The new proprietary AMD GPU Driver named Crimson just shipped and I decided to take it for a spin in a set of benchmarks. So, let's see if we see any improvement in the performance of these drivers.
Edit: The Nvidia card used for comparisons is a GTX 760.
Let's start out with the Unigine set.
Neither Unigine Heaven or Unigine Valley saw real performance improvements. Whatever slight improvements there might have appeared to be are within the margin of error.
Once again, no real improvement. The DiRT benchmark should also be taken with a grain of salt as the runs slightly differ visually from one another.
No improvement for Half-Life 2: Lost Coast either.
I also ran a Company of Heroes 2 test and quite surprisingly the game ran on maxed out graphics, though the framerate of 8.06 probably isn't really a reason for cheering. On minimum my whole system crashed, like it used to back when I last tried to run COH2. So, AMD folks, if you want to play COH2 you will probably have the best chance of the game working when all the dials are turned as high as possible. Or you could try the open source drivers which render the game at 20 FPS but with rendering errors.
So all in all, it seems that Crimson is more bark than bite. Granted, I didn't test any of the games mentioned on the leaked slides, so it's possible that those games in particular got optimization profiles which wouldn't affect performance elsewhere. The actual worth of such profiles in the long run is at least in my opinion questionable.
However, there is at least something positive in all of this: Crimson works on Ubuntu 15.10. The most recent version of Ubuntu has lacked working proprietary AMD drivers ever since the release and Crimson seems to have support for it, even though the supported distributions list doesn't mention it. Whether it will keep running is another question but so far things are looking good. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Edit: The Nvidia card used for comparisons is a GTX 760.
Let's start out with the Unigine set.
Neither Unigine Heaven or Unigine Valley saw real performance improvements. Whatever slight improvements there might have appeared to be are within the margin of error.
Once again, no real improvement. The DiRT benchmark should also be taken with a grain of salt as the runs slightly differ visually from one another.
No improvement for Half-Life 2: Lost Coast either.
I also ran a Company of Heroes 2 test and quite surprisingly the game ran on maxed out graphics, though the framerate of 8.06 probably isn't really a reason for cheering. On minimum my whole system crashed, like it used to back when I last tried to run COH2. So, AMD folks, if you want to play COH2 you will probably have the best chance of the game working when all the dials are turned as high as possible. Or you could try the open source drivers which render the game at 20 FPS but with rendering errors.
So all in all, it seems that Crimson is more bark than bite. Granted, I didn't test any of the games mentioned on the leaked slides, so it's possible that those games in particular got optimization profiles which wouldn't affect performance elsewhere. The actual worth of such profiles in the long run is at least in my opinion questionable.
However, there is at least something positive in all of this: Crimson works on Ubuntu 15.10. The most recent version of Ubuntu has lacked working proprietary AMD drivers ever since the release and Crimson seems to have support for it, even though the supported distributions list doesn't mention it. Whether it will keep running is another question but so far things are looking good. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Segata Sanshiro Nov 24, 2015
QuoteSo all in all, it seems that Crimson is more bark than bite.
Seems like more of a whimper. I wonder when they'll get their act together.
6 Likes, Who?
DamonLinuxPL Nov 24, 2015
Buuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA. Anyone can suggest good and chep gpu? Maybe gtx 660 or 750?
BTW. look like Radeon Crimson not is not a good driver is still at the same performance level as latest catalyst 15.9 :/
Or maybe they improve it in dota2 like I see on amd slide...
BTW. look like Radeon Crimson not is not a good driver is still at the same performance level as latest catalyst 15.9 :/
Or maybe they improve it in dota2 like I see on amd slide...
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: ricki42Which nvidia card are you comparing to?Ah, forgot to mention it because I've already done this a couple of times. That would be a GTX 760.
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Holy f-- are you for real? THIS is the extent of the vast improvements that were leaked early? This is a joke. AMD, seriously, what the hell? I want to give you money, but... THIS!
4 Likes, Who?
So, as I feared in my article on the leak, it's game-specific optimizations they did for ONLY the previous games mentioned.
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this is that 12%? :D its not even that much for this card at least.. maybe on higher ends it is.
ohh well... and no xorg 1.18 support either i think?
ohh well... and no xorg 1.18 support either i think?
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DamonLinuxPLBuuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA. Anyone can suggest good and chep gpu? Maybe gtx 660 or 750?
BTW. look like Radeon Crimson not is not a good driver is still at the same performance level as latest catalyst 15.9 :/
Or maybe they improve it in dota2 like I see on amd slide...
You should check GTX 950 price. It should be ~180 euros (~730 PLN) depending on the version.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DamonLinuxPLBuuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA. Anyone can suggest good and chep gpu? Maybe gtx 660 or 750?
