AMD + Valve Focusing On P-State / CPPC Driver With Schedutil For Better Linux Efficiency

[skeevy420]

On custom desktops or on PCs with a screaming fan, maybe. But burst turbo is so aggressive in everything else these days that, in some workloads, you do want to save as much power/heat as possible to give the system more room to boost when needed.

schedutil + turbo control, for instance, already helps my renoir laptop in a certain CPU + dGPU heavy ML workload, though that is a odd workload.

I didn't even think about systems with less-than-stellar thermal solutions. I paired my Zen 2 APU with a Wraith Prism off of eBay and haven't had any thermal issues in regards to compiling software and playing games...granted, I'm not using the graphics part of the APU at the moment (less hassle since I put my 2nd monitor away).

[skeevy420]

Not going to happen. The way to make consumer hardware easy is to make it an appliance the way Apple does. That goes against what Linux is. I don't see why Valve would want to take on the headaches of making a general purpose OS when they could just release a gaming appliance. There's no profit in it for them.

That's why Valve is doing both with the Steam Deck. They're making a gaming appliance, only they're not being total dicks like Apple by allowing the end-user to replace the gaming appliance OS with "insert OS of choice here". The majority of people probably won't swap out the OS since they see OS and think someone spelled SO backwards. But Valve can do that because they already support Windows and Linux and AMD supports Windows and Linux. Basically, their core software is already cross-platform and made to work anywhere. Making their machine limited would only piss off their customers. Geeks don't like buying an Android device and not being able to swap the OS. Steam knows that and isn't limiting their device in the same manner.

There's plenty of profit in it. The profit is in the form of hardware sales and game sales. Valve could care less what OS we run as long as we're buying their hardware and buying games from their store.

Seeing as how the Steam Deck hardware is somewhere in between a PS4 and a PS5 in a portable form factor no less, there is no reason that Valve couldn't take an upcoming APU from AMD and make Steam Machine 2.0 around it. Zen 3, RDNA 2, DDR5; sounds like a winning combination for Steam Machine 2.0.

[jaxa]

I think that if the Steam Deck is successful enough and Proton is perfected, they could have a desktop/laptop variant of SteamOS and essentially be an Arch-based beginner's distribution for Linux. Valve could succeed where Ubuntu and Fedora failed and be the first company to find a way to make consumer desktop Linux profitable and easy for beginners.

Not going to happen. The way to make consumer hardware easy is to make it an appliance the way Apple does. That goes against what Linux is. I don't see why Valve would want to take on the headaches of making a general purpose OS when they could just release a gaming appliance. There's no profit in it for them.

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/hardware

You can also install and use PC software, of course. Browse the web, watch streaming video, do your normal productivity stuff, install some other game stores, whatever.

I'm pretty sure the intention is to have a desktop environment when docked. There's no need to create a variant.

[leipero]

skeevy420 Nice levels seems quite useless at this point to me, for general use and/or gaming.

[skeevy420]

skeevy420 Nice levels seems quite useless at this point to me, for general use and/or gaming.

Yeah, note that I mentioned "my q6600 days" there. Nice levels mattered a bit more back then...around 2010-2016...

A Core2Quad Q6600 that I did the FSB OC trick. I wish I could put tape on my Zen 2 and get an extra 600mhz.

[Prescience500]

Valve does care (though they won't likely every force it) about what OS we use because they are afraid of Microsoft ending Steam for Windows with the Windows Store. Linux is an escape hatch for them. Also, being user friendly is a feature, not a bug. Applefication (which is a recent fad in the industry) is a bug. User friendly =/= Applefication.

[krzyzowiec]

Making their machine limited would only piss off their customers. Geeks don't like buying an Android device and not being able to swap the OS. Steam knows that and isn't limiting their device in the same manner.

There's plenty of profit in it. The profit is in the form of hardware sales and game sales. Valve could care less what OS we run as long as we're buying their hardware and buying games from their store.

Right, it’s Linux and they’re not limiting it. That’s laudable of course but it’s different from trying to become a competitor to Windows as a general purpose consumer OS.

The profit is in the gaming appliance part, not the consumer OS part. I was replying to someone who said that Valve would succeed where Ubuntu and Fedora did not. It won’t, because that’s not what Valve is trying to accomplish here.

[krzyzowiec]

I'm pretty sure the intention is to have a desktop environment when docked. There's no need to create a variant.

I know. It’s a Linux distribution, and has all the same features. I’m saying they will never try to compete with Windows as a consumer OS. They will stick to games because games are profitable, and any desktop features that exist will be what comes with any other distro.

[leipero]

Guest That makes sense.

Slightly off topic, I hope AMD will focus a bit on not screwing up firmware for APUs, it amazes me that they have perfectly working thing and yet they manage to mess it up on some basic level after years of working well, that really is an achievement

[jaxa]

I know. It’s a Linux distribution, and has all the same features. I’m saying they will never try to compete with Windows as a consumer OS. They will stick to games because games are profitable, and any desktop features that exist will be what comes with any other distro.

I see what you're saying. But it might be more than enough for most users. A web browser and some basic applications covers a lot, see the popularity of ChromeOS. Meanwhile, Valve focuses on games (including that anti-cheat stuff), which have been a barrier to Linux adoption and the reason some Linux users keep Windows boxes around.

From what I've heard, Steam Deck is expected to sell in the low millions and 5-10 million would be considered very successful. Obviously, that's a drop in the bucket compared to all the Windows OEM desktops sold every year. For it to be a real threat to Microsoft, Valve would need to convince other companies to adopt SteamOS 3.0 (Arch Linux). That didn't work with Steam Machines™, and I don't see a huge backlash against Windows 11 that could provide an opening.