The Open-Source ATI R300 Graphics Driver Is Still Being Improved Upon In 2024

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Open-Source ATI R300 Graphics Driver Is Still Being Improved Upon In 2024

It's been over twenty years since the ATI Radeon R300 series was introduced but thanks to the open-source Mesa Gallium3D OpenGL driver, there continues to be new improvements made to this driver for these aging Radeon graphics cards on Linux. A few hundred lines of code were merged today for further enhancing the ATI R300 Gallium3D driver in 2024...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/ATI-R300g-2024-Action

[ezst036]

It is reasonable that with as fast as hardware is these days (and the days when R300 was new) that for light browsing and other simple tasks people keep their hardware for a 20 year or more window.

This hardware is old, but it is not ancient.

[schmidtbag]

It is reasonable that with as fast as hardware is these days (and the days when R300 was new) that for light browsing and other simple tasks people keep their hardware for a 20 year or more window.

This hardware is old, but it is not ancient.

Agreed - if it works for your needs then there's no point replacing it. However, once you factor in power consumption, limited acceleration for modern functions, and fan noise (fans were a lot louder 20 years ago), sometimes just buying a used modern system for under $300 could be worth it.

[Nuc!eoN]

Agreed - if it works for your needs then there's no point replacing it. However, once you factor in power consumption, limited acceleration for modern functions, and fan noise (fans were a lot louder 20 years ago), sometimes just buying a used modern system for under $300 could be worth it.

Not really. Power consumption was way lower back then. The ATI Radeon 9700 (which is an ati r300) had a tdp of 37W.

[coder]

One argument for continued support of old GPUs is that some old systems are pre-PCIe. I'm not just talking about x86, either. So long as Linux continues to run on systems that have only legacy PCI slots, there will be a need to support GPUs that were sold in regular PCI form factor (i.e. not PCIe).

Due to the relationship of AGP and PCI, I think GPU generations with an AGP version should include at least one model with a legacy PCI interface.

[gentoofu]

Not really. Power consumption was way lower back then. The ATI Radeon 9700 (which is an ati r300) had a tdp of 37W.

Let's try not equating TDP to power consumption, please.

[NSLW]

It is reasonable that with as fast as hardware is these days (and the days when R300 was new) that for light browsing and other simple tasks people keep their hardware for a 20 year or more window.

This hardware is old, but it is not ancient.

Sadly, these days Chrome (and probably Firefox too) runs emulated (SW rendering) on one's old CPU instead of on one's old GPU due to a lack of features (OpenGL/Vulkan).

Not long ago I thought it's better to have an AMD/ATI than NVIDIA GPU long-term due to their open-source strategy allowing near endless HW drivers support, but if essential SW doesn't support the HW then there is little difference.

[SilverBird775]

It is reasonable that with as fast as hardware is these days (and the days when R300 was new) that for light browsing and other simple tasks people keep their hardware for a 20 year or more window.

This hardware is old, but it is not ancient.

Do R300 cards even support Wayland compositors? My question is out of pure curiosity because R600 hardware is totally okay for a modern light desktop use.

[coder]

Sadly, these days Chrome (and probably Firefox too) runs emulated (SW rendering) on one's old CPU instead of on one's old GPU due to a lack of features (OpenGL/Vulkan).

What is their minimum OpenGL/Vulkan requirement?

Not long ago I thought it's better to have an AMD/ATI than NVIDIA GPU long-term due to their open-source strategy allowing near endless HW drivers support, but if essential SW doesn't support the HW then there is little difference.

Eh, at least you can play Tux Racer at blistering framerates!
🐧

[schmidtbag]

Not really. Power consumption was way lower back then. The ATI Radeon 9700 (which is an ati r300) had a tdp of 37W.

Hmm, seems you're right. I must've been thinking of something a bit newer.

One argument for continued support of old GPUs is that some old systems are pre-PCIe. I'm not just talking about x86, either. So long as Linux continues to run on systems that have only legacy PCI slots, there will be a need to support GPUs that were sold in regular PCI form factor (i.e. not PCIe).

Due to the relationship of AGP and PCI, I think GPU generations with an AGP version should include at least one model with a legacy PCI interface.

You're right that it's good to have compatibility while PCI and AGP are still in use, but, you don't have to opt for something as old as R300. There's a GT 610 that works on PCI, or a HD 5450 if you prefer AMD. Granted, those are rare, but my point is you aren't limited to such old hardware.