Linux 4.9 Has Tear-Free PRIME Offloading Between Intel & AMDGPU

[timofonic]

they don't support prime so they can't support tear-free prime

Lack of proper PRIME/Optimus support makes me tear...

Funny, as far as I'm aware, PRIME is a play on Nvidia's Optimus technology (as is Bumblebee) but Nvidia isn't compatible with it.
Meanwhile, AMD created Enduro (which does the same thing) but went completely ignored.

This is totally insanity, really.

Probably because AMD's Enduro worked only on proprietary driver that sucked, and because post 2013 it's hard to find a laptop with an AMD GPU at all (apart from totally retarded setups like a high-end APU with crippled GPU + crippled dedicated AMD GPU, from lenovo).

The laptop market sucks.

Also Alienware http://www.pcworld.com/article/31157...ile-debut.html

Gotta love this new "let's put desktop GPUs in laptops" trend, bulky laptops aren't yet dead.

Yes, but companies are purposedly doing laptops really SHITTY to. It seems chip and laptop manufacturers are very motivated to kill them!

Only left to find good laptop with hq i7, Polaris GPU and good screen, keyboard and touchpad. For now only MacBook Pro has that but lacks on memory and it is crApple.

MacBook Pro is not worth it. Very underpowered and extremely overpriced! There's a Polaris GPU. The 15" 2880x1800 screen is not really interesting compared to 17.3" 3840x2160 ones.

This is the most powerful option:

X 13,3" 2560x1600 or 15" 2880x1800 screen.
V Intel Core i7 6920HQ 2.9GHz, 8Mb L3 cache.
X 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory. Not upgradable.
V dGPU: Radeon Pro 460. 4GB GDDR5. Not upgradable.
V APU: Intel HD Graphics 530
V 1TB PCIe SSD
X 4x Thunderbolt 3 ports. Using to "Alpine Ridge", one of them in a slow PCI Express 2.0 instead PCI Express 3.0
X 867Mbps 802.11ac Wi-Fi instead MacBook Pro 2015 with 1.3Gbps.
? No MagSafe, but USB-C 61Watt charger.
X Short extension cord, need to buy separate extender if want a larger one.
X Touch Bar & Touch ID pathetic crap. Annoyingly sensitive touchpad.
X 3,499 USD

http://arstechnica.co.uk/apple/2016/11/macbook-pro-2016-no-touch-bar-review/

Some facts:

1. The current situation about evolution of transistor integration sucks a lot:
- Tere's lots issues reaching 10nm at high power and newer high end CPUs will still be 14nm. They'll be no worth it.
- 7nm seems quite challenging.
2. There's 17.3" 3840x2160 (UHD) IPS screens, much better than Apple ones.
3. I had issues finding options about having 32GB of RAM with LPDDR4 2667MHz modules.

My recommendation: Wait for Kaby Lake chips at least, but I would highly recommend wait for high power 10nm CPUs but those will be problematic to have until late 2017 or 2018

[Guest]

Isn't Xorg 1.19 and the latest NV 375.20 drivers supposed to have tear-free Prime on Optimus? I'm under the impression it is, but couldn't get it working.

[FireBurn]

I've mentioned this a few times to Michael in the comments, glad he's finally noticed.

I think the tear-free nvidia prime, is using the nvidia GPU all the time, rather than just when required - but yes it is tear free now

This only powers up the dGPU when DRI_PRIME=1 is passed to a starting process

[Aeder]

Will this benefit Iceland GPUs (R7 260M) on laptops?

[schmidtbag]

Probably because AMD's Enduro worked only on proprietary driver that sucked, and because post 2013 it's hard to find a laptop with an AMD GPU at all (apart from totally retarded setups like a high-end APU with crippled GPU + crippled dedicated AMD GPU, from lenovo).

Optimus was also strictly proprietary. But yes, Enduro was never impressive.

I never bothered looking up Intel-based laptops with AMD graphics but I don't recall hearing they were rare. Actually this got me to realize that I'm not sure if there are any modern Intel laptops without an Intel IGP.

[agd5f]

Will this benefit Iceland GPUs (R7 260M) on laptops?

If used in conjunction with an intel GPU. There was no issue on AMD + AMD systems.

[gnufreex]

Also Alienware http://www.pcworld.com/article/31157...ile-debut.html

Gotta love this new "let's put desktop GPUs in laptops" trend, bulky laptops aren't yet dead.

I only see configurations on Dell site with nenavidia. No way to chose Radeon for either 17 or 15 inch model. Also even if I could chose radeon, RX470 is overkill for me, need something little more power efficient. 460 seems fine.

[gnufreex]

My recommendation: Wait for Kaby Lake chips at least, but I would highly recommend wait for high power 10nm CPUs but those will be problematic to have until late 2017 or 2018

Yes, that is my thinking too, I will definitely wait for Kaby Lake and Polaris mobile. I am not sure I can wait for Icelake in 2018. I can maybe wait for Zen Raven Ridge. Bud doubt that too. I need intel GPU for KVM GT and Radeon for free drivers and also Vt-d passtrough.

[gnufreex]

Optimus was also strictly proprietary. But yes, Enduro was never impressive.

I never bothered looking up Intel-based laptops with AMD graphics but I don't recall hearing they were rare. Actually this got me to realize that I'm not sure if there are any modern Intel laptops without an Intel IGP.

They are extremely rare, only one i7 quad core with Radeon found so far, it is Ideapad Y700-14, but it is pretty sucky with overheating and subpar screen so I will pass it. 15 and 17 inch model come with Nenavidia, so not for me. You can find dual core U processors with Radeons, but I dont need that.

[vkrastev]

If used in conjunction with an intel GPU. There was no issue on AMD + AMD systems.

What about R7 m260x (Opal Pro) + intel gpu?