No full feature level DirectX 12 support on AMD GPUs
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by Thomas De Maesschalck 
The firm's current high-end cards like the Radeon R9 290(X) and Radeon R9 285 are limited to DirectX 12 feature level 12_0. Basically, all AMD GCN 1.1 and GCN 1.2 based cards have DX12 Feature Level 12_0 support and everything based on GCN 1.0 is limited to DX12 Feature Level 11_1.
It's unknown which feature level is supported by the upcoming Fiji, perhaps that will be the only fully DX12 compliant card in AMD's lineup. But even that is a bit unsure at the moment as Hallock mentioned that DX12 Feature Level 12.1 support isn't important for them, claiming anything relevant to games is included in feature level 11_1 and 12_0.
The reference DirectX 12 API (Feature Level 11_0) has performance targeted features while the other two level deliver graphical improvement and this is what really matters in improving the games visually. The feature level 12_0 comes with Tiled Resources, Typed UAV Access and Bindless Textures support. Feature Level 12_1 has the Raster Order Views, Conservative Raster and Volume Tiled Raster enabled on the API.It seems that at least marketing-wise, NVIDIA has the upper hand here as the firm's GeForce 900 series already supports DX12 feature level 12_1, but anything else from the GeForce 400 to GeForce 700 series is DX12 feature level 11_1.
What this actually means and if it's relevant at all remains to be seen, especially because this news means the current-generation of consoles doesn't support DX12 feature level 12_1 either.
AMD DirectX 12 GCN Support:
| Model | DirectX |
|---|---|
| Radeon HD 7000 series | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| Radeon HD 7790 | DX12, feature level 12_0 |
| Radeon R7 260 (X) | DX12, feature level 12_0 |
| Radeon R9 270 (X) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| Radeon R9 280 (X) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| Radeon R9 285 | DX12, feature level 12_0 |
| Radeon R9 290 (X) | DX12, feature level 12_0 |
| Model | DirectX |
|---|---|
| GeForce 900 Series (Maxwell) | DX12, feature level 12_1 |
| GeForce 700 Series (Maxwell) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| GeForce 700 Series (Kepler) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| GeForce 600 Series (Kepler) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| GeForce 500 Series (Fermi) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
| GeForce 400 Series (Fermi) | DX12, feature level 11_1 |
Via: WCCF Tech
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ComputerBase is trustworthy and their source is Robert Hallock, Head of Global Technical Marketing at AMD, so I don't think they're lying. The slide from DSO Gaming is three months old and is a leaked piece of marketing that may or may not have been accurate at the time it was published. The card mentioned in that slide is most likely based on the Fiji GPU, which is now rumored to be launched as AMD Radeon R9 Fury series and not Radeon R9 390 series as was previously believed. So if that slide is accurate, Fiji may be fully DX12 capable whereas the Radeon R9 300 series (which are rebrands) are not.
Replyhttp://i.imgur.com/CA2AIhD.jpg GCN 1.0 (Dec 22nd, 2011) is much more capable than Maxwell 1 (Feb 18th, 2014), AMD has nothing to be ashamed about. feature level 12_1 is optional, only ROV's a benefical for gaming. Also Maxwell 2 isn't complete either it's missing feature level 11_2. A higher feature level seems to be better but that's not the case at all when lower feature levels are missing. Very misleading marketing strategy from Nvidia...
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