One of the first of many choices you will have to answer when jumping into Baldur’s Gate 3 is which of the two graphic interfaces you want to use: Vulkan or DirectX 11. For most players, this is a tough question because while you’ve probably heard of DirectX 11, you may not have heard of Vulkan. Basically, this choice is asking which graphics API you want Baldur’s Gate 3 to use when rendering the graphics of the RPG.
In general, both are perfectly fine options. In fact, Larian Studios probably wouldn’t give you an option unless they were both good in their own ways. Our purpose of this guide is to inform you of the differences between the two in case you are wondering if you should choose DirectX 11 or Vulkan in Baldur’s Gate 3.
When you should choose Vulkan
In most cases, you want to choose Vulkan over DirectX 11. In comparison, Vulkan is closer to DirectX 12 than it is to DirectX 11. Therefore, it’s simply a stronger and more modern graphical API.
It’s important to note that according to the official Baldur’s Gate 3 FAQ by Larian, they recommend using Vulkan as well. Even though its implementation is still in Early Access, for most users it presents a potential performance increase over DirectX 11. However, Vulkan is typically slightly less stable, though that’s probably not still the case with us reaching the full launch of BG3.
That being said, if you are trying Vulkan and having performance issues or crashes, you should definitely try switching to DirectX 11 and see if it makes a difference.
When you should choose DirectX 11
Even though Vulkan is typically the best option here, if you are having performance issues try switching to DirectX 11. Also, some Nvidia cards specifically have seen slightly better performance using DirectX 11. We’re talking 5-10% increase, but every little bit helps. A good rule of thumb is to give the Vulkan API a chance, but if you have issues don’t hesitate to try DirectX 11.
Overall, both options should be fine. Unless you’re using some obscure video card that hasn’t had proper testing, you should have no problems with either choice.
