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Intel's new discrete GPU will have a focus on Linux gaming

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Not exactly surprising, Intel have stated that for their new discrete GPU that Linux gaming will have a focus for them.

After having a chat with Intel, HotHardware mentioned this:

We should also mention that Ari underscored that Linux gaming will be a focus for Intel as well.

It's not really surprising, given Intel do have a history of supporting Linux and that goes back quite some years. According to the dedicated fellow over at Phoronix, they're also working on a new GPU driver too. This new driver, might perhaps be work towards supporting their new dedicated GPU.

I've been personally debating on getting an AMD GPU for my next upgrade, but considering how long Intel has supported their open source drivers on Linux I'm pretty happy to wait and see how Intel's new GPU turns out first.

Additionally, I do hope Intel's new GPU will see some sort of success. We've been trapped for too long with mainly AMD and NVIDIA on the desktop. They could both do with some more competition. Their new GPU isn't due until some time in 2020, so we do still have a while to wait.

Hat tip to Nod.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Hardware, Intel
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Whitewolfe80 Dec 3, 2018
Quoting: svartalf
Quoting: Whitewolfe80MMM makes sense from intel point of view they are never going to take nvidia place from windows desktop gaming but on linux its much easier task especially if they hit the ground with as good or better performance in gaming.

Oh, it most certainly does. But the thing is...they claimed this once before.

True promises in interviews are easy time will tell
Whitewolfe80 Dec 3, 2018
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: iiari
Quoting: pete910
QuoteI'm pretty happy to wait and see how Intel's new GPU turns out first.

You're going to be waiting a while :P

Just go get a AMD card!
2020 is indeed far away in computer years...

However, and this almost certainly isn't the place for this, I don't see the point of an AMD card. I'm thinking of getting a new desktop and it appears on Linux even the fastest AMD card is slower than the Nvidia 1070 I've been running the past two years without issue. Except if you're very devoted to the idea of FOSS for drivers, and if you're not cost retrained, why go AMD? Again, taking the FOSS vs non-FOSS out of the equation... Honestly wondering.
Well, one thing to consider is the Wayland issue. Yeah, I know, Wayland is taking forever to dominate, but it is getting used more and more and adoption of this sort of thing tends to accelerate after a certain point, so if we're talking time horizons like 2020 . . .
My understanding of just what the problem is is fuzzy, but I hear Nvidia don't play well with Wayland.

I know wayland has progressed by still the best way to play games on linux with with xorg yes i know its old as dirt but it works. Wayland needs about another 3 to 5 years of development to reduce its impact and to intergrate better into steam etc. Just my opinion.
lejimster Dec 3, 2018
While it would be nice to have another player in the discrete GPU market. I really want AMD to make a big leap forward like they've managed on the desktop first. I'd hate to see Intel come along and trounce AMD and Nvidia and then do the same with CPUs. They've hired the architect behind Zen and AMDs GPU guru, so its not out of the realm they could do really really well.
anth Dec 4, 2018
Quoting: GuestMy only concern is that Intel is now going to have to go up against nvidia & amd, and those two have quite the portfolio of patents between them for anything high performance in video cards.

The Patent Cross Licence between AMD and Intel is available on the SEC website. Looks to me like it includes GPUs (the "Processor" definition includes "graphics coprocessor"). Maybe the part of the definition of "AMD Processor" which says "or any AMD Subsidiary (provided such purchased or acquired design was not previously generally publicly available)" excludes things from ATI but as that acquisition was in 2006 and the first GCN cards came out in 2012 there should still be quite a bit that is covered. Some parts of the agreement are omitted from that and filed separately with the SEC to be kept confidential so perhaps something there excludes GPUs.
etonbears Dec 4, 2018
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: iiari
Quoting: pete910
QuoteI'm pretty happy to wait and see how Intel's new GPU turns out first.

You're going to be waiting a while :P

Just go get a AMD card!
2020 is indeed far away in computer years...

However, and this almost certainly isn't the place for this, I don't see the point of an AMD card. I'm thinking of getting a new desktop and it appears on Linux even the fastest AMD card is slower than the Nvidia 1070 I've been running the past two years without issue. Except if you're very devoted to the idea of FOSS for drivers, and if you're not cost retrained, why go AMD? Again, taking the FOSS vs non-FOSS out of the equation... Honestly wondering.
Well, one thing to consider is the Wayland issue. Yeah, I know, Wayland is taking forever to dominate, but it is getting used more and more and adoption of this sort of thing tends to accelerate after a certain point, so if we're talking time horizons like 2020 . . .
My understanding of just what the problem is is fuzzy, but I hear Nvidia don't play well with Wayland.

Wayland use a MESA API to allocate memory, NVIDIA want them to add EGLStreams as well.

Neither want to do what the other asks. *shrug*.

I assume the open source driver, Nouveau, does work with Wayland, but then you lose a lot of the performance advantage from buying NVIDIA in the first place.
Brisse Dec 4, 2018
Quoting: etonbearsI assume the open source driver, Nouveau, does work with Wayland, but then you lose a lot of the performance advantage from buying NVIDIA in the first place.

Can confirm. I'm actually running Arch with GNOME on Wayland using Nouveau on an old laptop of mine. The proprietary driver has been problematic on that machine.
Brisse Dec 4, 2018
Quoting: Whitewolfe80I know wayland has progressed by still the best way to play games on linux with with xorg yes i know its old as dirt but it works. Wayland needs about another 3 to 5 years of development to reduce its impact and to intergrate better into steam etc. Just my opinion.

x.org is still preferable but Wayland is progressing and eventually even old games running through xwayland will probably run just as well on (x)Wayland as on native x.org. This recent merge request is a great step in the right direction for GNOME on Wayland but currently it doesn't help much in games because xwayland applications still seem to be stuck at 60fps but it's something that's being worked on.
etonbears Dec 6, 2018
Quoting: Brisse
Quoting: Whitewolfe80I know wayland has progressed by still the best way to play games on linux with with xorg yes i know its old as dirt but it works. Wayland needs about another 3 to 5 years of development to reduce its impact and to intergrate better into steam etc. Just my opinion.

x.org is still preferable but Wayland is progressing and eventually even old games running through xwayland will probably run just as well on (x)Wayland as on native x.org. This recent merge request is a great step in the right direction for GNOME on Wayland but currently it doesn't help much in games because xwayland applications still seem to be stuck at 60fps but it's something that's being worked on.

Yes, once XWayland is in a good state, the issue between the project team and NVidia probably will become more important, unless the Nouveau team can get close in performance. I am led to believe ( no proof, of course) that some of the NVidia performance advantage is due to recognising the executable and adapting the driver code paths to suit it, which will be difficult to match with Nouveau, especially without full documentation.

Do you have any idea how big the performance gap is for your setup? (assuming you are prepared to use the proprietary driver for testing)
Brisse Dec 6, 2018
Quoting: etonbearsDo you have any idea how big the performance gap is for your setup? (assuming you are prepared to use the proprietary driver for testing)

I have no idea. I don't use the laptop for gaming and it's too old to run games anyway. I'm happy as long as it browses the web and plays video, which it does fine with Nouveau. I don't think theres too much performance disparity on old hardware though. The main problem for Nouveau is lack of re-clocking on modern hardware due to Nvidia's refusal to release firmware and documentation to Nouveau developers.
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