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It seems a leak (the rest is very Windows focused) from slides showing off AMD Crimson is reporting much better Linux performance in certain games.

image

The way I'm reading it, is not that the games are say "112%" (double and then some) better, but 12% better. I think it's using marketing speak to look better than it is, but with that said it's still some impressive improvements. They have needed it, as we have known for a long time that AMD Catalyst hasn't been competing very well with Nvidia.

Looks like the real stuff is due out today, so we will keep you posted if we hear any more! Exciting though, and hopefully this isn't just new per-game optimizations. I really hope those are just example games they tested, and that they have been able to do general driver optimizations on Linux. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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mulletdeath 24 Nov 2015
Though I use an NVIDIA card on my desktop, I'll have an AMD card in my new laptop when it comes back from an RMA, so I love hearing every bit of news like this.
Cmdr_Iras 24 Nov 2015
If the AMD drivers can improve to a point where I get close to if not parity with my GTX760 then I will consider AMD when upgrading my GPU.

I would vastly prefer to have that choice like I did when I gamed on windows, as it stands being locked into Nvidia is a pain.
Aryvandaar 24 Nov 2015
I'm a Nvidia user, but his is good, for those who have AMD and for the market, competition.
Xpander 24 Nov 2015
still better than nothing, hopefully more games benefit than only those on the picture
Liam Dawe 24 Nov 2015
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still better than nothing, hopefully more games benefit than only those on the picture

I honestly think it's per-game optimizations, which makes me wonder why the heck they haven't focused on some of the new bigger releases, like Alien and Mordor?
pd12 24 Nov 2015
They probably need at least 150% to match nVidia drivers ...

Example:
[http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=1080p-b-value&num=2](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=1080p-b-value&num=2)

Also:
[http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amdnv-4k-15gpu&num=3](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amdnv-4k-15gpu&num=3)

I hope they keep improving and at least achieve a better performance/price ratio than more than 1 nVidia card.


Last edited by pd12 on 24 Nov 2015 at 10:05 am UTC
Snowdrake 24 Nov 2015
That's really good news. Hopefully it will benefit most cards and AMD APU too.
Pecisk 24 Nov 2015
Finally, about time. I am Nvidia user, but just out of pure necessity - I believe we need AMD and maybe even another one vendor to get graphics cards prices at reasonable level (currently they cost insane). AMD trying to get their shit done is good news, even all of those are small steps.

If this keeps moving on (along with their recent open source push), I will considering buying AMD next time card upgrade comes up.
Avehicle7887 24 Nov 2015
I'm curious to see the new performance benchmarks with these drivers. I've been wanting to go with an AMD gpu for a new system for a while now and the poor drivers are the only thing holding me back.

Nvidia may be the best for Linux but they aren't very open source friendly.
pete910 24 Nov 2015
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Put in a question of whether we are getting freesync @ AMDMat on the OC forums driver thread. Don't seem to see it mention in any slides :(
Xzyl 24 Nov 2015
still better than nothing, hopefully more games benefit than only those on the picture

I honestly think it's per-game optimizations, which makes me wonder why the heck they haven't focused on some of the new bigger releases, like Alien and Mordor?

Probably those optimization/profiles were done some time ago in the driver development for the release and that's the slide they have probably leaving those 2 games out in the cold. Just a guess. There are probably other reasons as well, however if I had to guess that is just a small bone being thrown out.


Edit:
However I don't think this is really anything to be excited about. Take the 112% bioshock... that's ~4+ fps higher at 40 and ~7+fps at 60... I wish this game didn't make me seasick I would love to finish it but it played alright (not great) on catalyst ~55FPS last time I tried so I guess every little bit helps. As far as the >100% metric, it was actually tech sites that made it popular as it exaggerates a couple of FPS to make cards look further apart, so it's kinda silly to call out AMD over using the metric.


Last edited by Xzyl on 24 Nov 2015 at 12:24 pm UTC
ricki42 24 Nov 2015
It doesn't say which card these numbers are for, or what settings. It's really hard to conclude anything from this.
Also, if I understand correctly, with the new drivers Catalyst runs on top of the open-source AMDGPU driver? If so, how much of these gains are from which part of the driver? If it's really per-game optimization, it's likely all proprietary.
pete910 24 Nov 2015
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New drivers are out now

[http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Linux+x86_64](http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Linux+x86_64)


Last edited by pete910 on 24 Nov 2015 at 1:29 pm UTC
pete910 24 Nov 2015
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Well we don't get the flashy new UI by the looks of it :'(

Would it have been that hard to point the build target to linux......
pete910 24 Nov 2015
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Well we don't get the flashy new UI by the looks of it :'(

Would it have been that hard to point the build target to linux......

At a guess, there's a lot more than a UI. It has to interact with the driver directly, after all, so no, it wouldn't be a simple matter to "point the build target to linux". Though I do agree that a better interface is desirable, I do think that it should be done after amdgpu + userspace is properly up & running.

I understand that it talks directly to the driver, but still it's not as of they don't know what to call is it. It's their driver!.

Waiting on AMD is like waiting for the rapture tbh. By the time they've done AMDGPU have it running well + the new UI in place + freesync most of the last AMD user hold outs will have gone green. To be honest come next gen round I may be one of those that jump ship

To be frank the lack of new UI don't bother me, You set what you need to set then never open it again normally. It's the lack of freesync support that pisses me off. Luckily I still haven't gone that route. was looking for a GC + new monitor for my son this xmass , was going the 390 route. It now maybe a green team variant which I don't really want to do.

Sorry, ranting/venting a bit
pete910 24 Nov 2015
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The new driver compiled fine on mine with the 4.14 kernel that i'm on.
Did a quick test of metro rdeux on stock 290x @ 1440p
[http://openbenchmarking.org/result/1511249-HA-290XCRIMS38](http://openbenchmarking.org/result/1511249-HA-290XCRIMS38)

Anyone with a NV card do a comparison, I thought I had done some with previous driver versions but guess not
mrdeathjr 24 Nov 2015
Support for GPUs pre-GCN has dropped in this drivers version

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=AMD-Crimson-Pre-GCN


Last edited by mrdeathjr on 24 Nov 2015 at 3:08 pm UTC
Xpander 24 Nov 2015
The new driver compiled fine on mine with the 4.14 kernel that i'm on.
Did a quick test of metro rdeux on stock 290x @ 1440p
[http://openbenchmarking.org/result/1511249-HA-290XCRIMS38](http://openbenchmarking.org/result/1511249-HA-290XCRIMS38)

Anyone with a NV card do a comparison, I thought I had done some with previous driver versions but guess not

with a crappy AMD CPU and not so high end 970

http://openbenchmarking.org/result/1511242-HA-1511249HA90
pete910 24 Nov 2015
  • Supporter Plus
Still room for improvement then by the looks of it :P
mrdeathjr 24 Nov 2015
More information about pre GCN cards moved to legacy

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9815/amd-moves-pre-gcn-gpus-to-legacy
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