Nvidia releases the Vulkan Graphics API and first driversIt allows a more direct access to features of graphic chips than higher level APIs like DirectX or OpenGL with abstraction layers. Programmers using Vulkan are now responsible for implementing a logic to optimally use different features of different GPUs in their applications, instead of relying on graphic drivers having their own strategies to support a wide range of GPUs with the same abstract functions.
Vulkan driver downloads — before you hurry: Do you have any applications designed for it already? ... Patience. For now only for Kepler and Maxwell chipsets (GT 600-900 and related Quadro)
AMD developed the Mantle API earlier, but discontinued it already and recommended to switch to either DirectX 12 or Vulkan (as a kind of successor).
