We find out which API is better to use in Baldur’s Gate 3: Vulkan or DX11

Even before you create your own character and rush to the adventure, Baldur’s Gate 3 puts players at a crossroads already in the launcher of the game: what to use between Vulkan API or DX11? Let’s try to clarify.

Both are graphic APIs, which, in very simple words, control the connection between the game and the hardware of the PC and, therefore, affect the performance. DX11 is produced by Microsoft, and Vulkan – Khronos Group, a consortium of companies, which also includes NVIDIA, AMD, Apple, ARM, EPIC, Intel, Valve and others. Theoretically, the DX11 is an outdated version that is eliminated by the API DX12, but many games still use it, including Baldur’s Gate 3.

According to the Official FAQ for early access Baldur’s Gate 3, the recommended choice is the API Vulkan – this is the choice proposed by Larian Studios, which, incidentally, is also a standard option in the game launcher.

The reason is that “Vulkan in most cases has a potential increase in performance compared to DX11, even if it is currently less stable “. This information relates to early access of Baldur’s Gate 3 and therefore may not fully comply with version 1.0, although the studio at that time promised to “actively work on improving performance and stability with Vulkan API“.

Keep in mind that Baldur’s Gate 3 came out of early access only yesterday, so to obtain an exact picture of the situation, a deep analysis on this topic will be required. However, given the information provided by Larian Studios, in general, the API Vulkan is the recommended and preferred choice. If you have any problems, you can always switch to DX11 and see if the situation will improve.

PC Gamer, on the other hand, conducted preliminary tests using graphic processors of different manufacturers with results that differ from the NVIDIA video cards given above, which was noted by increased performance by 6-13% from DX11 compared to Vulkan, deducting less stable performance. Conversely, the Vulkan API is recommended for AMD and Intel graphic processors.