AMD GNU/Linux drivers -- Am I missing something?

They make noise, too.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
andymcca
Posts: 404
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:19 am
Location: Boston, MA, USA

AMD GNU/Linux drivers -- Am I missing something?

Post by andymcca » Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:49 am

Sorry if this has been re-hashed in the recent past. I tried a search but didn't find much SPCR input on the topic :D

TLDR: Why are GNU/Linux framerates 1/3 the Windows framerates on my A4-3300M (AMD Llano fusion) laptop? Should I not be using the 11.8 catalyst binary blob?

Background: I've long stuck with nVidia cards for my GNU/Linux builds, as I've had excellent driver experiences (better FPS than Windows XP with WINE in certain games, eg Source engine). I've heard that the ATI/AMD drivers have been rapidly improving in recent years, and that the open source ATI offering is now superior to the nVidia open source drivers.

What I am doing: I recently purchased an HP laptop based on the AMD A4-3300M Llano chip. It was $400 (microcenter back-to-school sale with $50 mail rebate), and runs all of my games in Windows with alacrity.
What I am concerned with at the moment is maximum GNU/Linux performance, and therefore I think (?) the binary blobs are the way to go. Phoronix seemed like they had some good results, so I was surprised to find that framerates with WINE were unbearable, whereas the Windows framerates were acceptable.

Do you think this is just the usual waiting game for decent driver support? Does anyone have an old ATI/AMD card and a Windows/WINE comparison? Should I expect my drivers to stabilize to near-Windows performance purely through tweaks/optimizations, or is this a widespread problem with the ATI/AMD driver blob which may be around for a while?

Thanks for any insights!

atmartens
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:52 pm
Location: Baltimore, USA

Re: AMD GNU/Linux drivers -- Am I missing something?

Post by atmartens » Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:46 am

Phoronix forums will get you better answers. My impression is that AMD has been accelerating their Linux efforts, but that ATI did such a bad job that it's taking them a while to catch up.

SpirionX
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:04 am

Re: AMD GNU/Linux drivers -- Am I missing something?

Post by SpirionX » Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:52 pm

I find Phoronix can be a bit hit and miss for help and often ends up in a bit of a bun fight between season forum posters who have differing views. In terms of updating and finding the best device drivers for Linux based machines (Ubuntu) the repositories have improved no-end and are kept up to date.

I only wish that Windows had a better way of safe-guarding against poorly coded drivers. Edit: I found this website, which seems to have a decent tool in updating Windows based drivers.

Post Reply