AMD CPU Use By Linux Gamers At ~70%, AMD openSIL, & AMD Laptops Topped 2023
On the AMD Linux front there was much to be excited about from the continued open-source driver work across not only their CPU and GPU portfolios but growing array of other hardware offerings from their Pensando and Xilinx acquisitions seeing more mainline kernel work, AMD Ryzen CPU use up to around ~70% for Linux gamers as measured by the Steam Survey (driven in large part thanks to the success of the Steam Deck), AMD's openSIL being announced for replacing AGESA in a few years time with this open-source CPU silicon initialization code, more exciting AMD laptops reaching market with Linux compatibility, early preparations for AMD Zen 5 Linux CPU support, and more.
Here's a look back at the most popular AMD Linux news of the past year:
AMD CPU Use Among Linux Gamers Approaching 70% Marketshare
Besides being curious about the Steam Survey results for indicating the size of the Linux gaming marketshare as an overall percentage, one of the interesting metrics we are curious about each month is the AMD vs. Intel CPU marketshare for Linux gaming. AMD has been on quite an upward trajectory among Linux gamers/enthusiasts in recent years not only for their Radeon graphics cards with their popular open-source driver stack but their Ryzen CPUs have become extremely popular with Linux users. With the new Steam Survey results for June, AMD CPUs are found on nearly 70% of Linux gaming systems polled by Steam.
Linus Torvalds: "Let's Just Disable The Stupid [AMD] fTPM HWRND Thing"
Linux creator Linus Torvalds is growing frustrated with AMD fTPM hardware random number generator bugs on recent Ryzen systems plaguing the kernel and has expressed a desire in disabling its use.
AMD Has A One-Liner To Help Speed Up Linux System Resume Time
AMD engineers have been working out many quirks and oddities in system suspend/resume handling to make it more reliable on their hardware particularly around Ryzen laptops. In addition to suspend/resume reliability improvements and suspend-to-idle (s2idle) enhancements, one of their engineers also discovered an easy one-liner as a small step to speeding up system resume time.
AMD openSIL Detailed For Advancing Open-Source System Firmware
Open-source fans, rejoice, the most exciting thing I have read all week or perhaps the month: "AMD is committed to open-source software and is now expanding into the various firmware domains with the re-architecture of its x86 AGESA FW stack - designed with UEFI as the host firmware that prevented scaling, to other host firmware solutions such as coreboot, oreboot, FortiBIOS, Project Mu and others. A newer, open architecture that potentially allows for reduced attack surface, and perceivably infinite scalability is now available as a Proof-of-Concept, within the open-source community for evaluation, called the AMD openSIL – Open-Source Silicon Initialization Library."
AMD Open-Source GPU Kernel Driver Above 5 Million Lines, Entire Linux Kernel At 34.8 Million
With the in-development Linux 6.6 kernel adding support for more upcoming Radeon graphics processors, that means more auto-generated header files for the new IP blocks... I was curious to see the overall size now of the AMDGPU kernel driver along with its associated code like the AMDKFD compute driver. It's now above 5 million lines for the kernel driver portion.
AMD Wants To Know If You'd Like Ryzen AI Support On Linux
With the newest AMD Ryzen 7040 series laptops there is "Ryzen AI" as a dedicated AI engine based on Xilinx IP to help accelerate machine learning with the likes of PyTorch and TensorFlow. Sadly though this Ryzen AI with their new Zen 4 laptops is only supported under Microsoft Windows at this point. But it could change with sufficient customer interest.
Linux 6.4 AMD Graphics Driver Picking Up New Power Features For The Steam Deck
A pull request of early AMDGPU kernel graphics driver changes was submitted for DRM-Next on Friday as some of the early feature work accumulating for the Linux 6.4 kernel cycle.
AMD Preparing "openSIL" For Open-Source Silicon Initialization With Coreboot
If better open-source AMD Coreboot support was on your bingo card for years but long thought to be a lofty dream, get ready to celebrate... AMD dropped a juicy tid-bit of information to be announced next month with "openSIL" as it concerns open-source AMD x86 silicon initialization library, complete with AMD Coreboot support.
Linux Kernel Drama: AMD's Spectral Chicken
There's a bit of Linux kernel code for AMD Zen 2 processors called the "spectral chicken" and a call for cleaning up that code, which was originally written by an Intel Linux engineer, has been rejected.
