AMD VEGA confirmed for 2017 H1

[Panos]

Based in London too, nice! Honestly I would happily move my gaming machine from Windows to Linux if the support was there, but obviously that's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. MS have repeatedly demonstrated that they are at best indifferent and worst actively hostile to PC gaming, so being free of Windows would be a great step forward and save everyone a bunch of license fees too.

For a more secure, less privacy intrusive and better looking desktop (depending your own preference) also

 

[N19h7m4r3]

Based in London too, nice! Honestly I would happily move my gaming machine from Windows to Linux if the support was there, but obviously that's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. MS have repeatedly demonstrated that they are at best indifferent and worst actively hostile to PC gaming, so being free of Windows would be a great step forward and save everyone a bunch of license fees too.

Sadly until Vulkan is properly adopted as the API of choice I doubt we'll ever see a mass migration from Windows.
Either Vulkan takes over, or ARM or some new player kicks x86 off it's high horse.

 

[AlamoX]

For a more secure, less privacy intrusive and better looking desktop (depending your own preference) also

maybe not more secure, the holes will grow as much as the install base, hackers migrate to wherever the mass goes.

 

[Apache14]

I am actually surprised anyone uses Linux for gaming.

I dual boot windows and Arch Linux. I do some minor gaming on Linux when I cant be bothered to reboot however most gaming is on Window, But all of my work is on Linux

This does mean for me good open source Linux graphics drivers are a requirement (that totally rules out Maxwell and Pascal at the moment)

The sad thing is AMD removed a working driver from a major OS release meaning some cards ceased working altogether (like win10 vs win8 issues maybe). This driver they are now releasing a year later is late not early really but apparently they wanted to do it all at once, maybe its a Vulkan thing I keep thinking that'll be a positive for the industry developing across multiple platforms. Nvidia is far ahead the easiest card to use on Linux, due to its use by Valve on their linux based machine

Yes because having to use nVidia proprietary drivers to get proper re-clocking working is exactly the definition of good Linux driver support

Can we all take a moment here to appreciate the fact that AMD have a working Linux driver for a card BEFORE it's launch, /sniff our boys all grown up.

AMD have been really on the ball with open source drivers for a good while now

 

[Rroff]

maybe not more secure, the holes will grows as much as the install base, hackers migrate to wherever the mass goes.

Linux is certainly not without its potential security exploits however it has both been written better from ground up so that admin privileges actually count for something - most malware would have a much harder time getting elevated privileges than Windows where a good amount of malware goes straight through unimpeded by admin rights/UAC - but also a lot of the code has been scrutinised by many different people due to the nature of open source, etc. that said there have been a couple of headline glaring security issues that somehow went overlooked for years until they were discovered.

 

[silversurfer]

Every steam machine is linux, the valve part is only a front end same as we use on windows. Whats really underneath is just plain linux so being surprised any games work on linux would upset poor Gaben. All the valve titles work on linux, you have a license for both if you own these and maybe others

having to use nVidia proprietary drivers

Thats how nvidia does things, I hope AMD wins with vulkan because thats going to competitively take the whole industry in a new direction including platforms. As always it could be a failed dream but I think they mean to try this time and I know more then a few devs want to expand beyond DX and the current locked in system

Either Vulkan takes over, or ARM or some new player kicks x86 off it's high horse.

ARM did already win on mobile, its more efficient. Intel suffered a knock back from having no presence there for a few years. The industry is very hyped on VR, Im not sure that has a chance of ever being a majority able to influence every other platform

 

[D.P.]

Its hilarious when people complain that they have to use proprietary closed source Nvidia drivers, while they are happy to use proprietary closed sourced AMD/Nvidia firmware on the cards, closed source firmware on the motherboard, hard drive, monitor, mouse, bluray, etc. And then want to play proprietary closed source computer games on proprietary closed source hardware.

 

[Apache14]

Its hilarious when people complain that they have to use proprietary closed source Nvidia drivers, while they are happy to use proprietary closed sourced AMD/Nvidia firmware on the cards, closed source firmware on the motherboard, hard drive, monitor, mouse, bluray, etc. And then want to play proprietary closed source computer games on proprietary closed source hardware.

There are multiple issues with running closed source drivers on Linux systems that are up to date, one of them is Xorg ABI breakages. Also yes, most devices use closed source firmware but that doesn't mean that open source drivers are less useful than closed source ones.

