Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Two bits of Wine-related news today with both DXVK for Vulkan-based D3D11 and D3D10 and d9vk for Vulkan-based D3D9 coming along.

First up, DXVK has a 1.0.2 bug fix release. It's not a big one but obviously any such bug fix release is going to be extremely useful to certain Linux gamers when it comes to their favourite games. Here's what's includes:

  • Path of Exile: Fixed GPU hang when using 720p and 1440p resolutions (#813, #957)
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Fixed potential hang when changing display modes (PR #984)
  • Work around black screen in Nioh and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Free Edition (PR #987)

Additionally d9vk, which is actually based on DXVK has been progressing quite nicely. There's a post on our forum now dedicated to it, with multiple titles being shown off as running in some form. d9vk doesn't have any formal release just yet but it's a very interesting project to follow. Also nice to see the creator of DXVK help out with it a little too!

If d9vk eventually got pulled into Steam Play/Proton or merged into DXVK itself, when it's further developed, it could be another big win for Linux gamers getting more performance out of Windows games.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Vulkan, Wine
25 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
15 comments

YoRHa-2B Apr 1, 2019
QuoteIf d9vk eventually got pulled into Steam Play/Proton or merged into DXVK itself, when it's further developed, it could be another big win for Linux gamers getting more performance out of Windows games.
To be clear, the plan is to merge it if it matures enough. Joshua definitely knows his stuff and dedicates a lot of time and effort to this project, and I believe it can happen, but keep in mind that the project isn't backed by anyone and if Josh has to pull out of it for whatever reason, there's going to be no one to maintain it in the long run.


Last edited by YoRHa-2B on 1 April 2019 at 7:46 pm UTC
Zappor Apr 1, 2019
Path of Exile has started working pretty well lately! (As soon as you've built up a decent shader cache...)
Xaero_Vincent Apr 1, 2019
With D9VK, DXVK, and VKD3D, essentially every DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 (non Windows Store) game becomes a Vulkan game. It's fun to think about.
BielFPs Apr 1, 2019
I'm curious if D9VK could improve the performance of SWAT 4 with wine in the future :)

Quoting: YoRHa-2BTo be clear, the plan is to merge it if it matures enough. Joshua definitely knows his stuff and dedicates a lot of time and effort to this project, and I believe it can happen, but keep in mind that the project isn't backed by anyone and if Josh has to pull out of it for whatever reason, there's going to be no one to maintain it in the long run.

Hopefully more people will join to help him.
Liam Dawe Apr 1, 2019
Quoting: YoRHa-2B
QuoteIf d9vk eventually got pulled into Steam Play/Proton or merged into DXVK itself, when it's further developed, it could be another big win for Linux gamers getting more performance out of Windows games.
To be clear, the plan is to merge it if it matures enough. Joshua definitely knows his stuff and dedicates a lot of time and effort to this project, and I believe it can happen, but keep in mind that the project isn't backed by anyone and if Josh has to pull out of it for whatever reason, there's going to be no one to maintain it in the long run.
Great! I did chat with Joshua about it previously and he did mention it was a possible plan for it, good to know you would be open to it :)

Great stuff from you both
Avehicle7887 Apr 1, 2019
I've been following the D9VK development regularly, I don't understand a lot of what's being implemented but I can clearly see a lot of work is going into it every day.

As for DXVK I believe Predication is the next big thing, possibly for v1.1?

I've tested PoE with this release, it's only a virtual-desktop simulation on a 1080p monitor but the result is clear. Nice to know I won't encounter issues should I upgrade. Thanks Philip :D




Last edited by Avehicle7887 on 1 April 2019 at 8:22 pm UTC
Brisse Apr 1, 2019
[quote=YoRHa-2B]
QuoteJoshua definitely knows his stuff and dedicates a lot of time and effort to this project, and I believe it can happen, but keep in mind that the project isn't backed by anyone and if Josh has to pull out of it for whatever reason, there's going to be no one to maintain it in the long run.