BTW. look like Radeon Crimson not is not a good driver is still at the same performance level as latest catalyst 15.9 :/
Or maybe they improve it in dota2 like I see on amd slide...
Go for the GTX 960 4GB.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: ziabiceYou forgot to mention that they fixed glxgears stuttering!
finally... we can all play glxgears multiplayer now
8 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DamonLinuxPLBuuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA. Anyone can suggest good and chep gpu? Maybe gtx 660 or 750?
BTW. look like Radeon Crimson not is not a good driver is still at the same performance level as latest catalyst 15.9 :/
Or maybe they improve it in dota2 like I see on amd slide...
You can pick up a GTX 960 for about 150 - 170 USD.
1 Likes, Who?
Do they not test these drivers on their own Linux box when they build them?
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Quoting: DamonLinuxPLBuuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA. Anyone can suggest good and chep gpu? Maybe gtx 660 or 750?
BTW. look like Radeon Crimson not is not a good driver is still at the same performance level as latest catalyst 15.9 :/
Or maybe they improve it in dota2 like I see on amd slide...
Black friday stay so close
This is some offers in newegg maybe can help you, however try hold on until friday
EVGA GTX 960 SSC 4GB stay in 180us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487155&ignorebbr=1
ASUS GTX 750Ti 2GB stay in 120us and give you rebate card for 30us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121855&cm_re=GTX_950-_-14-121-855-_-Product
However this Zotac GTX 750 2GB Non ti stay so cheap, appears in 80us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500333&cm_re=GTX_750-_-14-500-333-_-Product
Zotac 750Ti GB stay in 95us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500349&cm_re=GTX_750-_-14-500-349-_-Product
Zotac GTX 950 2GB stay in 140us in both models (stock and oc model)
Stock
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500385&cm_re=GTX_950-_-14-500-385-_-Product
OC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500386&cm_re=GTX_950-_-14-500-386-_-Product
And this GTX 950 2GB in EVGA stay in 150us but give you 20us in rebate card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487159&cm_re=GTX_950-_-14-487-159-_-Product
^_^
Last edited by mrdeathjr on 24 November 2015 at 7:30 pm UTC
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LinuxGamesTV Nov 24, 2015
Quoting: XpanderQuoting: ziabiceYou forgot to mention that they fixed glxgears stuttering!
finally... we can all play glxgears multiplayer now
glxgears Multiplayer server: 127.0.0.1:123
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: DamonLinuxPLBuuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA.Erm... No and no.
Support for you card has been moved to the FOSS stack. That is much less dramatic as any of those "they dropped support, full stop" posts make it to be.
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Wow, changing version number on all the files take some time i guess.
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Quoting: PsynoKhi0And with support being moved to the FOSS stack you get even worse performance as Catalyst already offered. Switching to Nvidia is IMHO the only reasonable move.Quoting: DamonLinuxPLBuuu AMD drop support for my HD5850 :/ Now I need change my GPU to NVIDIA.Erm... No and no.
Support for you card has been moved to the FOSS stack. That is much less dramatic as any of those "they dropped support, full stop" posts make it to be.
FWIW, Phoronix has also made some benchmarks and it seems that for certain games the new driver is even slower: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd-crimson-linux&num=1
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Segata Sanshiro Nov 24, 2015
Quoting: XpanderQuoting: ziabiceYou forgot to mention that they fixed glxgears stuttering!
finally... we can all play glxgears multiplayer now
There's a suggestion for the next GOL cast. ;)
1 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism Nov 24, 2015
The Linux Graphics war still boils down to choosing:
( Option 1 ) Practical, Performant, Stable
( Option 2 ) You like to support the underdog, You prefer FOSS drivers by principal in exchange for performance losses.
Seriously AMD, how hard is it to get the right people behind the helm of the Linux Driver & to get them to kickass at their job?
I've always feared AMD's problems start at the top with Management - I might call it "The Steve Ballmer Effect" where the capabilities of underlings are stifled by the bad decisions & bad micro-management of overlings via bad leadership & bad direction.
AMD needs to learn to value Practicality and Functionality and stop chasing the wind, I dont care if my card is 8GB if it can only use 3GB.
( Option 1 ) Practical, Performant, Stable
( Option 2 ) You like to support the underdog, You prefer FOSS drivers by principal in exchange for performance losses.
Seriously AMD, how hard is it to get the right people behind the helm of the Linux Driver & to get them to kickass at their job?
I've always feared AMD's problems start at the top with Management - I might call it "The Steve Ballmer Effect" where the capabilities of underlings are stifled by the bad decisions & bad micro-management of overlings via bad leadership & bad direction.
AMD needs to learn to value Practicality and Functionality and stop chasing the wind, I dont care if my card is 8GB if it can only use 3GB.
2 Likes, Who?
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