AMD Hybrid Graphics For Linux?

[phoronix]

Phoronix: AMD Hybrid Graphics For Linux?

At CeBIT 2008 in Germany, AMD today announced the 780 Series Chipset. This budget-minded motherboard chipset, which is compatible with Quad-Core Phenom CPUs but a step-down from the 790FX Chipset, takes on gaming and high-definition computing for mainstream PC users on both the desktop and mobile platforms...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=NjM3Mw

[NeoBrain]

Interesting technology, and if it really gives 70% speed increase that's a great option for people with too much money
However, if it's just 70% more than a normal IGP (which is much slower than a normal graphics card), instead of 70 % faster than a
normal graphics card, this won't bring us much...
And for Linux I fear we won't see any CrossFire support ever, as there just too few people who have 2 graphics cards. It just
wouldn't be worth the effort to implement some crappy crossfire support and then stabilize it if it's going to be taken over by
Hybrid Graphics anyways.

[Svartalf]

The reality is, the R500 derived parts would be vertex shader crippled (as in NONE...)- which is where a substantive part of the slowness comes from in many of the cases. Adding a second Crossfire-like GPU configuration would be a waste of resources in the large.

With the R600 series cores, however, we're talking unified shaders- this means with Hybrid Graphics you're piling more shaders on top of the ones you already have when you're doing it (But who's the master card and who's the supplier of the extra shader pool?). Not knowing a bit more about what they're doing here in this case, I can't see the claims they're making- but it's conceivable that they're telling the truth here.

[barthawk]

The thing that interests me about the 780G is the potential for low power HTPC. It sounds like the UVD video playback acceleration won't be available in the open source driver, but how about the fglrx driver? Will Linux users be able to use UVD with the closed source driver?

[Michael]

Will Linux users be able to use UVD with the closed source driver?

Not quite yet, at least...

[barthawk]

Not quite yet, at least...

Sounds like there is hope! Are there any discussions of when?

[deanjo]

Let's just get working basic card support and get the numerous old bugs ironed out on the ATI's drivers before looking to complicate it more. You have to learn to walk before you can run.

[Svartalf]

I'd have to concur there...

[Moustacha]

Is there actually anything holding back nVidia/ATI with making drivers that do SLI/XFire? Is it something to do with the way Linux works, or more likely a case of apathy (and blaming it on lack of demand)?

[Michael]

Is there actually anything holding back nVidia/ATI with making drivers that do SLI/XFire? Is it something to do with the way Linux works, or more likely a case of apathy (and blaming it on lack of demand)?

NVIDIA already does SLI on Linux.