Rasterization & Early-Z: Debug Playbook

Debug playbook

Debug Playbook for Rasterization & Early-Z centers on raster throughput, early-Z kill rate, and overdraw reduction. The objective is to connect profiler evidence to root-cause mechanism and release-safe action.

GPU debug is mechanism-first. Lock revisions, isolate first failing workload, then prove one hypothesis before applying broad tuning.

Root-cause tree

ROOT-CAUSE TREE — Rasterization & Early-Z

raster throughput, early-Z kill rate, and overdraw reduction regressed
        |
  reproducible on replay?
      /              \
    no                yes
    |                  |
env/test noise    counter triage
                   |
             compute-bound or memory-bound?
                /                  \
             compute            memory/interconnect
             issue stalls       cache/NoC/DRAM stalls

Stop at first failing mechanism, then patch.

1. Freeze workload seed, compiler, driver, firmware, and hardware tags.

2. Identify first failing metric and where it appears in timeline.

3. Classify bottleneck domain: scheduler, execution, memory, interconnect, or thermal.

4. Build one focused reproducer that isolates dominant mechanism.

5. Patch smallest owner-controlled fix.

6. Re-run quality, performance, and stability matrix.

Review memo template

GPU DESIGN REVIEW MEMO - Graphics Pipeline Architecture / Rasterization & Early-Z

1. Symptom
   - Watched metric: raster throughput, early-Z kill rate, and overdraw reduction
   - Failing workload or scene: <name>
   - Impacted stage: <warp scheduling, memory hierarchy, graphics stage, interconnect>
   - Revision tags: <kernel/driver/compiler/firmware/hardware>

2. Mechanism hypothesis
   - Primary mechanism: Rasterization maps primitives to fragments while early depth/stencil tests cull occluded work before expensive shader execution.
   - Competing hypotheses: <divergence, memory coalescing, scheduling, thermal throttling>
   - Missing evidence: <counter capture, trace, topology heatmap, timing report>

3. Proposed action
   - Minimal reversible change: <kernel/config/RTL/policy update>
   - Expected movement: <throughput, frame-time tail, perf-per-watt>
   - Regression risk: scheduler fairness, cache contention, thermal behavior, software compatibility

4. Signoff
   - Re-run artifact: raster tile occupancy map, depth-test effectiveness report, and overdraw heatmap
   - Required owners: raster backend owner, graphics architect, performance engineer
   - Final decision: ship, bounded rollout, rollback, or escalate

GPU deep dive

Frame-time stability depends on balancing fixed-function stages with programmable shader pressure.

Concept diagram

GRAPHICS PIPELINE

vertex -> tessellation -> raster -> fragment -> ROP/blend

Metric graph

FRAME-TIME PRESSURE

fragment shading load  ████████
raster backpressure    █████
ROP/blend stalls       ████

Reports and artifacts

• stage occupancy timeline

• early-Z efficiency report

• ROP queue depth

• overdraw heatmap

Mini case study

Async compute overlapped with heavy fragment scenes and triggered ROP queue buildup, causing p99 frame spikes.

Debug branches

• Correlate frame spikes with stage-level queues

• Validate early-Z effectiveness under real content

• Isolate graphics-compute arbitration conflicts

Senior review question

Ask: which metric and benchmark pairing proves this topic is truly closed in production context?

Key takeaways

• Always pair micro-kernel metrics with end-to-end workload impact.

• Lock toolchain, driver, and launch metadata before comparing performance results.

Common pitfalls

• Optimizing occupancy without checking memory-system saturation.

• Comparing profiler captures from different driver or compiler builds.

• Declaring wins without reproducible accuracy and performance gates.

Principal GPU review addendum

Rasterization & Early-Z is not just a definition to memorize. In a real GPU program it becomes an interaction between software shape, compiler mapping, warp execution, memory movement, interconnect policy, and physical limits. The first senior move is to name which layer is being exercised before interpreting a counter.

Rasterization maps primitives to fragments while early depth/stencil tests cull occluded work before expensive shader execution. This mechanism matters because GPUs are throughput machines: a small inefficiency repeated across lanes, warps, SMs, frames, or dispatches can dominate product performance even when a unit-level diagram looks balanced.

Use raster throughput, early-Z kill rate, and overdraw reduction as an entry point, not as the conclusion. A metric shift only becomes actionable after it is tied to a workload slice, a profiler capture, an architectural path, and a reproducible artifact such as raster tile occupancy map, depth-test effectiveness report, and overdraw heatmap.

Graphics throughput depends on balancing fixed-function stages with programmable shader pressure. The review posture is therefore evidence-first: explain what the kernel or graphics workload asked for, how the GPU mapped it onto hardware, where useful work stopped, and which owner can change the smallest boundary safely.

In review, insist on a concrete chain from workload to hardware behavior: workload shape -> compiler/runtime mapping -> warp or pipeline behavior -> memory/fabric pressure -> measured product impact. That chain prevents generic GPU tuning advice from replacing engineering evidence.