The Vulkan Graphics API And AMD Radeon GPUs

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In addition to announcements from NVIDIA and Intel today, AMD is also talking about what the Vulkan API means for its graphics cards. The slides below outline the benefits of Vulkan on Radeon graphics cards and this blog post explains AMD’s involvement in this comprehensive industry alliance.


AMD Radeon Software Beta for Vulkan and release notes can be found here.
 
I think this is big, and I think this is when Valve will really start to push the steam machines.
 
It would be bigger if it didnt underperform d11 by a huge margin.
I guess games tailor made for vulkan might be different + better drivers
 
"Important Notes
  • This product is based on a published Khronos specification but has not yet passed the Khronos Conformance Test Process. A fully conformant implementation of the Vulkan API will be included in a forthcoming Radeon Software release.
  • This driver is intended as beta level support for use solely with Vulkan applications and as such some Radeon Software functionality has been removed. This is including and not limited to support for other Graphics APIs, Radeon Settings and other Radeon Software driver features."
might want to wait until its incorporated into the crimson drivers...
 
BravO))) said:
I think this is big, and I think this is when Valve will really start to push the steam machines.
Click to expand...
Steam Machines were DOA. They launched with zero fanfare, were panned across the board and no one bought them. They were over before they began.

I fail to see how a graphics API that massively under performs when compared to DX11 is going to help a Linux platform that already under performs in comparison to Windows.
 
The fact that Serious Sam 4 will most likely use this API is making me moist. I still fire up SS3 for some good oldschool fun.
 
I want it to be great, I want it to usher in a new era of less bloated drivers etc.

I just don't have a lot of hope.
 
DPI said:
Explain. How specifically does a 90's API relate to Vulkan?
Click to expand...

Perhaps veet was just pointing out that DX hasn't been the only successful api. It has been great for MS keeping one group of computer buyers loyal to Win/x86 for a long time.

MS was wise pushing DX as hard as they did. We could also blame DX in part for the endless stream of junk console ports the last number of years. I hope Vulkan catches fire and stands as the new OS agnostic API go to for the industry, having one API for android/windows/linux.. and hopefully osx. (Apple is on the board so hopefully they wise up and realize staying non standard was one of jobs constant mistakes) It will mean better PC games, even if it doesn't mean you will be as forced to run windows or virtualize a copy beside the OS you would rather run.
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As for the valve machine some people are saying was DOA... if Vulkan does catch on with developers it will feel even more like they jumped the gun. On the other hand if they can start getting new enough Vulkan ready AAA titles shipping their machines might pick up steam. (oh terrible pun there)
 
To a point, I was pointing out multiple successful APIs, but also, I was pointing out the strangeness that comes with having to develop for multiple proprietary APIs. Trying to get some games to run with MiniGL on a Voodoo card could be a pain in the neck.
 
Hopefully Vulkan will not suffer the same fate of OpenGL.
With so many Windows 7/DX9/11 games i haven't even played yet, maybe we could see some Vulkan patches for them. Not holding my breath, but it would be awesome. Seems better to implement because you're not limited to windows 10
 
I really think they need to get their hardware in order first. Continuing to issue new cards that perform exactly the same as previous one's but with different model numbers is, well, a bunch of crap that needs to stop.
 
TechLarry said:
I really think they need to get their hardware in order first. Continuing to issue new cards that perform exactly the same as previous one's but with different model numbers is, well, a bunch of crap that needs to stop.
Click to expand...

When it comes to DX11 and earlier, yes, but i think when Vulkan and DX12 games start coming out, generational/series gaps will widen.
 
This still requires new or existing games to be made specifically for Vulkan, right? With Mantle AMD had a list of developers and the games they were working on which would use it. Do we have a list with Vulkan? What can we expect to use this?
 
CombatChrisNC said:
This still requires new or existing games to be made specifically for Vulkan, right? With Mantle AMD had a list of developers and the games they were working on which would use it. Do we have a list with Vulkan? What can we expect to use this?
Click to expand...

Vulkan is the continuation of OpenGL. Its not an AMD thing they are simply releasing drivers for. Nvidia also has vulkan drivers. Vulkan is an open API that is also going to become standard on android devices. The industry is at a point where it needs a new cross platform api to reduce development costs. If Vulkan gets adopted widely as many devs are expecting it should fill that role. There is pressure on Sony to implement Vulkan on Ps4... and it may even hit Xbox one if MS caves. Developers like Dan Ginsburg at valve have made statements that Vulkan (which is being coded into source engine 2) is the way forward and not DX 12. The developers are sick of having to use 2 or 3 APIs for every system out there. OpenGL never really worked as the one API to worry about because of MS trying to force people onto windows platforms. As gamers Vulkan is very very good for us if it becomes the standard, it should mean a lot less junk ports, of course companies like valve are biased as they want us all to break from MS, the point is valid though and shared by pretty much every developer that has weighed in on the issue. Getting the industry all working with Vulkan for Windows/Linux/Android... leaves only Apple forcing them to mess around with metal if they want to worry about osx/ios.
 
CombatChrisNC said:
This still requires new or existing games to be made specifically for Vulkan, right? With Mantle AMD had a list of developers and the games they were working on which would use it. Do we have a list with Vulkan? What can we expect to use this?
Click to expand...

Sorry just forgot to mention... haven't seen a big list of upcoming games for Vulkan. Engines that are supoorting it though are Unity, Epic (unreal engine), Valves (source 2), Frostbite, Crytek. At this point I'm sure specific game developers are still singing DX and not rocking any boats. It seems all the major game engines are on board... it makes the Valve decision to run linux seem more sensible now, clearly they knew the Khronos group was readying the new lowlevel opengl before they made that decision.
 