LACT Is The Newest AMD Radeon GUI Control Panel For Linux
While the open-source AMD Radeon Linux graphics driver is well received by the community, one of the longest sought features has been an official GUI control panel for managing the driver settings and the like under Linux with ease. AMD for their part exposes much of the same tunables available under Windows but is left to just command-line controls or software to poke different ioctls directly. LACT is now the newest open-source option for those wanting an AMD graphics driver control panel for Linux.
TUXEDO Computers Launches First All-AMD Linux Gaming Laptop
Bavarian Linux PC vendor TUXEDO Computers announced this morning the launch of the TUXEDO Sirius 16 Gen1, their first all-AMD powered Linux gaming laptop.
Linux Decides To Disable RNG On All AMD fTPMs
As a follow-up to the first-on-Phoronix article last month that highlighted Linus Torvalds' frustrated views on the AMD fTPM random number generator continuing to cause problems for users even with updated firmware/BIOS, as of today the Linux kernel has gone ahead and blanket disabled RNG use for all current AMD fTPMs.
AMD Has Many New CPU/GPU Features Ready For Linux 6.3
With the Linux 6.3 merge window opening up following tomorrow's stable debut of the Linux 6.2 kernel, there is a lot to be excited about if you are a customer of AMD's recent CPUs or GPUs.
A Prominent Linux Kernel Developer Re-Joins AMD
Those paying close attention to the Linux kernel development may have noticed a small change to how a key Linux developer is marking his kernel patches.
AMD Has A Nice Performance Optimization Coming With Linux 6.8
Queued up into tip/tip.git's x86/cpu branch ahead of the Linux 6.8 merge window opening in a month is an optimization that should prove helpful in cloud/VM scenarios.
AMD Publishes FSR 3 Source Code
Back in September AMD released FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR3) and at the time they noted the open-source code would be made available "soon". As a nice Christmas present, the FSR3 source code is public as of today.
AMD "INCEPTION" CPU Vulnerability Disclosed
AMD has kicked off a busy Patch Tuesday by disclosing INCEPTION, a new speculative side channel attack affecting Zen 3 and Zen 4 processors that require new microcode while prior Zen CPUs require a kernel-based solution.
AMD-Powered Framework Laptop Now Working On Linux With Latest BIOS
Earlier this month Framework 13 began shipping out their AMD Ryzen powered modular laptop. Unfortunately though the launch-day testing of the Framework laptop under Linux was hampered by a BIOS issue. It's taken longer, but this week a new BIOS is now available for testing that resolves the AMD Linux graphics issue. Here's how to go about easily flashing the system BIOS with Fwupd and LVFS to get up and running well on Linux.
Linux 6.3 To Support Pluton's CRB TPM2 On AMD Ryzen CPUs
If things go as planned, the TPM2 device found within Microsoft's Pluton security processor on the latest AMD Ryzen SoCs will be supported by Linux 6.3.
Fwupd 1.9.6 Brings Linux Firmware Updating For AMD Graphics Cards
A new release of Fwupd 1.9.6 is out today and it's notable in that AMD graphics cards can now enjoy firmware upgrades under Linux. This AMD GPU firmware updating works with Navi 3x GPUs and future hardware on recent versions of the Linux kernel.
On the hardware side it was very exciting in 2023 too with new AMD Ryzen 7000 series models, several interesting AMD Phoenix laptops launched, AMD EPYC Bergamo impressing big time, and more. Here were the most popular AMD Linux hardware reviews / benchmark articles for the year:
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D Linux Performance
Ahead of tomorrow's launch of the AMD Ryzen 7800X3D / 7900X3D / 7950X3D processors, today marks the embargo expiry on the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X3D 3D V-Cache processor. Today I can share with you the initial performance around the performance of this $699 USD processor that features a 144MB cache.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 / Ryzen 7 7700 / Ryzen 9 7900 Linux Performance
Last week at the AMD CES 2023 keynote hosted by Lisa Su, new 65 Watt Ryzen 7000 series processors were announced. These more affordable Zen 4 processors are going retail this week and today marks the embargo lift. Up on the Linux testing block are the Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 7 7700, and Ryzen 9 7900 processors.
X.Org vs. Wayland Linux Gaming Performance For NVIDIA GeForce + AMD Radeon In Early 2023
With recent NVIDIA's proprietary driver updates continuing to refine their Wayland support, the open-source AMDGPU Linux graphics drivers continuing to be enhanced, and work on the GNOME desktop with Mutter compositor continuing to advance, today's benchmarking article is looking at how the GNOME session under X.Org and Wayland for (X)Wayland is performing across various Linux games. It's been a while since I last ran a X.Org vs. (X)Wayland Linux gaming comparison so today's article is a fresh look from Ubuntu 22.10 while moving to the very latest graphics drivers and newest Steam Play Experimental state.
