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Nvidia Doubles Linux Driver Performance, Slips Steam Release Date
leppi writes "Nvidia has announced a huge increase in Linux gaming performance for their GeForce R310 drivers after almost a year of development alongside Valve and other game developer partners. Nvidia's announcement also indicated the Steam beta for Linux should be out today. Quoting: 'Available for download at www.geforce.com, the new R310 drivers were also thoroughly tested with Steam for Linux, the extension of Valve's phenomenally popular Steam gaming platform that officially opened to gamers starting today. ... Comparing 304.51 driver performance of 142.7 fps versus 310.14 driver performance of 301.4 fps in beta build of Left for Dead 2. All tests run on the same system using Intel Core i7-3930K CPU @ 3.20GHz with 8 GB memory, GeForce GTX 680 and Ubuntu 12.04 32-bit.'"
Update: 11/06 21:00 GMT by S : Valve has gone ahead and announced the Steam for Linux Beta. They've sent invites to a number of people who filled out the application, and they'll be inviting more as the test goes along. The beta test is available for installation on Ubuntu 12.04, with support for other distros to come: "We intend to support additional popular distros in the future; we’ll prioritize development for these based on user feedback."
Hardcore video games have traditionally been one of the sticking points against getting PC users to adopt GNU/Linux. But with big companies (Valve and NVIDIA) committed to bringing hardcore video games to the GNU/Linux platform, what else is in the way of making 2013 the year of the Linux desktop?
Is it measured in Valve Time?
I'm sure everyone is also interested in seeing how the performance compares to drivers on other operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X). Is there a link to such a comparison? It helps to put things into perspective. (I'm too lazy to google it =)
Since Steam now provides programs, including one that updates your drivers, why not release the major drivers on the platform directly? Take advantage of the Steam (torrent hybrid) distribution method and get auto updates. - HEX
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Nvidia's announcement also indicated the Steam beta for Linux should be out today
I think Valve's announcement kinda indicated that too.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
the year of Linux on desktop?
Will the evil Microsoftians interfere?
Will the diablolical Appleites unleash the dooms day Software and Plastic part patents?
????
Stay tuned!
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Music to my ears, baby! :)
How nice except that 304.10 won't compile against the 3.7 kernel source and nVidia says it will try to get that working by the next release...
I wish nVidia would stop being so protective about it's API's and just work with nouveau. If there's a few bits here or there that must remain proprietary, they could release those with a nonfree license and make the rest open...I refuse to use something with no support for a framebuffer console.
I've been running 64-bit Windows and Linux since 2007. Where is this suck you speak of?
I suppose you could have been one of the sad few who used a Pentium 4 instead of the much better Athlon 64 chip.
Really - 150 FPS versus 300? No one could ever tell the difference - not even your monitor! I don't get this whole obsession with FPS, especially when monitors can't even do it this fast.
Higher frames per second translate in to more frames for physics engines to run, which brings much finer simulation detail.
1) high frame rates in a basic game imply better frame rates in a more complicated game, or at higher resolution
2) high max frame rates imply a higher minimum frame rate, which is actually noticeable if it drops too low
Assuming you install the 32bit libs, seems like it should not be any issue to run 32bit steam on a 64bit OS.
This means that it was running that crappy PAE kernel.
Far better to test on a 64 bit OS instead.
Agreed. All those dozens of hardcore gamers holding Linux back. Now they have no excuse!
none
10 % better than Windows if the numbers at
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/geforce-gtx-670_4.html
can be used straight away (which they possibly can to some extent as Left for Dead 2 probably isn't CPU bound) for GTX 680
Windows - 276 fps
Linux - 301.4 fps
Quite an improvement anyhow!
Congratulations to all involved!!!
IBM is a has-been of technology companies? Do tell.
Ubuntu is or until recently was the most popular Linux desktop they the number two now one Mint is based on Ubuntu; thus ubuntu is the most obvious Linux flavor to start with. Requiring the current LTS or later is entirely reasonable, especially for beta software. Besides Valve has said if all goes well the will add support for more distros. no need to whine because it wasn't you favorite varient they chose if you don't like it you can always duel boot, try extracting the (probably .deb) package and install it yourself. or you could run it in a VM or any of a dozen other possible ways putting it on your favorite distro.
