The reason AAA games see a 2-3x performance uplift over OpenGL isn't because the runtime is faster—it's because the runtime . The overhead isn't removed; it's exposed , giving you the responsibility and the power to eliminate it.
Originally introduced by the in 2016, Vulkan is a modern, cross-platform application programming interface (API). It was built on components from AMD’s Mantle API to provide a more open alternative to proprietary systems like DirectX. Why is it on my computer? vulkan run time
Look at Task Manager. Why does the runtime use so much RAM? The reason AAA games see a 2-3x performance
When you call vkQueueSubmit() , you aren't touching hardware. You are touching three distinct layers managed by the runtime: It was built on components from AMD’s Mantle
Consider this: In OpenGL, if you bind a texture to the wrong slot, the driver crashes (or worse, corrupts). In Vulkan, the runtime's layer can detect that you forgot a pipeline barrier before submitting a render pass.
Vulkan isn't hard because the runtime is broken. Vulkan is hard because the GPU is complicated, and for the first time, you're the one managing that complexity.