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Nvidia has released the beta driver 370.23, the good news for multi-GPU users is that it features initial support for PRIME Synchronization.
Feature highlights for the 370.23 driver:
Now onto the beta stuff
For those that don't know, PRIME is a way of enabling you to offload applications and games from one GPU to another. So, instead of a game using your Intel GPU, it would use your better Nvidia GPU.
From what I understand, VSYNC was broken for people with multi-GPU setups like Optimus. This is set to change as outlined in this Nvidia forum post.
This is fantastic news for laptop users with Optimus. Having a smooth experience with game is quite essential, as screen tearing can be a serious nuisance.
The sad news is this part:
So while they have no plans currently to allow it to work like it does on Windows, being able to have a tear-free experience when you select the Nvidia GPU is still significant a step forward for us.
Having to log-out when you switch GPU is annoying, as I tested on a laptop recently, so I do hope one day Nvidia looks to make it work like it does on Windows. It would make our lives easier for sure. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Feature highlights for the 370.23 driver:
Quote-Added the ability to over- and under-clock certain GeForce GPUs in the GeForce GTX 1000 series and later. For GPUs that allow it, an offset can be applied to clock values in some clock domains of all performance levels. This clock manipulation is done at the user's own risk. See the README documentation of the "CoolBits" X configuration option for more details.
-Fixed a bug that prevented Vulkan applications from presenting from multiple queues to the same X11 swapchain.
-Added the "PixelShiftMode" MetaMode option, enabling support for 4K and 8K pixel shift displays. See the README for details.
Now onto the beta stuff
For those that don't know, PRIME is a way of enabling you to offload applications and games from one GPU to another. So, instead of a game using your Intel GPU, it would use your better Nvidia GPU.
From what I understand, VSYNC was broken for people with multi-GPU setups like Optimus. This is set to change as outlined in this Nvidia forum post.
QuoteUp until recently, the Linux kernel and X server lacked the required functionality to allow the dGPU and iGPU drivers to communicate and synchronize the copy with the scanout. Because of this limitation, there was virtually nothing any one driver could do to provide the necessary synchronization; it required improvements to the greater ecosystem.
Over the past many months, I've been working to implement and upstream the necessary improvements to the X server and iGPU kernel and userspace drivers so that we could leverage them from within our driver. Finally, they have landed (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Xorg-PRIME-Sync-Double-Buffer). Unfortunately, the changes required breaking the binary interface (ABI) between the X server and its drivers, so it may be a while before it propagates to mainstream distros.
This is fantastic news for laptop users with Optimus. Having a smooth experience with game is quite essential, as screen tearing can be a serious nuisance.
The sad news is this part:
Quote"Offload" attempts to mimic more closely the functionality of Optimus on Windows. Under normal operation, the iGPU renders everything, from the desktop to the applications. Specific 3D applications can be rendered on the dGPU, and shared to the iGPU for display. When no applications are being rendered on the dGPU, it may be powered off. NVIDIA has no plans to support PRIME render offload at this time.
So while they have no plans currently to allow it to work like it does on Windows, being able to have a tear-free experience when you select the Nvidia GPU is still significant a step forward for us.
Having to log-out when you switch GPU is annoying, as I tested on a laptop recently, so I do hope one day Nvidia looks to make it work like it does on Windows. It would make our lives easier for sure. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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RussianNeuroMancer Aug 20, 2016
Meanwhile you can offload separate applications and have working V-Sync in red world. Like... for YEARS.
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Quoting: GuestQuoting: Bumadaralso this version works out of the box with kernel 4.7 :)
367.35 worked out of the box with 4.7 for me.
That seems odd as there was a patch for that combo: https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/954279/linux/nvidia-367-35-dkms-build-errors-for-a-4-7-0-kernel/
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I missed this article when it was posted, but I was using bumblebee without issues until I upgraded from Linux Mint 17 KDE to 18 this weekend, and just couldn't get bumblebee to recognize my discrete GPU no matter what I tried. (It's always been a painful experience though, and I've found that the easiest way to upgrade my Nvidia drivers have been to uninstall bumblebee and primus, upgrade Nvidia, and then reinstall bumblebee and primus).
So I installed this driver (or 375.10; I don't remember; I'm at work now) and the nvidia-prime package, and I was kind of blown away by how easy it was to get to work. It's a bummer that there's no render offloading though, as I really enjoyed the convenience of primarily using the integrated card on my laptop and just using primusrun to launch more graphically intensive games. Right now I have to restart my display manager to have the switch take effect, but someone on the Linux Mint IRC channel mentioned that this is a shortcoming of sddm (the default display manager for Plasma 5), and that gdm and lightdm might not have this issue, so I'm thinking I'll give lightdm a try tonight and see if that will improve the experience.
Really hoping render offloading can be officially supported by Nvidia in the near future though, as it would make playing games on Linux laptops much, MUCH more appealing to casual gamers, and I think this is a huge market, even though these gamers might not frequent gaming news sites much.
So I installed this driver (or 375.10; I don't remember; I'm at work now) and the nvidia-prime package, and I was kind of blown away by how easy it was to get to work. It's a bummer that there's no render offloading though, as I really enjoyed the convenience of primarily using the integrated card on my laptop and just using primusrun to launch more graphically intensive games. Right now I have to restart my display manager to have the switch take effect, but someone on the Linux Mint IRC channel mentioned that this is a shortcoming of sddm (the default display manager for Plasma 5), and that gdm and lightdm might not have this issue, so I'm thinking I'll give lightdm a try tonight and see if that will improve the experience.
Really hoping render offloading can be officially supported by Nvidia in the near future though, as it would make playing games on Linux laptops much, MUCH more appealing to casual gamers, and I think this is a huge market, even though these gamers might not frequent gaming news sites much.
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