Since Feral Interactive have fixed up the OpenGL renderer in the Mad Max [Steam] Beta, here are some fresh OpenGL vs Vulkan tests.
I already cleared up the issue before and included some manual testing, see here.
These new tests are re-done using their benchmark feature, which is unique to the Linux version. This should now give a much more accurate look at how OpenGL fares against Vulkan in some heavy areas of the game.
Also, Feral have now made public how they have worked around a Linux performance issue. You might remember my post about tuning your CPU performance governor for Vulkan games, well this is partly where that came from (as well as Serious Sam). Essentially, to prevent the CPU performance being reduced due to less CPU use with Vulkan, Feral are spinning their rendering thread while waiting for the GPU (see here).
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) +6% to +15% when using Vulkan.
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) -20% to +45% when using Vulkan. Looks like there's an odd issue with Vulkan performance there, but I'm not the only one who has seen Vulkan sometimes do a little worse.
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) +3% to +11% when using Vulkan.
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) +1% to +6% when using Vulkan.
Some thoughts: A fair amount of their time during the Beta so far has likely been spent fixing up the regressed OpenGL side and when taking into consideration Vulkan is considered "Beta", it's likely Feral has optimizations left to do with Vulkan.
You might not think much of a 5% increase, but for people on lower-end hardware a 5% increase can mean a world of difference. I've seen a few people on GOL and Reddit say Vulkan has made it go from sluggish to smooth, which is a clear win.
We also have to consider that the OpenGL renderer in the Mad Max beta has also seen some optimizations since the original release. The original release doesn't have the benchmark mode, so we can't test that in the same way along side the beta.
Then there's also the drivers, Vulkan drivers are new and evolving and likely have their own sets of issues to be fixed. Some of which could affect performance. Sure Vulkan is supposed to have smaller drivers, but with so few Vulkan games out no driver has truly been tested.
Be sure to share your latest results in the comments, I'm keen to see what it's like on your systems too.
Finally, Feral are keen for feedback, email them direct here: [email protected] Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I already cleared up the issue before and included some manual testing, see here.
These new tests are re-done using their benchmark feature, which is unique to the Linux version. This should now give a much more accurate look at how OpenGL fares against Vulkan in some heavy areas of the game.
Also, Feral have now made public how they have worked around a Linux performance issue. You might remember my post about tuning your CPU performance governor for Vulkan games, well this is partly where that came from (as well as Serious Sam). Essentially, to prevent the CPU performance being reduced due to less CPU use with Vulkan, Feral are spinning their rendering thread while waiting for the GPU (see here).
Benchmarks
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) +6% to +15% when using Vulkan.
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) -20% to +45% when using Vulkan. Looks like there's an odd issue with Vulkan performance there, but I'm not the only one who has seen Vulkan sometimes do a little worse.
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) +3% to +11% when using Vulkan.
Here we have a performance difference of between (approx) +1% to +6% when using Vulkan.
Some thoughts: A fair amount of their time during the Beta so far has likely been spent fixing up the regressed OpenGL side and when taking into consideration Vulkan is considered "Beta", it's likely Feral has optimizations left to do with Vulkan.
You might not think much of a 5% increase, but for people on lower-end hardware a 5% increase can mean a world of difference. I've seen a few people on GOL and Reddit say Vulkan has made it go from sluggish to smooth, which is a clear win.
We also have to consider that the OpenGL renderer in the Mad Max beta has also seen some optimizations since the original release. The original release doesn't have the benchmark mode, so we can't test that in the same way along side the beta.
Then there's also the drivers, Vulkan drivers are new and evolving and likely have their own sets of issues to be fixed. Some of which could affect performance. Sure Vulkan is supposed to have smaller drivers, but with so few Vulkan games out no driver has truly been tested.
Be sure to share your latest results in the comments, I'm keen to see what it's like on your systems too.
Finally, Feral are keen for feedback, email them direct here: [email protected] Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
edddeduck_feral Apr 5, 2017
Quoting: EhvisQuoting: OlliCI was wondering why there was still one core with 100% on Vulkan. That explains it.
Probably because Mad Max in itself is not a game well optimised for using all cores. Vulkan can reduce the port overhead, it cannot make a game better.
OlliC was talking about the workaround we had to add to the game to avoid issues with the governor on Linux when using Vulkan. Liam mentioned it in the article. We spin the main thread when waiting on the GPU to avoid the governor power saving and causing stalls and pulse/stutters. This is similar to the issue that Serious Sam has.
Mad Max is multithreaded as an engine and the Linux version has a similar thread behaviour to the other platforms as it uses the same base engine code.
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Quoting: edddeduck_feralOlliC was talking about the workaround we had to add to the game to avoid issues with the governor on Linux when using Vulkan.
Ah, is that it. It is a bit weird that Ubuntu defaults to powersave on desktops. I should go write a bug report though. ;)
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Does Ryzen 7 is a good CPU with Vulkan? Because he have 16 threads. With vulkan it's seems pretty powerful no? Like better than OpenGL (or DX on windows)
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Quoting: edddeduck_feralOlliC was talking about the workaround we had to add to the game to avoid issues with the governor on Linux when using Vulkan. Liam mentioned it in the article. We spin the main thread when waiting on the GPU to avoid the governor power saving and causing stalls and pulse/stutters. This is similar to the issue that Serious Sam has.
If I may be curious: Are you in contact with other developers like Croteam?
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psycho_driver Apr 6, 2017
Quoting: edddeduck_feralQuoting: psycho_driverI really hope this work is back-ported to Shadow of Mordor since it uses roughly the same engine.
The engines are completely unrelated custom engines written by two seperate developers. They are not as related as XCOM and XCOM 2 for example.
So you're saying there's a chance . . . :D
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Still impressive. Good job, Feral!
Now I'd like to see DX:MD with a Vulkan renderer :D I've read somewhere that MD is quite CPU intensive, maybe there'll be some benefit¹.
________
¹: Yeah, I know that's probably not going to happen. But I can dream, can't I?
Last edited by crt0mega on 7 April 2017 at 7:43 am UTC
Now I'd like to see DX:MD with a Vulkan renderer :D I've read somewhere that MD is quite CPU intensive, maybe there'll be some benefit¹.
________
¹: Yeah, I know that's probably not going to happen. But I can dream, can't I?
Last edited by crt0mega on 7 April 2017 at 7:43 am UTC
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