Particle Systems; A GPGPU based approach

Abstract: Context. Particle systems are an important part for enhancing the player experience in games, simulating fire, smoke and water. The higher and higher demands from modern games to provide visual stunning experiences puts a strain on performance that the CPU is not able to handle. That is why ideas about moving data from the CPU over to the GPU have begun being promoted. Objectives. In this paper we test how the performance is affected when moving a particle system from the CPU to reside completely on the GPU. Methods. This is measured by using time stamps to determine the execution time for different steps needed to inject, update and render the particles in the particle system. Results. The results of these tests showed that the particle system on the GPU performed significantly better than the one on the CPU in all areas except one which was the injection step. Conclusions. This paper concludes that it is better to keep a particle system on the GPU at all times if possible when the particle system is not needed to interact with the rest of the game world.