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OpenGL multithreading in Mesa is ready for wider testing

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A Mesa developer wrote into the public Mesa-dev mailing list to ask for testers of OpenGL multithreading in Mesa so that they can grow the whitelist of games that will use it.

The OpenGL multithreading can actually be used by all Mesa drivers, not just AMD. So anyone using an up to date version of Mesa-git should be able to get in on the testing. They went with a whitelist since it can actually hurt performance of some games. Games that are limited by CPU performance are the ones that will benefit from the OpenGL multithreading.

The mesa developer gave an example of some games they found to benefit already:
QuoteAlien Isolation: +60% (it varies depending on the location, increased since
Grigori's commits)
Borderlands 2: +50% (it varies depending on the location)
BioShock Infinite: +76% (benchmark)
Civilization 6: +20% (benchmark)


They also specifically asked people to test a few like Civilization 5, which already has patch to enable it as someone has already tested it!

You can find the full mailing list entry here, with instructions on how to proceed.

Update: Thanks to GOL user "ripper" we have a Wiki page to contribute findings: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/wiki/Performance_impact_of_Mesa_glthread Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Drivers, Mesa, OpenGL
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TheRiddick Jul 10, 2017
With my FuryX and Warthunder and mesa17.2dev glthread causes the game to crash on launch, however there are people with other cards reporting it works. I will need to check again since last time I tried was a month ago, unlikely much has changed. Might be specific to AMDGPU, perhaps other people were using radeonsi which would explain things.
ziabice Jul 10, 2017
I haven't tested already (I'm not on MESA git), but can someone try the older Unity3d titles with this patchset? The first game that comes to mind is "The Last Tinker: City of Colors", which performed very poor and was for me completely unplayable.

EDIT: fixed some typos


Last edited by ziabice on 10 July 2017 at 8:52 am UTC
somebody1121 Jul 10, 2017
Quoting: ziabiceI haven't tested already (I'm not on MESA git), but can someone try the older Unity3d titles with this patchset? The first game that comes to mind is "The Last Tinker: City of Colors", which performed very poor and was for me completely unplayable.

EDIT: fixed some typos

You don't need mesa-git to try this, is already on the last stable version but i don't know if there are new performance patches.
Liam Dawe Jul 10, 2017
Quoting: somebody1121
Quoting: ziabiceI haven't tested already (I'm not on MESA git), but can someone try the older Unity3d titles with this patchset? The first game that comes to mind is "The Last Tinker: City of Colors", which performed very poor and was for me completely unplayable.

EDIT: fixed some typos

You don't need mesa-git to try this, is already on the last stable version but i don't know if there are new performance patches.
Since the developer didn't say it in their post to the mailing list, I looked around and it seems you do, to quote them:
QuoteYou need Mesa master. Older glthread performs badly.
ripper Jul 10, 2017
I created a wiki page for it, if somebody wants to help out:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/wiki/Performance_impact_of_Mesa_glthread

@liamdawe, maybe it can be mentioned in the article?
Pecisk Jul 10, 2017
I have to say this is very exciting time to be Linux gamer. Will have to do some Nouveau tests with power settings and this patch.
Liam Dawe Jul 10, 2017
Quoting: ripperI created a wiki page for it, if somebody wants to help out:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/wiki/Performance_impact_of_Mesa_glthread

@liamdawe, maybe it can be mentioned in the article?
Done.
SirBubbles Jul 10, 2017
I can't install most of these packages without removing a whole lot of vital stuff. Anyone else having luck on ubuntu 16.10?
I'm using NVIDIA, I realise this screws up my chances of successfully using this mesa ppa. Only just caught onto that. Sorry.


Last edited by SirBubbles on 10 July 2017 at 1:21 pm UTC
Shmerl Jul 10, 2017
Quoting: SirBubblesI can't install most of these packages without removing a whole lot of vital stuff. Anyone else having luck on ubuntu 16.10?
I'm using NVIDIA, I realise this screws up my chances of successfully using this mesa ppa. Only just caught onto that. Sorry.

There is no point for you to use Mesa then, since Nouveau lacks reclocking and can't be used with high performance. If you want to test Mesa, the best thing is to get AMD GPU.
Incandescent Jul 11, 2017
Quoting: SirBubblesI can't install most of these packages without removing a whole lot of vital stuff. Anyone else having luck on ubuntu 16.10?
I'm using NVIDIA, I realise this screws up my chances of successfully using this mesa ppa. Only just caught onto that. Sorry.

As Shmerl said, Mesa is really only useful for AMD and Intel GPU's.

Also, just in case you aren't aware, Canonical will be ending their support for Ubuntu 16.10 this month. So be sure to upgrade to a newer version so you'll be able to continue to receive security updates. :)
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