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SteamOS beta update brings in a new Nvidia driver with Vulkan support

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SteamOS Brewmaster update 2.63 has been pushed to brewmaster_beta, if you are opted into the beta on SteamOS you will get an updated Nvidia driver featuring Vulkan support.

Valve has been on the 352 driver series for Nvidia for quite some time, so it's nice to see a more up to date driver being used.

Good to see Valve get in on this early, although there's nothing we can really do with it right now. At least when The Talos Principle brings out their Linux beta version featuring Vulkan in a few days SteamOS users can join in on the fun.

Remember though folks, the Nvidia driver with Vulkan isn't yet stable.

On top of that it features the usual security updates.

See the full changelog of SteamOS 2.63 here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Beta, NVIDIA, Steam
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13 comments
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drjoms Feb 18, 2016
i am on Gentoo, so those drivers are not installed by default.
Linas Feb 19, 2016
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I am stuck with 352 right now, because I could not get 355 to work with primus. Although the nice thing about hybrid graphics is that I don't end up with a broken system when that happens. :)
D34VA_ Feb 19, 2016
Quoting: LinasI am stuck with 352 right now, because I could not get 355 to work with primus. Although the nice thing about hybrid graphics is that I don't end up with a broken system when that happens. :)

I keep backups of the last working driver and have SSH enabled. This way, if a driver doesn't work, or is broken for any reason on my system, a phone or tablet can be used to reinstall the last working driver and/or generate a new xorg.conf.
mao_dze_dun Feb 19, 2016
No need to hurry. I checked the Windows benchmarks yesterday - seems for now Talos performs worse with Vulkan, so there is hardly a rush for people to use the latest driver.
BabaoWhisky Feb 19, 2016
Quoting: maodzedunNo need to hurry. I checked the Windows benchmarks yesterday - seems for now Talos performs worse with Vulkan, so there is hardly a rush for people to use the latest driver.

1- Vulkan has 3 days ago
2- Croteam has ported their engine to Vulkan in 3 months. They said too that the portage is not "completly" good
3- Wait before to say that Vulkan is a big shit
Liam Dawe Feb 19, 2016
Quoting: maodzedunNo need to hurry. I checked the Windows benchmarks yesterday - seems for now Talos performs worse with Vulkan, so there is hardly a rush for people to use the latest driver.

Worse than DX11 as Vulkan in Talos isn't using multithreading yet, but Vulkan in Talos already beats OpenGL, so actually it would be nice to have it.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 19 February 2016 at 8:07 am UTC
wojtek88 Feb 19, 2016
Quoting: TheBossVulkan in Talos already beats OpenGL, so actually it would be nice to have it.
I am eager to test it. It will be great to have better performance in Talos Principle.

But wait... I have 540m gt card. I won't be able to use Vulkan before hardware update. Bummer...
const Feb 19, 2016
Quoting: wojtek88
Quoting: TheBossVulkan in Talos already beats OpenGL, so actually it would be nice to have it.
I am eager to test it. It will be great to have better performance in Talos Principle.

But wait... I have 540m gt card. I won't be able to use Vulkan before hardware update. Bummer...

NVIDIA VP urges people to show demand. Seeing how many people still run or even buy 550ti's, I'd say: make some noise.
damarrin Feb 19, 2016
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Quoting: wojtek88
Quoting: TheBossVulkan in Talos already beats OpenGL, so actually it would be nice to have it.
I am eager to test it. It will be great to have better performance in Talos Principle.

But wait... I have 540m gt card. I won't be able to use Vulkan before hardware update. Bummer...

When you upgrade to Vulkan-capable hardware, I GUARANTEE you'll get an immediate performance boost.


Last edited by damarrin on 19 February 2016 at 8:59 am UTC
linux_gamer Feb 19, 2016
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: aFoxNamedMorris
Quoting: LinasI am stuck with 352 right now, because I could not get 355 to work with primus. Although the nice thing about hybrid graphics is that I don't end up with a broken system when that happens. :)

I keep backups of the last working driver and have SSH enabled. This way, if a driver doesn't work, or is broken for any reason on my system, a phone or tablet can be used to reinstall the last working driver and/or generate a new xorg.conf.

Did it ever occur to you that fixing a bad display driver shouldn't be this hard? (I bet there's a kernel commandline option you could input to grub to switch back to nouveau while you fix it; but damn the kernel really should be able to detect when something is wrong with your graphics drivers and be able to fallback to something... but if not the kernel, save us! systemd! save us!)

I use Timeshift, saved my ass some dozen times. Very fast and easy full system backup, I used lately to test if 355.00.26 works with 650M, and no it didn't.


Last edited by linux_gamer on 19 February 2016 at 10:27 am UTC
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