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Looks like AMD just open sourced their V-EZ Vulkan wrapper

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Back in March, AMD announced the V-EZ Vulkan wrapper, with an aim to make Vulkan development easier. Now it seems they have open sourced it.

V-EZ is an open source, cross-platform (Windows and Linux) wrapper intended to alleviate the inherent complexity and application responsibility of using the Vulkan API. V-EZ attempts to bridge the gap between traditional graphics APIs and Vulkan by providing similar semantics to Vulkan while lowering the barrier to entry and providing an easier to use API.

When they initially announced V-EZ, they said it would be closed source and they would be working with "professional ISVs who would benefit from acquiring the source code".

I've seen a lot of developers mention how Vulkan really is a much more complex beast, which makes sense since it's supposed to be closer to the hardware than OpenGL with a smaller, leaner driver giving developers more power and control. That's not great for everyone though, so projects like this are still going to be useful. Previously, their GitHub page said "V-EZ is not aimed at game developers.", however they seem to have removed that now too.

AMD did say that the overhead from using the wrapper should be "negligible and measured in the range of microseconds for tens of thousands of API calls".

Find it on GitHub, license can be seen here which looks like the MIT license.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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jarhead_h Aug 24, 2018
Quoting: ThormackMy next GPU will be AMD.



<Torvalds with finger to the other manufacturer>

Currently still running a Phenom II, I am planning a Ryzen 2 2700x build in two phases. Phase 1 will include CPU, mobo, DD4, PSU, 1TB NVME drive. I will be cannibalizing my existing second-choice 1060GTX (I wanted an RX580, thanks crypto-miners) out of the machine I'm using to type this post and drive the Sceptre 32in 1080p 60hz tv it's plugged into. Next Summer begins Phase 2, which will see hopefully an updated version of the LG 43in 4K 43UD79-B(crossing fingers on 120hz, HDR, and Freesync) and hopefully whatever Navi turns out to be. Vega is an under-performer, and I doubt switching it to 7nm is really going to help that enough to justify purchasing it.

NVIDIA's new ray tracing hardware is implemented as a PhysX-like gimmick that pretties up the game without directly affecting gameplay at the cost of killing framerate. It's the first thing every gamer is going to turn off, and it's upping the cost of the cards by $2-300. Plus it's DX12 only right now, and will be coming to Vulkan in the future. Unfortunately, as hostile as NVIDIA is to open source, their cards still work pretty well for Linux.


Last edited by jarhead_h on 24 August 2018 at 10:48 pm UTC
veccher Aug 24, 2018
People say that Vulkan is much "harder" than openGL, but i've learned a little bit of openGL and for me it was kinda messy, lots of global variables, openGL is not exactly easy, so Vulkan should be really hard.
I really would like to learn Vulkan and openCL and help some open source projects, don't know from where to start.
TheRiddick Aug 25, 2018
You could help the VK9 project get their DX9 to Vulkan done. Really only 1 guy working on it and he is past the half way stage.
Fenix2412 Aug 25, 2018
Quoting: jarhead_h
Quoting: ThormackMy next GPU will be AMD.



<Torvalds with finger to the other manufacturer>

Currently still running a Phenom II, I am planning a Ryzen 2 2700x build in two phases. Phase 1 will include CPU, mobo, DD4, PSU, 1TB NVME drive. I will be cannibalizing my existing second-choice 1060GTX (I wanted an RX580, thanks crypto-miners) out of the machine I'm using to type this post and drive the Sceptre 32in 1080p 60hz tv it's plugged into. Next Summer begins Phase 2, which will see hopefully an updated version of the LG 43in 4K 43UD79-B(crossing fingers on 120hz, HDR, and Freesync) and hopefully whatever Navi turns out to be. Vega is an under-performer, and I doubt switching it to 7nm is really going to help that enough to justify purchasing it.

NVIDIA's new ray tracing hardware is implemented as a PhysX-like gimmick that pretties up the game without directly affecting gameplay at the cost of killing framerate. It's the first thing every gamer is going to turn off, and it's upping the cost of the cards by $2-300. Plus it's DX12 only right now, and will be coming to Vulkan in the future. Unfortunately, as hostile as NVIDIA is to open source, their cards still work pretty well for Linux.

RX 580 pricing is still shit for you? I'm living in Poland and the RX 580 is basically back at the price where it was before this whole "crypto explosion"
Thormack Aug 26, 2018
Quoting: jarhead_h
Quoting: ThormackMy next GPU will be AMD.



<Torvalds with finger to the other manufacturer>

... Unfortunately, as hostile as NVIDIA is to open source, their cards still work pretty well for Linux.


Do you have an Optimus system? Intel/Nvidia?
Well, I do....
It does not work fine.
If I leave the discrete card (NVIDIA) always ON, the FAN goes crazy sometimes.
To switch to Intel I need to logout/login or some other weird trick.

Bumblebee is the salvation, but does not support Vulkan.
jarhead_h Aug 26, 2018
Quoting: Fenix2412
Quoting: jarhead_hCurrently still running a Phenom II, I am planning a Ryzen 2 2700x build in two phases. Phase 1 will include CPU, mobo, DD4, PSU, 1TB NVME drive. I will be cannibalizing my existing second-choice 1060GTX (I wanted an RX580, thanks crypto-miners) out of the machine I'm using to type this post and drive the Sceptre 32in 1080p 60hz tv it's plugged into....

RX 580 pricing is still shit for you? I'm living in Poland and the RX 580 is basically back at the price where it was before this whole "crypto explosion"

No, but my Phenom II mobo has AMD onboard graphics so there's really no point in buying another card when I already have a working 1060 6GB. I wasn't even planning on buying the 1060, but a year ago my 660 WindforceOC started crapping out. So I first dug through some reviews and quickly determined the RX580 was the card, and they were all sold out as were the RX470s they replaced. Started looking at 1060s and found an EVGA for $250. A week later it was $300. A few days after that they were gone, too. I figure this card should last me fine as long as I'm still running on a 1080p TV. When I upgrade that to something 4K I will need better. I'm hoping that Navi is really good because I want to switch back to AMD. It's been awhile.


Last edited by jarhead_h on 26 August 2018 at 5:53 am UTC
jarhead_h Aug 27, 2018
Quoting: veccherPeople say that Vulkan is much "harder" than openGL, but i've learned a little bit of openGL and for me it was kinda messy, lots of global variables, openGL is not exactly easy, so Vulkan should be really hard.
I really would like to learn Vulkan and openCL and help some open source projects, don't know from where to start.

Well, I'm going to start with C/C++ and go from there. I think there's a coming demand for Vulkan code monkeys and I could use a raise.
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