AMD Makes An Evolutionary Leap In Linux Support

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Sorry if this is already posted.

Link to the article.

The part of the article that excites me most:

AMD is in the process of pushing new high-end features into their Linux driver -- such as Multi-GPU CrossFire support -- and with the ATI Radeon HD 4850 they have even begun showing off Tux, the Linux mascot, on their product packaging and providing Linux drivers on their product CDs

Can't wait to see what else comes from this!

This is really great news for me as I was already searching for a new video card. This seals the deal for me.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Well, it would be nice if they brought their Linux support up to par with nVidia's Linux support. I have an nVidia 7900GS on my notebook and an AMD x1950 Pro 512mb in my desktop both with OpenSuse 11 on them. The 7900gs integrated cleanly, my x1950 has strange slowdowns when the 3d desktop of gnome is enabled (the 7900gs in my laptop does not experience this even with the same 3d settings). Any game that is reported to work on Winehq's application db crashes to desktop whenever it tries to enter 3D on my AMD x1950 Pro (like CS:Source) even with the latest version of WINE. I do not know if this is due to my nForce3 chipset or my AGP x1950 Pro (amd might not care much about AGP cards in Linux). Did this on Ubuntu 8.04 and OpenSuse 11, even with the latest drivers. My next card will most likely be an nVidia card simply because of the superior Linux support. I dislike nVidia (as my previous rants about nForce products indicate), but ATI's Linux drive support leaves me little choice if it is indeed their x1950 AGP drivers at fault. Intel really needs to hurry up with their next generation discrete graphics solution...

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

I agree that it sucks that AMD is only upping their Linux support for their top of the line cards.

 

[Bateluer]

Nvidia's drivers have really degraded in the last few years, particularly in the Vista 64 area. Does SLI work in Linux? If AMD gets Crossfire working well in Linux, it would be quite a feather in their cap.

 

[Cogman]

I don't know if its so much top of the line as it is newer cards. They released a fair amount of details about their older cards in the past I think to say "Look we don't want to take care of these things, so you open source people can do whatever. But we will start supporting new cards"

It takes time to get these things working, and I think thats something AMD just can't afford to invest right now.

 

[Sylvanas]

Repost from this thread

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
Repost from this thread

thanks for staying on top of things repost police :roll:

 

[Foxery]

Bump, because some people don't care enough about the GTX+ to read threads looking for random Linux news.

Viable Linux drivers will gain them some respect and new customers in the long term. This can also help them compete against new CUDA applications if more of the open source community is able to program for GPUs.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Originally posted by: Foxery
Viable Linux drivers will gain them some respect and new customers in the long term.

Yeah, now when I show people Linux, instead of saying "To get your driver, use envy." and have them be scared of messing up their system, I can say "Just use the driver from the CD."

 

[Schadenfroh]

Well, let me know if you guys can enable desktop effects in OpenSuse or Ubuntu without the web browser's speed going to hell (like choppy / laggy scrolling, slow window altering times). If it is just ATI neglecting older cards and it (4850) is super fast with desktop effects enabled (like my Geforce 7900 on my notebook) then that might put me further into the ATI camp.