Ubuntu 12.10: Open-Source Radeon vs. AMD Catalyst Performance

[marek]

Just in general, I noticed the performance doesn't scale well with OpenGL effects compared to Catalytst. Turning on bloom alone in the new version of openarena is enough to slaughter the framerate by 1/8th on r300g. I don't have the benchmarks with Catalyst and bloom, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't get slaughtered by 1/8th.

The less OpenGL effects you stack up, the closer the open source driver gets to Catalyst.

I noticed PTS likes to turn on every graphics option, including non-default graphics options. So pay attention to the graphics option as even a single option in there can sometimes absolutely slaughter the framerate of the open source driver compared to Catalyst.

It's not that the open source driver is a lot slower, rather it's just a tiny bit slower at some effect and then that effect is getting multiplied by 100x per second which adds up quickly. Turning off the graphics option and the framerate increases multiple fold. For some games, it's just a matter of finding which switch is killing your framerate with the open source driver, and it's almost always an optional graphics option.

My graphics settings are maxed out. Still, I can't reach the low framerate I get with PTS.

[ryszardzonk]

UFO Ai 2.4 works quite well on kernel 3.7-rc3 + mesa git + ati git driver if anyone asks me Quite a development from the time I first tried it on the E-350 - r600 driver in mid 2011

"Bring it on" aliens. Flamethrowers are wating

[pingufunkybeat]

So I benchmarked Reaction Quake 3 on r600g. Here are the results:

With Phoronix Test Suite: 19 fps
Without Phoronix Test Suite: 121 fps

I wonder what PTS is doing differently.

THAT's what I'm talking about. It's been going on for years.

[ChrisXY]

Anyway, I don't care anymore. I sold my Radeon on eBay and am exclusively using Intel's excellent Ivy Bridge drivers for typical desktop computing with various compositors (Unity, Mutter, Muffin, Kwin). Works like a charm with 2D apps and light OpenGL.

That's funny because I use the ivy bridge drivers too and kwin opengl compositing has been totally broken for weeks now. First, it was awfully slow and kept occassionally stalling everything.

(Now it immediately crashes when I change to opengl compositing but I think a X restart / reboot will fix it).

kwin gles works better, but is graphically very glitchy, doesn't redraw the screen well enough.

[bug77]

That's funny because I use the ivy bridge drivers too and kwin opengl compositing has been totally broken for weeks now. First, it was awfully slow and kept occassionally stalling everything.

(Now it immediately crashes when I change to opengl compositing but I think a X restart / reboot will fix it).

kwin gles works better, but is graphically very glitchy, doesn't redraw the screen well enough.

Since when is it funny that stuff that works for some doesn't work for others? It's just life as we know it on Linux.
In my case, 2.19 was totally unusable (had to stick with 2.11 or 2.12 for a while), 2.20 is ok, but I can't turn on desktop effects. I'm stuck with F16, so that may be part of the problem though.

[Pallidus]

That's funny because I use the ivy bridge drivers too and kwin opengl compositing has been totally broken for weeks now. First, it was awfully slow and kept occassionally stalling everything.

(Now it immediately crashes when I change to opengl compositing but I think a X restart / reboot will fix it).

kwin gles works better, but is graphically very glitchy, doesn't redraw the screen well enough.

even intel recognizes that kde is cancer

[pingufunkybeat]

I've never had a problem with KWin and Ivy Bridge. Smooth as silk. Filed a bug?

Actually, I haven't had a problem with KWin and r600g for years either. The problem of r600g is not stability, it's features and performance.

[marek]

Actually, I haven't had a problem with KWin and r600g for years either. The problem of r600g is not stability, it's features and performance.

r600g won't have many new features for HD2000-HD4000 anyway. Only these are missing there:
- geometry shaders
- multisample textures (DONE in the driver, but core Mesa can't do it yet)
- uniform buffer objects
- texture buffers objects (this is being worked on)

Once this list is done, there won't be any OpenGL feature that the hardware can do that the driver doesn't implement. Then it'll be mostly just about performance.

[pingufunkybeat]

r600g won't have many new features for HD2000-HD4000 anyway. Only these are missing there:
- geometry shaders
- multisample textures (DONE in the driver, but core Mesa can't do it yet)
- uniform buffer objects
- texture buffers objects (this is being worked on)

Once this list is done, there won't be any OpenGL feature that the hardware can do that the driver doesn't implement. Then it'll be mostly just about performance.

You are right, and I should have written "FLOSS radeon drivers".

What is missing is not really a part of OpenGL, but they are still missing: dynamic power management, UVD, OpenCL. Some belong in the kernel, some in Mesa, etc.

Since the GPU drivers are spread between different projects now, it's harder nowadays to be specific

[Veerappan]

That's funny because I use the ivy bridge drivers too and kwin opengl compositing has been totally broken for weeks now. First, it was awfully slow and kept occassionally stalling everything.

(Now it immediately crashes when I change to opengl compositing but I think a X restart / reboot will fix it).

kwin gles works better, but is graphically very glitchy, doesn't redraw the screen well enough.

I think that this has possibly been fixed due to a KWin bug.

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=55998