Apple M2 On Linux Performance Against AMD Zen 4 Mobile SoCs
The most common request from my recent ROG Ally benchmarking with the Ryzen Z1 SoC and also the Ryzen 7 7840U laptop SoC testing has been wanting to know how these Zen 4 mobile processors compete with Apple's M2 on Linux. Well, for those curious, here are some initial performance figures of the Apple M2 in a MacBook Air running Asahi Linux up against the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Ryzen 7 7840U SoCs on Linux.
AMD Ryzen 7 7840U Performance Benchmarks On Linux: Great Uplift For Zen 4 Laptops
For weeks and weeks I've been eager to see how well the new AMD Zen 4 based "Phoenix" laptop SoCs function and perform under Linux. Recently I finally found an interesting AMD Ryzen 7 7840U laptop to test and today have some initial Linux benchmarks to share from this Acer Swift Edge 16 laptop with Ryzen 7 7840U SoC and a 3.2K 120Hz OLED display, among other interesting specs.
Ubuntu Linux Squeezes ~20% More Performance Than Windows 11 On New AMD Zen 4 Threadripper
With currently reviewing the HP Z6 G5 A workstation powered by the new 96-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7995WX Zen 4 processor, one of the areas I was curious about was how well HP's tuned Microsoft Windows 11 compares to that of Linux. In this article is looking at how the Microsoft Windows 11 performance is out-of-the-box with the HP Z6 G5 A workstation as configured by HP versus a clean install of Ubuntu 23.10 with the Linux 6.5 kernel.
Intel Core Ultra 7 155H Meteor Lake vs. AMD Ryzen 7 7840U On Linux In 300+ CPU Benchmarks
Last week Intel launched their Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" notebook processors. Genuinely very curious about the performance potential under Linux along with various features of these new mobile SoCs like the NPU and integrated Arc Graphics, I bought an Intel Core Ultra laptop on launch-day for carrying out Linux benchmarks. In this first review of Intel Meteor Lake on Linux is a look at how the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H performs against the common AMD Ryzen 7 7840U as the Zen 4 laptop competition.
The Technical Workloads Where AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D/7950X3D CPUs Are Excellent
While the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X3D are promoted as great "gaming processors", these new Zen 4 desktop CPUs with 3D V-Cache also have great capabilities for various technical computing workloads thanks to the hefty cache size. In prior articles I've looked at the Ryzen 9 7900X3D/7950X3D in around 400 workloads on Linux while in this article I am looking more closely at these technical computing areas where these AMD Zen 4 3D V-Cache processors show the most strength and value outside of gaming.
Windows 11 WSL2 Performance vs. Ubuntu Linux With The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
When carrying out the recent Windows 11 vs. Ubuntu 23.04 benchmarks with the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Zen 4 3D V-Cache desktop processor, I also took the opportunity with the Windows 11 install around to check in on the Windows 11 WSL2 performance. Here is a fresh look at Ubuntu with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2 on Windows 11) compared to the bare metal performance of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on the same hardware as well as the new Ubuntu 23.04.
Benchmarking The Performance Impact To AMD Inception Mitigations
Last week the AMD Inception vulnerability was made public as a speculative side channel attack affecting Zen processors and different mitigation options based on the CPU generation. There wasn't too much communication around the performance implications of mitigating Inception while over the past week I have begun benchmarking the software and microcode updates on Ryzen and EPYC processors.
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Linux Performance
While the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7900X3D processors went on sale at the end of February as the first Zen 4 3D V-Cache processors, today marks the availability of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor. I've recently been putting the 7800X3D through its paces under Linux and have a plethora of benchmark data to share for launch day.
AVX-512 Performance Comparison: AMD Genoa vs. Intel Sapphire Rapids & Ice Lake
With last week's launch of Intel's 4th Gen Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids server processors, Intel heavily talked up the shiny new accelerators and the big performance potential of AMX, but not really showcased and only heard through the grapevine was the improved AVX-512 implementation found with these new processors. With Sapphire Rapids there is reduced penalties from engaging AVX-512 -- and for some AVX-512 instructions, no longer any measurable impact -- compared to prior generation Xeon processors. In this article is a look at the performance for a wide variety of workloads with AVX-512 on/off not just for Sapphire Rapids but also for prior generation Ice Lake as well as AMD's new EPYC 4th Gen "Genoa" processors where they have introduced AVX-512 for the first time.
