crash to analysis
Microsoft breaks the workflow into three stages.
- Generate: When GPU work stops making progress, DirectX captures a dump file before Windows resets the GPU. The file includes Direct3D runtime state, hardware and driver data from supporting drivers, and up to 2 MB of the developer’s own data.
- Retrieve: On development and QA machines, developers keep dump files on disk. On players’ PCs, dump files are not kept by default. The dump file end callback tells the game where each file is, and the game’s crash pipeline uploads it. Retrieving files from players’ PCs is currently up to the developer’s pipeline.
- Analyze: A developer opens the .dxdmp file in PIX on any PC without the GPU or driver that crashed. PIX decodes vendor-specific data through plugins from hardware partners, identifies the hang type, and points to the shaders and resources involved.
A crash on a player’s PC no longer has to be reproduced on a developer’s own machine with the same GPU and driver. Because DirectX captures state when the GPU stops making progress, a rare crash becomes an inspectable artifact even when the original hardware is not available.
Three overhead scenarios
How much detail a dump file contains depends on the selected overhead option. The NO_OVERHEAD option is the retail default. It is on without code changes, has no impact on players, and drivers that do not support it ignore it. Even then, a dump file still includes Direct3D runtime context and the application’s data. The game can add context such as build ID or current level through AddBlobToDumpFile.
For development and QA, studios can call RetainDumpFile to keep dump files on disk. If a driver does not support NO_OVERHEAD or a default file lacks enough detail, teams can select MEDIUM_OVERHEAD or HIGH_OVERHEAD with ConfigureDumpFile in development builds or with D3DConfig without code changes.
For chasing a rare retail crash, the higher tiers can be enabled on a few players’ PCs through ConfigureDumpFile, for example with a command-line argument or startup setting. MEDIUM_OVERHEAD and HIGH_OVERHEAD capture more data at a higher runtime cost, so Microsoft recommends keeping them to a session or two, uploading the files through the crash pipeline, and then turning them back off.
The default design also keeps player impact and data retention in check. On players’ PCs, dump files are not kept unless the game explicitly retains or uploads them. That gives a studio a crash artifact without changing the normal player experience or leaving crash files behind by default.
Hardware vendor support
DirectX Dump Files were built with AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm. Because each vendor supplies its own hardware and driver data, what PIX can show varies by hardware vendor and driver version.
- AMD: Radeon RX 9000 Series and Radeon RX 7000 Series support MEDIUM_OVERHEAD and HIGH_OVERHEAD. The PIX plugin is included in PIX 2610.28, and PIX markers in dump files are supported.
- NVIDIA: NVIDIA Turing and newer with R620 or later drivers support NO_OVERHEAD, MEDIUM_OVERHEAD, and HIGH_OVERHEAD. The PIX plugin is included in PIX 2610.28, and PIX markers in dump files are supported.
- Intel: Overhead options, PIX plugin, and PIX markers are listed as coming soon.
- Qualcomm: Support targets the Snapdragon X2 platform and is listed as coming soon.
Dump files from any GPU still include Direct3D runtime context and the application’s data. Supported drivers add hardware state and driver data. Microsoft advises checking with each hardware vendor’s developer relations contact for the exact driver support situation.
Get started
To generate a dump file on the crashing PC, the machine needs Windows 11 version 24H2 or 25H2 with build 26100.8524 or 26200.8524 or later, corresponding to KB5089573, plus Agility SDK 1.620 or later. Any GPU driver can generate a dump file, but supported drivers add hardware state and driver data. Developer Mode is not required. Optional API steps include checking support with CheckFeatureSupport using D3D12_FEATURE_DUMP_FILE, choosing an overhead option with ConfigureDumpFile, registering callbacks with SetDumpFileCallbacks, and adding data with AddBlobToDumpFile.
For retrieval, development and QA machines can use RetainDumpFile or D3DConfig to keep files in the CrashDumps folder under %LOCALAPPDATA%. On players’ PCs, the dump file end callback provides the path so the game’s crash pipeline can upload it. Analysis requires PIX 2610.28 or later on any PC, with shader object and PDB search paths set before opening the .dxdmp file.
PIX analysis and automation
PIX 2610.28 uses the same views for dump files from every hardware vendor, but some views depend on data provided by the vendor plugin. The Summary view provides hang buckets, possible causes, and related information. Other views can show events, page faults, resources, shader waves, shaders, shader autos, D3D12 API objects, application blobs, and file details. Views marked with an asterisk depend on hardware vendor support.
Retail PIX Markers address a default limitation. PIX markers do not normally reach the GPU driver, so they are absent from dump files. When Retail PIX Markers are enabled, those markers show up in the dump and reveal where the GPU was in the frame when the crash occurred.
The PIX API is now generally available and installs with PIX 2610.28, which allows studios to analyze dump files at scale. PIX 2610.28 also includes the DxDmp command-line tools and an MCP server for AI-assisted analysis. A developer opening a file sets shader object and PDB search paths, starts with the Summary view, and can then go further with the PIX API or AI agents.
What changes for developers
Rare crashes no longer have to be reproduced on identical hardware. A player’s PC can produce a dump at the moment the GPU stops making progress, and a developer can inspect it in PIX without that specific GPU or driver because each vendor’s plugin decodes its own data. That turns an unreproducible retail GPU hang into a shareable crash artifact.
The NO_OVERHEAD setting is on for retail with no code changes and no player impact, so a studio can ship with dump capture enabled and still keep the normal experience. The tradeoff is intentional. Default dump files contain less data than the higher overhead levels, but the game can attach up to 2 MB of its own context, such as build ID or current level, to make each file actionable.
The preview-to-retail transition shows where Microsoft wants the feature to sit in a shipping pipeline. The final .dxdmp format, the removal of the Developer Mode requirement, Retail PIX Markers, and the generally available PIX API move the system from an experimental preview to production tooling. The remaining gaps are explicit. Software device removals, as opposed to TDRs, do not generate a dump file yet. Intel and Qualcomm support is still coming soon, and easier uploads from players’ PCs are still in development.
This sits alongside Microsoft’s broader DirectX tooling work, including Microsoft’s Clustered Geometry and Partitioned TLAS raytracing preview. The DirectX Dump Files release is separate from the October 2026 Xbox console update, but it fits the same push toward a console-style crash pipeline for Windows GPU debugging.
Microsoft says future updates will bring more vendor data, easier uploads from players’ PCs, more hardware support, and DebugBreak(), which lets a shader trigger a dump file on purpose when Shader Model 6.10 arrives in a retail Agility SDK. For shipping teams, the practical starting point is small. Ship with Agility SDK 1.620, leave NO_OVERHEAD on by default, add build and level context through AddBlobToDumpFile, and upload files from the dump file end callback. Then turn on MEDIUM_OVERHEAD or HIGH_OVERHEAD only for targeted sessions when a rare crash needs more detail.
