AMD FreeSync Support On Linux?

With this month's release of the Catalyst 15.3 Beta for Windows, FreeSync Technology support was added. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any Linux support is imminent.

Since AMD's FreeSync push this month and the supported Windows drivers now public, many Phoronix readers have been writing in to ask about Linux support for FreeSync... The open-source drivers aren't yet prepared to handle this technology and with AMD's Catalyst Linux blob it appears to be the same story.

FreeSync is AMD's competitor to NVIDIA G-Sync for allowing displays to have variable refresh rates by communicating with the APU/GPU for allowing a tear-free experience. FreeSync-supported monitors are able to precisely refresh at the rate that the graphics processor is rendering on a frame-by-frame basis in order to avoid tearing or stuttering. From the vendor-specific technologies then came VESA's Adaptive-Sync derived from FreeSync.

While I haven't yet been able to get any firm answers about AMD Linux plans for FreeSync, I'd hold off on any purchases for now on a compatible monitor just to exploit the functionality. On the GPU side, FreeSync is compatible with all current generation Radeon GPUs and AMD APUs. We're also still waiting for AMD to release the Catalyst 15.3 Beta driver to the Linux public -- up to now there's just a pre-seed of 15.3 Beta within the Ubuntu Vivid archive but no driver has yet been made available to the Linux masses via AMD.com.