AMD Confirms RX 480 At $199 USD, Other APU & Polaris Announcements

[juno]

4.7 is in rc. Was this merged?

Initial Polaris drm stuff is already merged, DAL of course is not.
You might depend on using the amdgpu-pro driver initially if you decide to buy Polaris at launch.

[pixo]

Who cares fglrx, it is abandoned. New amdgpu-pro is under construction and works fine with my A8-7600. Sure polaris cards will have good driver support, you can follow the development here;
https://cgit.freedesktop.org/~agd5f/....7-wip-polaris
This is open source but same code is in the amdgpu-pro dkms driver.

4.7 is in rc. Was this merged?

[starshipeleven]

No, the hybrid driver has its own kernel driver, what you are describing is what bridgman calls "franken-hybrid":

The way I understood it was that it is the same thing, but at different stages of development. Yes it's confusing but it makes sense.

The entire point was making a SINGLE driver (open) with closedsource userspace modules (and eventually replacing this with an open module in the future).

AMDGPU is the driver you can find in the kernel and is open.

The AMDGPU-PRO package contains the closed userspace modue AND an upgraded version of AMDGPU that has a bunch of new things that currently only interface to the proprietary module as none had time to make a open module for that yet. This part gets compiled on the user system as it isn't shipped with kernel, and afaik replaces the AMDGPU driver.

Due to (obvious) linux kernel policies they cannot just merge that code in mainline until they have an opensource userspace component using it, even if the code itself is technically open and is still AMDGPU.

So to recap, AMDGPU-PRO contains a "future" AMDGPU with hooks for other more advanced stuff AND the closedsource module that uses them, so it is still hybrid.

bridgman said this in a recent thread here, I can try fetch it if you don't believe me at face value.

Or maybe it's just AMD marketing that calls it AMD GPU-PRO? I think the developers call it AMDGPU-PRO. Somehow naming conventions are always confusing at AMD.

This. Marketing name in that page is with space, development name everywhere else (also in the files you download for installing it) is without.
I go with the latter as it's the only one that makes sense as a name.
AMD marketing dept isn't terribly good.

[Ansla]

AMDGPU is the name of the opensource part of the hybrid driver and more informal name of the whole thing afaik, with the proprietary modules added it becomes AMDGPU-PRO.

No, the hybrid driver has its own kernel driver, what you are describing is what bridgman calls "franken-hybrid":

Ah, so this is "franken-hybrid"... hybrid userspace with all-open kernel. Not sure how ready we are to support issues with that yet, guessing we might ask you to wait for the next hybrid release instead.

Also please note, "AMDGPU" not "AMD GPU".

AMD GPU-PRO is what AMD itself calls it. Click on the link to see for yourself in the release notes. Or maybe it's just AMD marketing that calls it AMD GPU-PRO? I think the developers call it AMDGPU-PRO. Somehow naming conventions are always confusing at AMD.

[starshipeleven]

Actualy, the hybrid driver is called AMD GPU-PRO. I'm not sure if the "All Open" stack has an official name, but if you say AMDGPU most likely people will think of the open drivers.

AMDGPU is the name of the opensource part of the hybrid driver and more informal name of the whole thing afaik, with the proprietary modules added it becomes AMDGPU-PRO.

AMDGPU by itself works, but lacks many features currently added by the proprietary modules, eventually most gaming features will be provided by AMDGPU alone and the PRO module will focus more on bleeding edge gaming features support and pro stuff.

What matters most here is that it is also the right keyword to get at the articles talking about the new AMD drivers anyway, where someone can figure out what is what on his own.

Also please note, "AMDGPU" not "AMD GPU".

[Ansla]

Proprietary shitty driver has been dropped, now they use a hybrid open-closed driver.
Just do a search in this site about "AMDGPU" (that's the name of the new hybrid AMD driver), you get benches, articles and all.

Actualy, the hybrid driver is called AMD GPU-PRO. I'm not sure if the "All Open" stack has an official name, but if you say AMDGPU most likely people will think of the open drivers.

[Dedale]

Will do. thank you.

[starshipeleven]

On paper, this looks promising. I am thrilled.

Still, i am afraid by the poor reputation of AMD proprietary linux drivers. Does all this excitement means we should expect something as reliable as our linux nividia experience ? I confess i have no practical experience of AMD GPUs. I will scrutinise the returns of AMD users. I hope i will be reassured enough to be able to support a sane competition with my wallet. Until then i will have had only nv cards.

And if an AMD user wants to chime in to talk about his experience i am always curious.

Proprietary shitty driver has been dropped, now they use a hybrid open-closed driver.
Just do a search in this site about "AMDGPU" (that's the name of the new hybrid AMD driver), you get benches, articles and all.

[Dedale]

On paper, this looks promising. I am thrilled.

Still, i am afraid by the poor reputation of AMD proprietary linux drivers. Does all this excitement means we should expect something as reliable as our linux nividia experience ? I confess i have no practical experience of AMD GPUs. I will scrutinise the returns of AMD users. I hope i will be reassured enough to be able to support a sane competition with my wallet. Until then i will have had only nv cards.

And if an AMD user wants to chime in to talk about his experience i am always curious.

[SystemCrasher]

Whoa, seems AMD has managed to offer really decent bang per buck! And lol, comparing against $700 GPU is cool, etc, but not everyone is okay to pay $700. Go compare with $200 GPUs, no? XD Oh, sure, $700 GPU owners were ripped off by nvidia since they'll have to dump prices a lot to stay competitive against this offer. So now nvidia fans have to acknowledge they've wasted $500 on marketing BS and somesuch. While buying GPUs of extremely Linux-unfriendly vendor who can't even get KMS right within whopping three years.