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Don't Keep Dreaming For Linux Video Improvements On Intel's Old Platforms

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  • Don't Keep Dreaming For Linux Video Improvements On Intel's Old Platforms

    Phoronix: Don't Keep Dreaming For Linux Video Improvements On Intel's Old Platforms

    If you are still using old Intel Ironlake-era hardware and have been waiting for video playback improvements via VA-API, you might as well stop waiting...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    Assuming you have a Nehalem-era desktop system with these graphics, I would recommend upgrading to even a very low-end discrete GPU that doesn't even require an external power connector. For example, a GTX-1050 if you want to be modern would provide all the video playback capabilities you want and a massive improvement in graphics performance too.

    As for mobile, if you are still rocking a Nehalem-era notebook that came out years before AMD even introduced the marketing term "APU", I would strongly suggest an upgrade. Kaby Lake is an extremely strong mobile platform as just one example.

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    • #3
      I still have got an old laptop around, running windows exactly because of this issue. Tried Fedora recently and WLAN WPA2 was broken too. I remember it working a few years ago. Kinda sad.

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      • #4
        My 5 year old daughter's laptop running OpenSUSE is Ironlake but she's not exactly watching any 1080p videos on it. I only got it back in June but it was being sold as broken on eBay so it was dirt cheap. My main disappointment was that it only supports OpenGL 2.1. No new SuperTuxKart for her!

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        • #5
          I've got an old ILK lying around that I do some Mesa development on. Could take a look.

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          • #6
            I could play full HD h264 videos just fine on my first gen Core i3. I don’t think you need VAAPI for that (but I suppose on a laptop it doesn’t help with battery life).

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            • #7
              It is not only problem of linux. On win latest, stable drivers are from 2013, newer are available in WU, but they are unstable.

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              • #8
                AMD and nvidia treat old hardware the same way. So, time to make another company that makes video cards I guess.

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                • #9
                  it's the nature of the hardware, i guess. it becomes obsolete with time.

                  i actually have a paperweigh gma500 based tablet at home. i know the support for it won't ever get any better, so it's going to be dismantled one day for spare parts.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by eydee View Post
                    AMD and nvidia treat old hardware the same way. So, time to make another company that makes video cards I guess.
                    Nvidia still maintains drivers for really old hardware. Even their legacy hardware still sometimes gets an update once in a while. AMD is sort of mixed - the mesa drivers still seem to have an interest in supporting R600, but they just don't have the time. However, they're quickly running out of things they need to get done for radeonSI, so perhaps R600 will see some updates again soon.


                    Anyway, pretty stupid Intel has so much funding yet they don't have very long-term driver support. Kind of a Catch-22: by dropping support, it will encourage people to just buy new hardware. But, people aren't going to want to buy new hardware if they know how quickly their support will be dropped.

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