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Note: Article updated to clarify what I meant by "newer cards".

Samuel Pitoiset (Valve developer) just put some fresh work into Mesa-git that enables OpenGL 4.3 with nouveau (NVIDIA) for Maxwell and above.

From the git commit:
QuoteAlthough, arb_shader_image_load_store-atomicity will most likely hang your box, I think it's now quite reasonable to enable GL 4.3 on Maxwell/Pascal GPUs. I suspect that test to be wrong because it doesn't even work on the NVIDIA blob.

I have tested a bunch of benchmarks (UE4 demos) and real games like Shadow of Mordor and they all work fine.

Even though this won't be useful for people like me on newer cards (a lot of Maxwell and Pascal don't have proper support yet in Mesa, as other features missing, like for my 980ti it has no re-clocking), it's good to see older generations of NVIDIA cards get better OpenGL support on the open source driver.

This is great, as it's another bit of progression that should make it in time for the next stable version of Mesa. So users of NVIDIA graphics cards that aren't using the proprietary driver should be able to play titles like the mentioned Shadow of Mordor in the next Mesa version. That's if your card has proper support in nouveau of course.

Samuel also managed to squeeze out some extra performance, as noted in this commit:
QuoteThis patch will increase performance on Maxwell GPUs by, at least, x1.5 up to x3.5 for some benchmarks.

Awesome work as always.

Mesa 17, the next stable version is due in February as detailed in the release plan.

Going by that plan, it seems that sadly, the on-disk shader cache will not make it in time for Mesa 17. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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18 comments Subscribe

Zlopez 12 Jan 2017
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I don't know why the NVIDIA doesn't help with open source driver and use they own proprietary driver.
Maokei 12 Jan 2017
I don't know why the NVIDIA doesn't help with open source driver and use they own proprietary driver.

Look at everything else nvidia does pretty much everything is proprietary gsync, drivers, tools, etc It's part of their strategy to not share anything allow nothing to benefit anyone else than nvidia. And lock customers into their ecosystem.


Last edited by Maokei on 12 Jan 2017 at 3:05 pm UTC
tuubi 12 Jan 2017
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Look at everything else nvidia does pretty much everything is proprietary gsync, drivers, tools, etc It's part of their strategy to not share anything allow nothing to benefit anyone else than nvidia. And lock customers into their ecosystem.
This has been pretty much everyone's strategy in the past. Market leaders tend to resist change, even if this ultimately tends to lead to their downfall. Even Nvidia will adapt as soon as they start losing market share. They're all in it for the money. Different strategies, same goal.
imdan12 12 Jan 2017
Does the update will work also on Tesla card like Nvidia 820m?
tuubi 12 Jan 2017
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Does the update will work also on Tesla card like Nvidia 820m?
Isn't the 820m a Fermi chip? Not "Maxwell or above" anyway, so not with OpenGL 4.3 support.
pete910 12 Jan 2017
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Interesting to see pascal on this
Liam Dawe 12 Jan 2017
Interesting to see pascal on this
As I've explained on reddit though, having the OpenGL feature set is one thing, having re-clocking (for performance) and other card features are entirely different things.
pete910 12 Jan 2017
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Interesting to see pascal on this
As I've explained on reddit though, having the OpenGL feature set is one thing, having re-clocking (for performance) and other card features are entirely different things.


Kinda what I was getting at, I mean how much testing could be done on Maxwell/Pascal GPU's

There effectively useless on the oss driver for the most part.
Liam Dawe 12 Jan 2017
Interesting to see pascal on this
As I've explained on reddit though, having the OpenGL feature set is one thing, having re-clocking (for performance) and other card features are entirely different things.
Kinda what I was getting at, I mean how much testing could be done on Maxwell/Pascal GPU's

There effectively useless on the oss driver for the most part.
Well, not really. As soon as the re-clocking comes to bring up performance, they then already have the OpenGL needed for some recent games.
salamanderrake 12 Jan 2017
But is there any 2D/3D acceleration with the nouveau drivers yet?
Liam Dawe 12 Jan 2017
But is there any 2D/3D acceleration with the nouveau drivers yet?
Yes for a number of cards, but not for newer cards as noted. It depends on what card.
tuubi 13 Jan 2017
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My question is why does Valve work on Nouveau when almost everybody uses the blob and there is basically no hope of getting decent performance with Nouveau on recent cards?
Maybe to show IHV's that they're not taking sides, or simply trying to make Linux a more viable base for their gaming OS in any way they can? Or maybe they can't ship the binary drivers with the SteamOS installer for legal reasons, and need basic OpenGL on first startup for their GUI?
Purple Library Guy 13 Jan 2017
My question is why does Valve work on Nouveau when almost everybody uses the blob and there is basically no hope of getting decent performance with Nouveau on recent cards?
Define "no hope". Open source projects can be surprising . . . they toddle along for years on life support, and then some committed, productive developers come along and suddenly they're serious mojo.
imdan12 13 Jan 2017
But I have OpenGL 4.5 installed in my Nouveau driver.


Last edited by imdan12 on 13 Jan 2017 at 8:18 am UTC
imdan12 13 Jan 2017
Does the update will work also on Tesla card like Nvidia 820m?
Isn't the 820m a Fermi chip? Not "Maxwell or above" anyway, so not with OpenGL 4.3 support.
But I have OpenGL 4.5 on my Nouveau driver.
Liam Dawe 13 Jan 2017
My question is why does Valve work on Nouveau when almost everybody uses the blob and there is basically no hope of getting decent performance with Nouveau on recent cards?
Actually, I believe this was sent for review just before he joined Valve.
tuubi 13 Jan 2017
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Does the update will work also on Tesla card like Nvidia 820m?
Isn't the 820m a Fermi chip? Not "Maxwell or above" anyway, so not with OpenGL 4.3 support.
But I have OpenGL 4.5 on my Nouveau driver.
Sure, support for your older chip might very well be better than what is available for Maxwell and Pascal. The point was that these changes should not affect you in any way.


Last edited by tuubi on 13 Jan 2017 at 10:45 am UTC
Purple Library Guy 13 Jan 2017
Define "no hope".
Decent performance for recent cards depends on Nvidia’s good will (signed firmwares), and it is clear they do not want Nouveau to be capable of correct 3D acceleration, or at least they do not care about it.
Ah, I see.
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