PIX3 (API contents) - XBOX Game Development Documentation

PIX3 API reference material for the Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK).

Functions

Function	Description
ConfigureL2IPMCs	Configures performance counters inside the L2 caches.
ConfigureNBPMCs	Configures the four hardware Performance Monitor Counters (PMCs) inside the north bridge to enable a title to read the counters directly for the title code.
ConfigurePMCs	Configures the four hardware Performance Monitor Counters (PMCs) to enable a title to read the counters directly for the title code.
GetPMCValue	Gets the value of a hardware Performance Monitor Counter (PMC).
PIX_COLOR	Specifies a particular color for an event.
PIX_COLOR_INDEX	Specifies a set of unique event categories and lets PIX choose the colors to represent each category.
PIXBeginCapture	Starts a programmatically controlled PIX capture.
PIXBeginEvent	Starts a user-defined event for a timing capture of CPU activity, to be displayed in the System Timing Capture feature of PIX.
PIXEndCapture	Stops a programmatically controlled capture that was started with `PIXBeginCapture`.
PIXEndEvent	Defines the end of a user-defined event.
PIXGetCaptureState	Retrieves the type of captures in progress, as a set of flags.
PIXGetPowerMetrics (NDA topic)	Returns the current power load on XBOX Series consoles
PIXRecordMemoryAllocationEvent	Records a memory allocation event.
PIXRecordMemoryFreeEvent	Records a memory freeing event.
PIXReportCounter	Displays a user-defined counter in the PIX UI.
PIXScopedEvent	Creates a user-defined event for a timing capture of CPU activity, to be displayed in the Timing Capture feature of Performance Investigator for XBOX (PIX).
PIXSetMarker	Inserts a marker into the CPU timeline in the PIX System Timing Capture window, when a particular user-defined event occurs.

Structures

Structure	Description
PIXCaptureParameters	Parameters for PIXBeginCapture.
PIXPowerMetrics (NDA topic)	Parameter for PIXGetPowerMetrics

PIX GPU capture APIs

For more information, see PIX GPU capture APIs (NDA topic).

Conceptual documentation

See also

PIX overview (NDA topic)
Tools API reference

Last modified on October 29, 2026

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