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NVIDIA have released a small and sweet update to their developer focused Vulkan Beta driver series with 455.46.04 out now for Linux.

Here's the changelog:

  • New:
  • Fixes:
    • Fixed a crash from vkCreateGraphicsPipelines when certain blend operations were used with scalar outputs from the fragment shader
    • Fixed the X driver's composition pipeline (used, e.g., for X desktop rotation, "ForceCompositionPipeline", and some OpenGL Swap Group configurations) to correctly preserve color precision in depth 30 [Linux]

You can find the NVIDIA Vulkan Beta Driver here

Reminder: This special Vulkan beta driver is where all the shiny new stuff goes in before making its way into the stable release for everyone. Really, it's mostly aimed at developers and serious enthusiasts. Unless you need what's in them, it's generally best to use the mainline drivers (either stable or beta).


Just recently, NVIDIA actually changed how they describe all their driver releases too which should make things a bit less confusing. Previously you had this Vulkan developer beta, then their mainline drivers had a "long lived" series and then a "short lived" series. The difference of which NVIDIA explained before as:

Any given release branch is either long-lived or short-lived. The difference is in how long the branch is maintained and how many releases are made from each branch. A short-lived branch typically has only one or two (non-beta) releases, while long-lived branches will have several.
[…]
When we make changes to the driver, we evaluate the oldest branch the change needs to go into. New features go into whatever the latest branch is, while bug fixes go into the older branches and are integrated through the newer branches. So using a short-lived branch doesn’t mean that you miss out on fixes, it just means that you also get the latest features.

They've now moved to calling the different branches as "Production Branch" and "New Feature Branch" (shown here), so the meaning on each is at least a lot more clear now. The latest Production Branch level driver is at 450.80.02 from September 30 and then the New Feature Branch at 455.45.01 from November 17.

On top of that, there's also the very latest on their mainline drivers with the Beta release 460.27.04 from December 15.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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6 comments

Beamboom Dec 17, 2020
C'mon Nvidia, there's only one extension we're waiting on nowadays.
Egonaut Dec 17, 2020
Quoting: BeamboomC'mon Nvidia, there's only one extension we're waiting on nowadays.
That extension which fix the crashes in CP2077 does that just by accident. Maybe the extension wouldn't even help on Nvidia in the same way, the actual cause for the crashes is a bug in the game itself.
DoctorJunglist Dec 17, 2020
Quoting: Egonaut
Quoting: BeamboomC'mon Nvidia, there's only one extension we're waiting on nowadays.
That extension which fix the crashes in CP2077 does that just by accident. Maybe the extension wouldn't even help on Nvidia in the same way, the actual cause for the crashes is a bug in the game itself.
All this means, is that the extension was originally created to serve some different purpose, and wasn't created specifically with Cyberpunk 2077 in mind.

It does however fix the crashes [in Cyberpunk 2077] with AMD cards, and there's no reason to assume it wouldn't fix them on Nvidia.

Just come on, Nvidia, give us the extension already.

The crashes on Nvidia are really bothersome.


Last edited by DoctorJunglist on 17 December 2020 at 12:12 pm UTC
Beamboom Dec 17, 2020
Quoting: DoctorJunglistIt does however fix the crashes [in Cyberpunk 2077] with AMD cards, and there's no reason to assume it wouldn't fix them on Nvidia.

I thought this extension was more important than just preventing some crashes, but that it would improve both performance and visual glitches/errors?

Or was that another extension I am thinking of now that is missing in the Nivida drivers as well, related to the Vulkan API?
DoctorJunglist Dec 17, 2020
Quoting: BeamboomI thought this extension was more important than just preventing some crashes, but that it would improve both performance and visual glitches/errors?

Or was that another extension I am thinking of now that is missing in the Nivida drivers as well, related to the Vulkan API?
I think it's the same extension.

Cyberpunk 2077 does some stuff that breaks DX12 api, and this extension helps remedy some of the effects of that (which are performance problems and crashes).


Last edited by DoctorJunglist on 17 December 2020 at 12:42 pm UTC
Beamboom Dec 17, 2020
Quoting: DoctorJunglistCyberpunk 2077 does some stuff that breaks DX12 api, and this extension helps remedy some of the effects of that (which are performance problems and crashes).

Ah, excellent. Then this is the one we want :)
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