AMD have a good closed source driver and good open source support.

nVidia has a slightly better closed driver with poor open source support.

Id rather run AMD on Linux and know I'll have an open source version to fall back on.

 

[pete910]

Its hilarious when people complain that they have to use proprietary closed source Nvidia drivers, while they are happy to use proprietary closed sourced AMD/Nvidia firmware on the cards, closed source firmware on the motherboard, hard drive, monitor, mouse, bluray, etc. And then want to play proprietary closed source computer games on proprietary closed source hardware.

Here we go with the "but the firmware" as a way to counter the lack of NV oss driver

 

[Rroff]

Its hilarious when people complain that they have to use proprietary closed source Nvidia drivers, while they are happy to use proprietary closed sourced AMD/Nvidia firmware on the cards, closed source firmware on the motherboard, hard drive, monitor, mouse, bluray, etc. And then want to play proprietary closed source computer games on proprietary closed source hardware.

Afraid I have little time for people who have a hissy fit about lack of open source GPU drivers, as much as it sucks, there is a ton of trade secrets, IP and so on involved it is just the nature of the beast.

 

[Apache14]

Afraid I have little time for people who have a hissy fit about lack of open source GPU drivers, as much as it sucks, there is a ton of trade secrets, IP and so on involved it is just the nature of the beast.

No hissy fits here, I just use AMD graphics :/

 

[Rroff]

No hissy fits here, I just use AMD graphics :/

There was some guy (not on here) who totally lost his head about it - absolute meltdown lol and some others in the open source community were pretty bad - unfortunately as much as it sucks there are some perfectly valid business reasons for it.

 

[Apache14]

There was some guy (not on here) who totally lost his head about it - absolute meltdown lol and some others in the open source community were pretty bad - unfortunately as much as it sucks there are some perfectly valid business reasons for it.

Ohh I agree that there are valid reasons to protect IP, no matter how annoying that is for an open source fan. However Iv seen NVIDIA take this to crazy levels (mainly on Android)

For anyone who values the availability of an open source graphics driver. They should be using AMD or Intel graphic cards / IGP

 

[Griffildur]

Ohh I agree that there are valid reasons to protect IP, no matter how annoying that is for an open source fan. However Iv seen NVIDIA take this to crazy levels (mainly on Android)

For anyone who values the availability of an open source graphics driver. They should be using AMD or Intel graphic cards / IGP

Maybe some people care about a graphics driver being open source or not. I couldn't care less, all I care about is performance. As for the Windows vs Linux argument, that one has a clear winner, all my work and gaming are on Windows so yeah, don't care about Linux in the slightest.

 

[Rroff]

With the direction Windows 10 is going personally I do wish Linux was a more viable alternative - sadly a lot of what I do simply has no realistic option when it comes to Linux some has severe compromises at best.

 

[FoxEye]

Linux will never be a mainstream alternative to Windows, because of the nature of the beast. With nobody in absolute control, and apparently very few people interested in the end-user experience, Linux will always be that "other" OS most people have never even heard of, let alone used. Heck, even here most of us will only have heard of it, rather than used it.

 

[Rroff]

Linux will never be a mainstream alternative to Windows, because of the nature of the beast. With nobody in absolute control, and apparently very few people interested in the end-user experience, Linux will always be that "other" OS most people have never even heard of, let alone used. Heck, even here most of us will only have heard of it, rather than used it.

If you mean on PC technically Android is built on top of Linux and even Apple's stuff is built off *nix IIRC.

 

[TNA]

I have tried it multiple times over the last decade or two. Always end up going back to windows.

Anyway. Back to to Vega.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Yeah, no interest in the 580, sounds like it will be 10% improvement or something like that, basically making it a 390X. Then they will likely want £200-250 for it meaning not much has changed in that segment for price for performance in years. I hope I am wrong however, but doubt it.

I can't see an extra 74MHz making one jot of a difference

 

[D.P.]

Linux will never be a mainstream alternative to Windows, because of the nature of the beast. With nobody in absolute control, and apparently very few people interested in the end-user experience, Linux will always be that "other" OS most people have never even heard of, let alone used. Heck, even here most of us will only have heard of it, rather than used it.

Spoken like a true ignorant.