Framework 13 With AMD Ryzen 7040 Series Makes For A Great Linux Laptop
For those in the market for an AMD Ryzen 7040 series (Zen 4) laptop, the Framework 13 laptop is a great option for those wanting a Linux-friendly device and is a rare breed in being a completely upgradeable laptop similar to Framework's Intel laptop models. I've been testing out the Framework Laptop 13 the past month and after a BIOS update has been working out wonderfully on Linux.
AMD EPYC 9754 Benchmarks For The 128-Core Bergamo
In addition to the review embargo lift today for Genoa-X with our AMD EPYC 9684X benchmarks, the lift is also today on the new AMD EPYC "Bergamo" processors for offering up to 128 cores / 256 threads per socket using the new Zen 4C core. In this article is an initial look at the performance provided by the AMD EPYC 9754 128-core processors.
AMD Radeon RX 7600 Linux Performance
For those that have been interested in the Radeon RX 7900 series for the great open-source driver support on Linux but have been wanting a cheaper graphics card and perhaps are a 1080p gamer, today's launch of the Radeon RX 7600 will surely be of interest to you. The Radeon RX 7600 is a nice lower-end graphics card for 1080p gamers and has upstream open-source Linux support already -- including the ability to run out-of-the-box already on Ubuntu 23.04 and other newer distributions. Here is my Linux performance review of the AMD Radeon RX 7600.
Intel Arc Graphics vs. AMD Radeon vs. NVIDIA GeForce For 1080p Linux Graphics In Late 2023
Following last month's launch of the Intel Arc Graphics A580 for a sub-$200 graphics card backed by an open-source Linux driver stack I ran some benchmarks looking at the Intel Arc Graphics compute performance against NVIDIA's proprietary driver stack. In today's article is a fresh look at the 1080p Linux gaming/graphics performance across Intel Arc Graphics, AMD Radeon, and NVIDIA GeForce GPUs while using the latest Linux drivers.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7980X & 7970X Linux Performance Benchmarks
Last month AMD announced the Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series along with the new Threadripper PRO 7000 WX Series for bringing Zen 4 to the HEDT and workstation space. Ahead of AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series processors becoming available via DIY retailers on the 21st, today marks the review/performance embargo expiration for the Threadripper 7000 series. First up today is a look at how the new Threadripper 7970X 32-core and Threadripper 7980X 64-core processors are performing for Linux HEDT workstations... Or the TLDR: the incredible Linux performance and potential for a wide-range of creator and developer workloads now possible with the Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series.
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D Linux Gaming Performance
After earlier this week providing the initial Linux benchmarks of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D across many Linux gaming tests as well as nearly 400 other tests, in today's article I am looking at the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D as the 12-core / 24-thread processor with the hefty 128MB L3 cache on this Zen 4 desktop processor. Due to having less time with the 7900X3D thus far, today's article is just getting things started in looking at the Linux gaming performance -- both native Linux games as well as many Windows games running on Linux thanks to Valve's wonderful Steam Play (Proton + DXVK / VKD3D-Proton) software.
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D: Windows 11 vs. Ubuntu 23.04 Linux Performance
With the recent launch of the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, several Phoronix Premium supporters expressed interest in seeing how well the Windows 11 vs. Linux performance compared for this Zen 4 3D V-Cache processor. Given those requests, here are some CPU/system benchmarks looking at the performance of Windows 11 Professional against Ubuntu 23.04 in its near-final state on the 7800X3D desktop.
AMD EPYC 9684X Genoa-X Provides Incredible HPC Performance
Last year AMD launched Milan-X as their first server processors with 3D V-Cache. The performance uplift from the 768MB of L3 cache per socket was phenomenal, but now here we are today with the next-generation successor: Genoa-X. The flagship EPYC 9684X is the new leader for HPC and AI performance as in addition to a 1.1GB L3 cache it leverages AMD's modern Zen 4 micro-architecture with AVX-512, 12 channel DDR5 memory, and other improvements found with existing EPYC 9004 series processors to easily triumph as the new best CPU for high performance computing from CFD and FEA to dozens of other scientific workloads. Here are the first benchmarks of the AMD EPYC 9684X processors.
A similar look at the Intel Linux 2023 side will be coming up shortly.
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