Quoting: MaelranePersonally I do not understand why they do not officially support AMD.

That would mean the contractor would have to charge the contractee more $$$. Offering guarantees in the software world is a very expensive thing to do - especially since it's difficult to calculate the scope of said guarantee and the cost to pay developers proper wages.

Also - as you can see from this delayed launch, the less promises you make the less you disappoint people - just Imagine how enraged AMD gamers would be if it ran less than equal on AMD - you think AMD users are mad now - they would be much more enraged after being promised support.

They're smart enough not to tie their own rope around their neck.

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Is it multiplayer on a single Steam Machine with multiple controllers or does it require multiple computers.

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@mrdeathjr agreed.

On the other hand if someone is building a Media Center PC with a modest budget I would absolutely recommend the AMD A10 APU Kaveri [External Link] as someone mentioned earlier in this discussion.

Cores - 12 Compute Cores (4 CPU + 8 GPU)
Operating Frequency - 3.7 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency - 4.0GHz
L2 Cache - 2 x 2MB
Manufacturing Tech - 28nm
Integrated Graphics - AMD Radeon R7 series
Graphics Base Frequency - 720 MHz
Thermal Design Power - 95W

Due to the AMDGPU Kernel Driver which uses the HSA design, it's a real winner for integrated graphics potentially in a Mini ITX or Micro ITX form factor.

I'm presently building 1 more Linux Gaming PC in addition to my other 2, AMD just has gotta get back up and put out goods products and they'll return to their golden age soon :)

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Quoting: kernelhavokMaybe we can return to this nvidia/ATI war once linux has a larger share of the gaming market. As it stands, in it's current state, I cannot blame developers for ignoring linux and just focusing on WIndows with third-parties, like Feral, going back to Mac.

Agreed, we are still about 1%, we're just splitting a hair having this debate. 20% AMD of 1% Linux is 0.02% AMD/Linux or about 200,000 machines, I think our zealot activities are better suited to first get people on Steam Machines & Linux. After that happens in 2 years then we make sure the market is healthy by nvidia having true competition for our $$$.

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So far I gather from all this that people have their magnifying glasses out and are trying to put AMD, nVidia, Intel & Developers under a microscope to understand exactly why AMD Cards aren't selling well and how this will effect the future market landscape of PC Gaming Video Cards.

In my opinion those that are saying that AMD cards simply fail to deliver in performance and stability are painfully correct. This can be dissected to reveal AMD's Linux Drivers are said to be cumbersome & nonperformance. If you really wanna split a hair and dissect the situation further you can say that game developers producing butchered code makes unstable and nonperformance problem worse by making AMD Hardware do less than it was designed to do. (You'd be at least partially correct that that element is co-morbid to other primary issues.)

I think in the case of Alien Isolation it's safe to say that Ferrel Interactive probably had a discussion that went something like this

FI: "The base package is $80,000-$120,000 which includes a estimated X hours towards the port project."
FI: "This will get you nVidia support which covers about 70-80% of the market"
FI: "AMD & Intel optimizations will cost an extra $10,000 - $20,000 depending on the complexities which our team is ready to do if you'd like, however the market share is only 20% of gamers as of present."
Client: "Lets just start with the base package and if / when we need to add AMD support. We'll tackle that later after we get a better idea of the return on this investment."
FI: "You got it - 2 developers will begin the project as soon as we get payment."
[Client hands Ferrel Interactive $100,000 check]

I just bought a second nVidia GTX 970 for my other Steam Linux Rig - you know why? 1 ) It's stable, 2 ) I expect the 9xx series to be supported fully by nVidia as it'll launch with SteamOS 3 ) I don't wanna d1ck around fixing my GPU or hacking my games to work properly when Linux already requires high maintenance, 4 ) When a Windows Gamer tries to bash on Linux I can instantly make Linux look super bad-ass because of being built with bad-ass gaming hardware & running a 4k monitor with it. (No I'm not a nvidia fanboy or whatever, I just choose the best, and maybe some Linux people would dump Linux if they could afford to get Apples, but I for one use Linux because it's technically superior to OSX and Windows, not because its the economical choice.)

If AMD was further along in the race and had their driver at a more stable & reliable state I would have happily thrown my $800 into their bank account as I love to support the underdog. Hopefully, my next upgrade cycle will be AMD (2x Linux). Hopefully my Client (1x Linux) & Family's (3x Linux) gaming systems will be AMD (upgrading in 12 months). If AMD proves themselves worthy, they will be selected.

Time and again for the last 3 years I've contacted AMD's support pleading for better Linux drivers and after going through a 30 question contact form that was more difficult and cumbersome to fill out than a job application - I don't even recall getting a reply. Their overly complicated contact form was simply a symptom of major infrastructure issues which is now evident by their financial crisis & bad market consumer opinions. In fact, I hypothesize their recent chip maker leaving may have been contributed to by the infrastructure and internal politic issues of the company.

I just hope in 12 months the future is bright, we all have to vote with our wallets by buying steam games and video cards to make Linux & SteamOS succeed.

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WTP

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View video on youtube.com
RedLetterMedia Alien Isolation [External Link]

Rewatching this review now to see if I wanna get this or not sometime.

** potential spoilers.

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This always struct me as a Window Shopper game, one that looks good on display but isn't that fun, practical or awesome once you buy it.

I hope to hear feedback contrary as AOW3 looks very interesting but IRL I think that 0 A.D. is likely more fun and it's not even complete yet.

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Time to drop another $200 - $400 for another Linux PC in da house.

I have to admit that AMD has be tempted. These articles are really helpful its just sad that the sum AMD will be out is $600-800 by the end of this upgrade cycle for me.

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How do people not see the USB Micro connection @ Time Index 3:36?

Also, I recently am using Steam Big Picture on my ArchBox on a 43" 4k TV and it's truly amazing - It makes me want to go out and buy buy buy Steam Linux Games by the truck load.

The Experience has changed quite a bit, maybe we should have a post on that as it seems things like daisy wheel are hindsight at this time with the awesome improvements.

Bravo Steam, Lots of $$$ is in their future.

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