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
Can any driver developers comment on how this was achieved? I know I haven't been programming OpenGL for very long, but all I see it doing is writing the data to the card and running the shaders on that data. Data transfers should already be going at full speed, so I don't see much possible improvement there. I also can't see how shader compiler improvements could result in doubled performance. Typically, compiler changes speed things up by a few percent and I don't believe that nVidia's compiler was that bad before. So what was sped up exactly? And frankly, aside from compiling the shaders and memcpying data to the card, I'm puzzled what the driver is doing anyway?
Duh!
Except it will not be one steam game console. It will be a whole series of them. Think android phones. Lots of vendors lots of choices all running one distro provided by Ubuntu for Valve.
You appear to claim that "reality" will continue to keep the GNU/Linux environment from becoming a compelling choice for home use after the games obstacle is removed, especially now that Windows 8 is starting to look more like a tablet environment than like the desktop environment that people are used to. Exactly what aspect of reality are you talking about?
Why you would want the non-linux users opinion on linux I don't know.
Perhaps they think that if they ask "When you tried Linux, why did you abandon it?", they can squeeze some insights out of the answers about how to improve the Linux user experience.
I believe Cedega died because Wine was beating it out in terms of maturity/compatibility. Near the end, many games worked fine on Wine but still had issues in Cedega, so all it had going was a GUI.
DRM used to be an issue with Wine but most of the games I have that used to have DRM issues work fine now.
They promise that every single game will be available. It took a while to build up the offering for Windows and Mac. It'll take time to do the same for Linux.
They also promise that future development will include native versions for Linux.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
You can get nvidia 64bit drivers from their site. The web page will automatically know you are using a 64bit Linux and offer that version. You can override it and download any version you wish.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
Have they changed their stance on their Optimus feature that they infamously said "would never be supported under linux"? For those unaware of it, laptops now ship with 2 GPUs : a small one, low performance and low conso, usually an Intel one, and a high-end one, that is started when GPU intensive tasks are started. Optimus is the undocumented feature that allows to switch between these two.
It is not supported in the linux nVidia driver, it was said by nvidia official they would never support it and they didn't even give the OSS developers the little hints they need to make a workaround.
Unless this silliness (that made Linus call them many names) is solved, I am unlikely to buy any laptop with a nVidia board.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Another alternative is to buy Linux pre-installed.
I would, but I don't know of any dealers with showrooms in Fort Wayne, Indiana, so that I can try out a laptop's keyboard and screen before I buy. Mail ordering is fine for desktop PCs, but it has its drawbacks for laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
I buy nearly all my electronics online now. I don't think I'm unusual in that respect. My online experience has in general been much better than my retail store experience lately and you just can't beat the convenience. Usually, you can't beat the online prices either, even with delivery. Factor in the time spent travelling to/from the store, parking, getting new door dents etc, and the deal is sealed.
If you want to know if the keyboard is ergnonomic, read the reviews. I find it especially helpful to look at the photos. Finally, if you really care about ergonomic, don't get a laptop, there is no such thing as an ergonomic laptop. Laptops are pure carpal tunnel zone.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I bought the TF101 on launch day over a year ago. It has HDMI output and can drive the same monitors you and I are looking at. I have acquired three Windows cloud desktops through services like OnLive. Through Citrix and VMWare View I have access to an unlimited number of desktops with this tablet. Because my support crew is first rate they support every version of every Windows OS back to DOS 5.1 - and prior versions I can run or simulate locally. Anything your PC can do, my tablet can do. I use it to administer 100+ servers.
My phone has LTE and hotspot, so I can do this anywhere I happen to be by tethering this old tablet to my phone's wifi.
My tablet has the dock, so I can attach Wacom tablets, keyboards, mice, trackballs, and even Microsoft's Kinect if I want to. Bluetooth too. Connecting a peripheral to a device is becoming a network problem and the network software guys make short work of that.
