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AMD Catalyst Linux Driver Catching Up To and Beating Windows
An anonymous reader writes: Along with the open-source AMD Linux driver having a great 2014, the AMD Catalyst proprietary driver for Linux has also improved a lot. Beyond the open-source Radeon Gallium3D driver closing in on Catalyst, the latest Phoronix end-of-year tests show the AMD Catalyst Linux driver is beating Catalyst on Windows for some OpenGL benchmarks. The proprietary driver tests were done with the new Catalyst "OMEGA" driver. Is AMD beginning to lead real Linux driver innovations or is OpenGL on Windows just struggling?
... So with OSS drivers this will almost certainly be my next graphics card / chipset.
Who does all this hard work? Didn't AMD just fire a bunch of Linux developers?
Either way, at this point both the FGLRX and RADEON driver seem to be almost as good choice as Intel HD Graphics for Linux use. Good job.
AMD's Linux drivers are catching up to, and beating, the Windows drivers? That shouldn't be hard, given that the Windows drivers are a steaming load of fetid moose crap. The drivers are the reason I switched back to Nvidia. Their Linux drivers may be proprietary and a little fidgity, and the FOSS Linux drivers may be worse than junk, but at least I don't have to nuke a whole system install just to upgrade Catalyst, and once they're installed the friggin' work!
Rawr
The OpenGL stuff is nice for gamers, but what about for the HTPC? How well do the drivers do on video playback acceleration? Can they do MPEG-2 and H264 in HD resolutions with minimal CPU?
I don't suppose they can play a 1080i video and get the fields consistently correct for letting the TV handle the deinterlacing (or keep it interlaced if the TV is an old tube HDTV)?
Valve does. Hell, they've created their own Debian spin-off, SteamOS to try and woo developers away from Windows. And so far, I'd say they're doing a decent job as the number of games available on Linux has jumped since the announcement (let alone since the beta). Well reviewed titles like "Battleblock Theater," "XCOM: Enemy Unknown," "Super Meat Boy," "Borderlands 2," and "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" are all available on Linux through Steam.
Rawr
I am very glad that AMD is improving the performance of their driver on Linux but I wish they would focus more on adding features that have been present on Windows for years. For instance, support for hybrid AMD/Intel graphics really sucks on linux laptops. You have to manually select the graphics card you want to use and restart your computer each time you want to switch between desktop use and gaming. On windows you can select which card to use for each application. Overheating and battery usage is also worse on linux than on windows. Finally, I wish suspend/wake would work as flawlessly on linux with the fglrx driver as it does on windows.
Not just the new ones - even some of the older games are being ported to linux now, though probably only en route to the promised Steambox.
I just finished Postal 2 on linux. Aside from steam achievements not being done yet, it worked flawlessly at max-everything. There is something satisfying in playing a character who responds to everyday irritations with outrageously over-the-top violence.
That's why I mentioned "Borderlands 2," which was retroactively ported. Gearbox is a hell of a developer, though, continuing to provide support to their games (and ports) long after they've disappeared from shelves, so I wouldn't expect this to be the norm for your AAA titles like "Call of Duty."
I see no indications of that. The filter in Steam reads "Linux+SteamOS" implying that the two aren't to be split. And after all, it's just Debian. No reason to think these games wouldn't operate under any other Debianesque system, as they currently do.
Rawr
It's implied with the name "Catalyst." The FOSS drivers have never been referred to as "Catalyst" except in momentary errors.
Rawr
All that was shown here is that AMD's *OpenGL* drivers on Linux aren't too far off from AMD's *OpenGL* performance on Windows.
Considering that AMD's OpenGL Implementation on Windows is kind of a joke compared to D3D, and considering that AMD is now even dumping D3D in favor of its proprietary* Mantle platform, this article basically proved that AMD's Windows OpenGL support is also lacking badly.
* Before anyone says Mantle is "open": AMD's executives promised an SDK published by the end of 2014... didn't happen. AMD has made zero efforts to make Mantle work on any OS other than Windows... hell, while DX11 ain't an open standard at least I can go online and get docs on how to write a program using DX11 and make it work on Windows... you can't even do that with Mantle!
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
Rage: http://rage.com/ Wolfenstein - The New Order: http://wolfenstein.com/
Emulation applies to API function call emulation as much as it does CPU instruction emulation since the function calls are translated to native system calls in the same way, and the term can even apply to network protocol emulation, HDD command emulation, BIOS emulation etc.
Using your definition a Z80 emulator is merely an environment of Z80 CPU instructions, which just shows the distinction is inconsistent with itself.
You don't get to redefine the English language just because you have a popular FOSS project, especially when the term is well established for the same process in every other domain of computing.
Why does my post history abruptly stop? I want to laugh at the stupid things I posted as a kid.
My experience is that games for Linux run surprisingly well, but the Linux desktop has become complete garbage.
They already did 15 years ago. I put my money where my mouth is - I use Linux not just for the Freedom, but for a stable OS, and yes, I'll cheerfully pay retail for software. In fact, I just unearthed my copies when I cleaned my garage yesterday. All Linux branded versions of Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, UT GOTY Edition, UT2004, Soldier of Fortune, MechWarrior II, Descent 3d, and quite a few others from Loki Games. I even found my unopened l33t tin editon of Q3 for Linux.
Of course, now my son wants to set it all up and play them.... :)
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Having multiple options is good. For years, nVidia has lead the way on the Unix/Linux platform with its graphics driver support (despite it being proprietary software). The Nouveau project has supplied the free and open alternative to the proprietary driver. It is good to know there is some momentum for the ATI line, time will tell how close it can get or if it can exist at the same level as nVidia. Personally, due to the excellent support, I only buy nVidia graphics hardware so they have gained my business by providing a good Linux driver. I've been a happy customer for years. If ATI can get to that level I would consider looking at their products as well.