6 ms·

Agree, I dropped Linux due bad graphics drivers (AMD)

by perceptronas 7y ago

jdc 7y ago
How long ago did you try it? It was definitely bad in the fglrx days!
- perceptronas 7y ago
  My move happened few months ago. I used Linux for years (and still use it in VMs/servers), however after changing GPU it was a compatibility nightmare. I chose AMD partly because I heard that drivers are good on Linux. Not sure how many hours I spend on it.
  - dralley 7y ago
    Which card is this?
  - ben-schaaf 7y ago
    I've installed 3 systems over the past couple years with amd gpus (all rx5XX). Not a single driver issue, nor any setup required.
- yxhuvud 7y ago
  This is definitely a problem still. The latest Ubuntu won't even boot with a 5700 XT card without first upgrading the Linux firmware.
winter_blue 7y ago
Are you really saying that AMD is worse than Nvidia on Linux??? I have a Nvidia GPU (on my laptop), and I've had a truly horrible experience on Linux with Nvidia proprietary drivers. I was actually considering ditching my laptop, and buying a new one with AMD chipsets, due to the issues I've had on Linux due to the presence of the Nvidia graphics card. I occasionally play games on my Linux laptop, using Proton (a Steam derivative of Wine), as well as native Linux games. So I do want a GPU. (Although, at this point I've even considered getting a laptop with no GPU and only integrated Intel graphics, since I want to at least be able to do business/work without problems.)
- perceptronas 7y ago
  I am not saying that. I just had terrible experience on a laptop with AMD GPU + Linux (rip battery) and on a desktop with discrete AMD GPU (suspend and whatnot errors) + Linux. Friends and coworkers with NVIDIA didn't seem to have those problems
  - shmerl 7y ago
    AMD GPUs with new architecture need around half a year on Linux to reach stability. At least that was my experience with Navi. But once they reach it, it's rock solid. I wouldn't touch Nvidia at all.
- dnautics 7y ago
  For machine learning, Nvidias driver situation is indeed terrible, but AMDs is worse in this sense: If you get the wrong kernel version, driver version or somehow mismatch the cuda version due to a pinned dependency, you're up the creek. However, everything downstream will work. With AMD, you will get the drivers on your machine no problem but heaven help you if you try to do anything with them (there are regressions and memory leaks, etc.)
- dijit 7y ago
  He might not be saying that; but I can. I have a fair number of machines and I /typically/ buy laptop/desktops with intels' graphics which works wonderfully under linux. On the occasion I use a descreet graphics card (Quatro M1200, GTX 670) it' usually nvidia, and it works pretty good if you have the proprietary driver installed. (even on FreeBSD). I did, however, recently build a full AMD machine that I intended to use for linux gaming, I did the most "happy path" thing and installed Ubuntu. It was a Ryzen 1700x with an AMD R9 390 (old at this point, but it was built when Ryzen just came out) and I genuinely couldn't get 3d Accel working at all. Games ran like absolute garbage. I ended up installing all kinds of "amd" "amd-pro" and "radeon" drivers which came with various warnings about being out of date or proprietary.. or "this should be in the kernel as FOSS".. but it never worked. I ended up selling the machine 2 years later. Contrastly my laptop has hybrid graphics with Nvidia and is still working fine. :(
- 7y ago
Shorel 7y ago
They are good now. I am writing this comment in a laptop with Radeon Vega 8 graphics and Ryzen 5 CPU running Ubuntu 19.10. I am playing Audiosurf2 in the second workspace.

Agree, I dropped Linux due bad graphics drivers (AMD)

jdc 7y ago

How long ago did you try it? It was definitely bad in the fglrx days!

perceptronas 7y ago
My move happened few months ago. I used Linux for years (and still use it in VMs/servers), however after changing GPU it was a compatibility nightmare. I chose AMD partly because I heard that drivers are good on Linux. Not sure how many hours I spend on it.
- dralley 7y ago
  Which card is this?
- ben-schaaf 7y ago
  I've installed 3 systems over the past couple years with amd gpus (all rx5XX). Not a single driver issue, nor any setup required.
yxhuvud 7y ago
This is definitely a problem still. The latest Ubuntu won't even boot with a 5700 XT card without first upgrading the Linux firmware.

winter_blue 7y ago

Are you really saying that AMD is worse than Nvidia on Linux??? I have a Nvidia GPU (on my laptop), and I've had a truly horrible experience on Linux with Nvidia proprietary drivers. I was actually considering ditching my laptop, and buying a new one with AMD chipsets, due to the issues I've had on Linux due to the presence of the Nvidia graphics card. I occasionally play games on my Linux laptop, using Proton (a Steam derivative of Wine), as well as native Linux games. So I do want a GPU. (Although, at this point I've even considered getting a laptop with no GPU and only integrated Intel graphics, since I want to at least be able to do business/work without problems.)

perceptronas 7y ago
I am not saying that. I just had terrible experience on a laptop with AMD GPU + Linux (rip battery) and on a desktop with discrete AMD GPU (suspend and whatnot errors) + Linux. Friends and coworkers with NVIDIA didn't seem to have those problems
- shmerl 7y ago
  AMD GPUs with new architecture need around half a year on Linux to reach stability. At least that was my experience with Navi. But once they reach it, it's rock solid. I wouldn't touch Nvidia at all.
dnautics 7y ago
For machine learning, Nvidias driver situation is indeed terrible, but AMDs is worse in this sense: If you get the wrong kernel version, driver version or somehow mismatch the cuda version due to a pinned dependency, you're up the creek. However, everything downstream will work. With AMD, you will get the drivers on your machine no problem but heaven help you if you try to do anything with them (there are regressions and memory leaks, etc.)
dijit 7y ago
He might not be saying that; but I can. I have a fair number of machines and I /typically/ buy laptop/desktops with intels' graphics which works wonderfully under linux. On the occasion I use a descreet graphics card (Quatro M1200, GTX 670) it' usually nvidia, and it works pretty good if you have the proprietary driver installed. (even on FreeBSD). I did, however, recently build a full AMD machine that I intended to use for linux gaming, I did the most "happy path" thing and installed Ubuntu. It was a Ryzen 1700x with an AMD R9 390 (old at this point, but it was built when Ryzen just came out) and I genuinely couldn't get 3d Accel working at all. Games ran like absolute garbage. I ended up installing all kinds of "amd" "amd-pro" and "radeon" drivers which came with various warnings about being out of date or proprietary.. or "this should be in the kernel as FOSS".. but it never worked. I ended up selling the machine 2 years later. Contrastly my laptop has hybrid graphics with Nvidia and is still working fine. :(
7y ago

Shorel 7y ago

They are good now. I am writing this comment in a laptop with Radeon Vega 8 graphics and Ryzen 5 CPU running Ubuntu 19.10. I am playing Audiosurf2 in the second workspace.