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With Intel's brand new dedicated GPU due next year, they've begun talking up their efforts of getting Linux support in early.

On Twitter, their team highlighted their work:

Our journey toward a new visual computing experience is underway, and that includes a commitment to the #OpenSource community. Local memory implementation is the first of many steps toward robust Linux support for our future discrete graphics solutions.

The post links to this set of patches which reads:

In preparation for upcoming devices with device local memory, introduce the concept of different memory regions, and a simple buddy allocator to manage them. At the end of the series are a couple of HAX patches which introduce a fake local memory region for testing purposes. Currently smoke tested on a Skull Canyon device.

Intel have traditionally been pretty great with their Linux support and so this isn't exactly surprising. Even so, it's very pleasing to see them hype this up so we know we're getting first-class support.

It's exciting, we've long needed another horse to enter the race. 2020 is certainly going to be interesting. We've no idea what their target audience will be for it though, hopefully the price will be reasonable.

Could you see yourself buying an Intel discrete GPU?

I'm still rocking my NVIDIA 980ti which, thankfully, still has a good amount of time left. I've been considering an AMD GPU for a while, but it seems waiting another year might be worth it.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Cmdr_Iras Feb 18, 2019
Currently rocking a GTX1070 so Im a few years away from a GPU upgrade, but like yourself Liam I had been leaning towards an AMD card for my next one but if Intel comes up roses with support and performance then Im all for considering an Intel card.

That being said my concern is that Intel are unlikely to be friendly to the wallet, if they follow their pricing model as they do with their CPU's I expect Intels GPU's to be at least as expensive as Nvidia and not a distruptive pricing scheme. Of course they could go agressive on pricing in order to get a foot in the door, time will tell.
Scoopta Feb 18, 2019
I've always had AMD graphics cards...and CPUs for that matter. I'm not sure I'd even consider an Intel GPU unless the performance blew the socks off whatever AMD was offering.
bingus Feb 18, 2019
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I've had the same video card for a while now. There just doesn't seem to be a need to upgrade! I think it's mainly due to consoles, but maybe Vulkan will give it an extra little bit of life too.
Nanobang Feb 18, 2019
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I upgraded my GPU from a GTX 960 to a 1070 this past Xmas, and I, too, gave AMD GPUs a looking over---a very *serious* looking over. Between the unfamiliar terminology and the awareness that I see more graphics issues crop up for AMD than Nvidia cards in the /r/linux_gaming subreddit, I chickened out and went with tried and true Nvidia.

It's cool to hear that Intel's thinking about getting into the game and *very* cool that their doing it their sights set on open source! Maybe Lady Nvidia will feel some pressure towards open source a wee bit more ...


Last edited by Nanobang on 18 February 2019 at 12:46 pm UTC
Creak Feb 18, 2019
I have an AMD CPU and GPU, and right now, if I had to change, I'll still be on the red team. But not blindly, I know AMD GPUs are not as good as Nvidia GPUs, but the fact that AMD deeply supports Linux and is open source make me lean toward them all the time. As for the CPU, maybe Intel CPUs are a bit better, although I'm really not sure about that with the Ryzens and Threadrippers generation from AMD, but the cost of Intel CPUs is prohibitive for me.

Now.. about the Intel GPUs. I'm mainly loyal to open source, seeing how Intel supports Linux and open source as well, I will definitely look seriously at their GPUs (depending on the price of course), but I also hope the next AMD GPU generation will be worth it.


Last edited by Creak on 18 February 2019 at 1:00 pm UTC
tonR Feb 18, 2019
First, I've never using/running any Linux PC with Nvidia cards inside. Almost exclusively AMD/ATi, sometimes Intel HD on my i5 or formerly VIA onboard graphic from my old pc. This is my disclaimer...

Definitely I buy Intel GPU if it's CHEAPER than AMD! For low to mid-end GPU, AMD is king as it always much cheaper (and sometimes better) than Nvidia for almost same specs, except last year when Crypto-craziness..

Also if it's as same price or cheaper than AMD, probably a great news for our *BSD friend too as another great alternative to Nvidia. Historically AMD never play nice on *BSD but I didn't following *BSD news/update since 2016, so I don't know how current situation on Graphic drivers on *BSD.
Linas Feb 18, 2019
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I bet these will not be for gaming, but rather scaled up versions of their integrated GPUs. Something that is good for compute and workstation tasks. Will probably see these mostly on business workstations. Pure speculation, though.

Right now I am very happy with AMD. The drivers keep getting better, so I think we have not seen the full potential of what AMD can do on Linux yet.
Cybolic Feb 18, 2019
If it can match my current GTX 1080 Ti, then having a GPU that's properly supported by open drivers would likely be enough for me to make the switch to Intel. I'm quite looking forward to see what they've got brewing.
Comandante Ñoñardo Feb 18, 2019
The current oligopoly is a very bad thing for the consumers.
The GPU market NEEDS REAL competition...
Shmerl Feb 18, 2019
Intel GPUs with open drivers will surely make Nvidia usage on Linux dip even further. Not sure if it will be enough to push Nvidia to open their driver at last. But even if they don't, Nvidia will be just less used.

Personally, I'm waiting for AMD's new architecture cards to come out, which are supposedly post Navi. But Intel is very welcome too.


Last edited by Shmerl on 18 February 2019 at 5:41 pm UTC
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