Do they have a Patreon or something? Is there any way the community could help out other than committing code which a lot of us aren't really qualified to do?
D9VK can benefit CodeWeavers for to improve Crossover... I wonder why they don't hire the guy.
Gazoche Apr 1, 2019
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoD9VK can benefit CodeWeavers for to improve Crossover... I wonder why they don't hire the guy.
It's funny you say that because Joshua (the guy behind D9VK) actually works for CodeWeavers. D9VK is a personal project of his though.


Last edited by Gazoche on 1 April 2019 at 10:47 pm UTC
Quoting: Grabby
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoD9VK can benefit CodeWeavers for to improve Crossover... I wonder why they don't hire the guy.
It's funny you say that because Joshua (the guy behind D9VK) actually works for CodeWeavers. D9VK is a personal project of his though.

I didn't know that... If that is true, I wonder why the project is not officially funded.
YoRHa-2B Apr 1, 2019
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoI didn't know that... If that is true, I wonder why the project is not officially funded.
We have at least half a dozen D3D9 implementations right now. How would you decide on which one to support?

  • wined3d: mature, runs pretty much everything you throw at it, doesn't perform well but most games are playable

  • nine: relatively mature, fast, only works on RadeonSI and Iris at the moment, could be brought to Nvidia via Zink

  • dgvoodoo2: closed source, translates d3d7-9 to D3D11, quite slow, d3d9 part still WIP but already works with a fairly decent number of games
  • DXUP: Abandoned in favour of d9vk, could have been a faster + open alternative to dgvoodoo2

  • D9VK: Starts running some games that don't use fixed-function, performs quite well so far, but still has ways to go before it's actually useful

  • VK9: Not in a terribly useful state right now, runs some old fixed-function stuff but that's basically it



Compare that to the number of D3D11 implementations that were available ~one year ago when Valve started throwing money my way:
  • wined3d: not particularly mature, not particularly fast, a bunch of high-profile games like Witcher 3 did run but were barely playable

  • dxvk: sort of ran one game and a bunch of demos, quite fast already, but still had a long way to go before actually being useful



Or D3D12:
  • vkd3d: The only implementation that exists, runs WoW and a bunch of demos, still not usable for much else, but we're going to have to rely on it once D3D11 dies



D3D9 really just isn't a big issue by comparison. That's not to say that improvements on that front aren't appreciated, but wined3d is - for the most part - just good eough right now.


Last edited by YoRHa-2B on 1 April 2019 at 11:48 pm UTC
lejimster Apr 2, 2019
Also to complicate things further codeweavers have their own implementation of Vulkan backend for wine in development. So many projects all trying to do the same thing, its a shame we can't focus our energy on the best solution.
First of all, is an honour..
Quoting: YoRHa-2B
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoI didn't know that... If that is true, I wonder why the project is not officially funded.
We have at least half a dozen D3D9 implementations right now. How would you decide on which one to support?

Easy: Choosing the "Aspie" one of all the D3D9 implementations...The more efficient in the practical and potential terms... The one that can give users the more FPS and the more graphic quality (that means no glitches) with the lower cpu usage.

Remember that I am talking about Crossover, not PROTON..
Every year I pay Codeweavers for a Crossover licence. So, if there is something more efficient than the classical (and glitched) WINED3D, I want it ASAP!

I suppose that, by the End Of Life of Windows 7 SP1, D9VK will be enough mature for to be the default D3D9 implementation.
TheBard Apr 2, 2019
Quoting: YoRHa-2Bwined3d is - for the most part - just good eough right now.

Wined3d is too slow to be called good enough. With the same hardware I can play Dying Light at 60fps with DXVK (thanks a lot!!) but most DX9 games at arround 20fps with wined3d which is too slow for action games. But with nine I get back the 60fps?. If only nine could be in vanilla.


Last edited by TheBard on 2 April 2019 at 7:33 pm UTC
axredneck Apr 3, 2019
Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl is the only heavy D3D9 game i play today. (Vanilla Stalker SoC isn't heavy but with mods it is). I hope D9VK will make it perform better one day.
p.s. I'm on Nvidia so no Gallium Nine.


Last edited by axredneck on 3 April 2019 at 2:26 pm UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.