Microsoft's Surface tablet has encryption to prevent loading of alternate operating systems. That would be protective of their OS franchise if Nexus 10 didn't have more storage, a 300 DPI screen, and cost less. Nobody in their right mind would pay more for a Surface intending to defang the prevention of choice implicit in it when they could just buy a Nexus 10 and do what they want without the uncrippling step instead, and also have resolution beyond the limit of their visual acuity.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
On the other hand, Nintendo's Wii Shop Channel has the Virtual Console categories with officially emulated games dating back to the fourth quarter of 1985 when the NES was released.
That's pretty amazing, especially if you aren't aware of emulation. Now, if you include emulators which run on the PC (there are titles that come bundled with dosbox so it's point and click, ready to go, available on Steam or GOG.com like Space Quest) you have pretty much all of the systems covered since gaming began. Use a USB controller adapter to enhance the experience with your actual contollers. Bummer you have to rebuy your titles, it would be very cool if you could easily uniquely identify cartridges and unlock what you've already purchased.
A 20-year library would include DOS games and Windows 3.1 games, and 64-bit Windows can't run those without an emulator.
Neither can Nintendo, without an emulator.
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It may not help in your case but people in the EU can send anything ordered online and delivered by post/courier ('distance selling') back without having to give a reason within 7 days (14 in some countries). So there's no reason you can't buy online and if something about the keyboard, screen, Linux driver support or anything else isn't to your liking just box it up and send it back.
I did this with a 1000 Euro ultrabook in Germany that when it arrived I realised had very poor wireless range, in both Windows and Linux. Something only a few of the reviews mentioned and obviously something I couldn't test until I had the thing in my house. I ran the recovery DVD, boxed it up and sent it back to Amazon. Money was refunded a couple of days later (cash in my account, not gift vouchers or any credit) and I bought a different Ultrabook.
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/dist_sell/index_en.htm
"Consumer's right to cancel the contract within a minimum of 7 working days without giving any reason and without penalty, except the cost of returning the goods (right of withdrawal);"
Pre-canned Evolution Links for all those Slashdot holy wars.
I was under the impression that Nintendo tended to avoid "emulation" in marketing materials for Virtual Console so as to distance Virtual Console from community-made emulators that rely on (usually illegally traded) ROM images.
Regardless if they call it one or not it remains a software based emulator. It's unfortunate the duration of copyright otherwise these (arguably classic) games might be in the public domain.
Emulators can't tell in general which button is in which position on each brand of controller or adapter [pineight.com]. This means the user has to set up the button mappings for each PC game or emulator. I'm told people don't have much patience to set up in every single game or every single emulator, and that's why they use official emulators on consoles.
Even the official emulators have problems with control schemes for multiple platforms (Virtual Console supports multiple platforms, although, not as many as the PC). You have preconceived notions about how Emulators work but your scenario isn't based in reality. Fortunately one doesn't need to keep remapping things per game, once configured for the emulator the profile works for all games loaded. For newer titles Xinput handles things automagically. Most people turn to Google or Youtube when they need answers, and there are plenty of helpful people out there with easy to follow instructions for those not savvy enough to navigate the emulator options on their own.
All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances users can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons (for example the NES).[40] In certain titles, such as Nintendo 64 games, there may be specific controls tailored to the Classic Controller or GameCube Controller. Nintendo 64 titles that originally provided force feedback via the Nintendo 64 controller's Rumble Pak peripheral however, are not supported by the built-in "Rumble" feature of the GameCube controller despite its capability of doing so.
The button mapping has become the cause of problem and concern, however. The button mapping is rigid and is not customizable. Because of this, many games are difficult to play. All Neo Geo fighting games have very awkward control schemes and glitches when changed to GameCube controllers. Nintendo has acknowledged this issue but has not put any efforts towards fixing it. (wiki source)
Pick your poison, Virtual Console with no setup, known awkward controls, and the joy of (re)buying titles OR some setup, excellent controls (especially if you already have originals, also working rumble!), and no out of pocket for titles. People seem to like "free." At least there are options out there, ultimately nothing compares to the authentic experience.
In addition, a console is more likely to have a case designed to fit in well next to a television (as opposed to a typical tower PC case), which is important if a game uses offline multiplayer.
Very true. I'd recommend something like an old modded XBOX which lets you rock nearly every emulator and as a bonus sits right next to your TV. One downside is a console also requires an additional investment.
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