Final AMD Catalyst 13.1 is coming today, 13.2 Beta is coming end of the month.
The same as 313.09 did before.Code:towo:Defiant> inxi -SG System: Host: Defiant Kernel: 3.8-rc3.towo.1-experimental-amd64 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Xfce 4.10.0 Distro: siduction 12.2.0 Riders on the Storm - xfce - (201212092126) Graphics: Card: NVIDIA GK107 [GeForce GT 640] X.Org: 1.13.1 driver: nvidia Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz GLX Renderer: GeForce GT 640/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 4.3.0 NVIDIA 313.18
Final AMD Catalyst 13.1 is coming today, 13.2 Beta is coming end of the month.
Ur joke is awsome too those awsome foss drivers will make ur laptop overheat as hell and damage ur hardware in time. And with distros as ubuntu works out of the box,all a newbie needs to do is ready when the pop up about prorietary restricted drivers come in. Yeah its ok to use OSS drivers on a desktop, but most ppl use mobile solutions and need things battery and powermanagement. I bought a laptop with hd3200 card 2 years go card already at the time of purchase 4-5 years old generation, i guess not even now the OSS drivers dont even come close to proprietary. 2-3 more years passing by will be 10 years old graphic card with subpar performance on OSS driver. Aldo i admire their effort i see OSS drivers they are just a better default option than vesa driver enough for kwin or compiz. AMD bribed u hiring 2-3 developers released some meaningless docs so that they can sit on their ass and do nothing. Good strategy tho they managed to please FOSS zealots and won linux public opinion . On the other hand big bad Nvidia just delivers, facts not words as we always heard from AMD. I have an 8400gs on desktop everything works video acc with vdpau etc. AMD cant always be half in half out with their linux involvement, either make kickass proprietary drivers either switch to opensource model like intel. My respects for NVIDIA for their excelent driver support and kudos for Intel for all their great work on opensource drivers on last gen cards, Intel is the real OSS supporter here not AMD. AMD just fooled u with a few developers, in the future my money will go on intel for my next notebook, out of the box OSS experience no fuss no mess.
Thats all fine and good, but you can't refute the facts that AMD's involvement in OSS driver development has improved the infrastructure upon which the whole stack runs. Intel still isnt even using gallium yet and they have no plans to do so. Intels only goal is to make their hardware function somewhat. They have no interest in making a better platform. AMD has done more for the graphics stack in Linux than anyone else. And nVidia just uses their own proprietary stack.
I won't knock nVidia. I do believe we would all be better off if they invested a similar amount of effort into there own OSS drivers, but it isnt going to happen. And the fact remains that if your going to use proprietary drivers nVidia is still the bets choice. But if like me you will only use OSS drivers than AMD is the only good choice. At least investing in AMD means you'll be improving the infrastucture upon which future generations of hardware drivers will be built.
Last edited by duby229; 01-16-2013 at 11:18 AM.
That's my biggest beef with AMD/ATI at the moment.
If you have a card older than a 5000 series you're pretty boned. I have a Sony Vaio laptop laying around, it has an ATI 4250 or something I believe. On Win 7 it could still play many games like Gothic 4, Force Unleashed, Crysis etc, albeit not on high details.
On Linux however if I wanted to use it, I'd have a choice of 12.6 "legacy" drivers which wouldnt be supported for most games anyway and would run like ass or use the AMD FOSS drivers which run like even more ass and also overheat the machine like crazy and crank the fans to sounds like a jet taking off. Not a pleasant situation.
If I was to ever buy a laptop again I'd get one with a Intel GPU chip (yes even for some light gaming) or heck even NVIDIA.
Anyhoo, all that aside, I'm looking forward to trying this new driver when it lands in Arch repos.
Onestly i don`t know when or if will ever have and ideal situation. Meaning free open drivers close to the performace of the windows proprietary ones. So the cruel really at present time Nvidia very good closed source support, intel i don`t own i heard that their drivers are open but pretty buggy too some on the other hand speak very highly of them especially with SNA. And well AMD wich never had enough money or resources to invest alot in linux. I don`t amd combo because i curently own an athlon neo x2 based laptop, and its the hottest of the, and intel alway did well on mobile front i can`t even use my amd laptop without a cooling pad in the summer, plus many users ask just one tiny thing from OSS drivers if possible ofc, close to blob power management. If i would at least have that i wouldn`t bich about amd that much![]()
The problem with AMD cards is that they don't even start some first rate titles via WINE (like all Unreal_Engine_3 titles), wile Nvidia works with near the speed of Windows (WINE-platinum class). Intel has also better compatibility rate and works for good open source drivers evolving Mesa. So No1=Intel, No2=Nvidia, No3=(that never matters).