ChadD said:
Vulkan is the continuation of OpenGL. Its not an AMD thing they are simply releasing drivers for. Nvidia also has vulkan drivers. Vulkan is an open API that is also going to become standard on android devices. The industry is at a point where it needs a new cross platform api to reduce development costs. If Vulkan gets adopted widely as many devs are expecting it should fill that role. There is pressure on Sony to implement Vulkan on Ps4... and it may even hit Xbox one if MS caves. Developers like Dan Ginsburg at valve have made statements that Vulkan (which is being coded into source engine 2) is the way forward and not DX 12. The developers are sick of having to use 2 or 3 APIs for every system out there. OpenGL never really worked as the one API to worry about because of MS trying to force people onto windows platforms. As gamers Vulkan is very very good for us if it becomes the standard, it should mean a lot less junk ports, of course companies like valve are biased as they want us all to break from MS, the point is valid though and shared by pretty much every developer that has weighed in on the issue. Getting the industry all working with Vulkan for Windows/Linux/Android... leaves only Apple forcing them to mess around with metal if they want to worry about osx/ios.
Click to expand...



I get it. And it's great. I'm all for it. BUT.... my question is still out there. What developers (and in pertcular, the games they're working on) have come out and said, 'We're going to use Vulkan'?


ChadD said:
Sorry just forgot to mention... haven't seen a big list of upcoming games for Vulkan. Engines that are supoorting it though are Unity, Epic (unreal engine), Valves (source 2), Frostbite, Crytek. At this point I'm sure specific game developers are still singing DX and not rocking any boats. It seems all the major game engines are on board... it makes the Valve decision to run linux seem more sensible now, clearly they knew the Khronos group was readying the new lowlevel opengl before they made that decision.
Click to expand...

Ahh, good. That's some good news. That THAT many engines will be supporting it makes me feel better.
 
CombatChrisNC said:
Ahh, good. That's some good news. That THAT many engines will be supporting it makes me feel better.
Click to expand...

Steve posted the AMD slides... should have posted the Vulkan link as well Vulkan - Industry Forged
Drivers already out for intel/amd/nvidia and the arm guys as well. Also notice the Metal guys are working on MetalVk for ios/osx so seems even the Apple guys won't be left out. Should make it easier to develop for both android and ios at least should mean fewer issues on the GFX side of things anyway. Hopefully it doesn't fall apart, can't imagine MS is very happy to see this unfolding.
 
crusty_juggler said:
Steam Machines were DOA. They launched with zero fanfare, were panned across the board and no one bought them. They were over before they began.
Click to expand...

Panned across the board? I think you're misrepresenting reality; search reviews on the Zotac Nen. The only negative reviews were from people who thought you could build your own for less money which I do not believe is the case, especially given the form factor and lack of noise.

I don't know about the other ones, but the zotac one sold so well its price was inflated by 100 dollars for a month.

It's also a really, really nice machine. It's smaller than a dreamcast and runs quieter under load than my gaming rig on idle.
 
Revdarian said:
S3's api was called METAL, they were the firsts with texture compression technology... dang i feel old >.< lol
Click to expand...

I had an S3 Virge video card, my very first 3D capable video card. I even remember the game it came with - Hyperblade. It was crap compared to 3DFX Voodoo though.

There is no Vulkan driver for GTX780? I looked up supported hardware and it says GTX780Ti but not GTX780.
 
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ChadD said:
Vulkan is the continuation of OpenGL. Its not an AMD thing they are simply releasing drivers for. Nvidia also has vulkan drivers. Vulkan is an open API that is also going to become standard on android devices. The industry is at a point where it needs a new cross platform api to reduce development costs. If Vulkan gets adopted widely as many devs are expecting it should fill that role. There is pressure on Sony to implement Vulkan on Ps4... and it may even hit Xbox one if MS caves. Developers like Dan Ginsburg at valve have made statements that Vulkan (which is being coded into source engine 2) is the way forward and not DX 12. The developers are sick of having to use 2 or 3 APIs for every system out there. OpenGL never really worked as the one API to worry about because of MS trying to force people onto windows platforms. As gamers Vulkan is very very good for us if it becomes the standard, it should mean a lot less junk ports, of course companies like valve are biased as they want us all to break from MS, the point is valid though and shared by pretty much every developer that has weighed in on the issue. Getting the industry all working with Vulkan for Windows/Linux/Android... leaves only Apple forcing them to mess around with metal if they want to worry about osx/ios.
Click to expand...

I have to say this first:
Vulkan is NOT a continuation, or the next iteration of OpenGL. It shares no coding what soever. It is the successor to Mantle; but since AMD wanted this to be open source and cross platform; the assess for Mantle were given to Khronos to develop into Vulkan. That said Vulkan may eventually replace OpenGL as the go-to graphics API. And this is the real point. OpenGl and DX are based on legacy coding that bottle necks today's powerful PCs.
This is why regardless of the huge computing/graphics power they have, there is only so much you can squeeze though those APIs. This is why game development has stagnated so much. There is no point of doing anything amazing if you cannot make it run successfully on the PCs out there. This being the case we all should be cheering instead of taking turns pissing on it.
There has been some examples of alpha versions of Vulkan running on SoC. The result on a such a relatively low power system is amazing.

Linky Early Vulkan proto vs OpenGL ES


Demo Vulkan running on a Mali SoC
 
I would love for it to take off. I would be on linux then. Gameing is the onlt thing that keeps me from useing it.
 
ChadD said:
Sorry just forgot to mention... haven't seen a big list of upcoming games for Vulkan. Engines that are supoorting it though are Unity, Epic (unreal engine), Valves (source 2), Frostbite, Crytek. At this point I'm sure specific game developers are still singing DX and not rocking any boats. It seems all the major game engines are on board... it makes the Valve decision to run linux seem more sensible now, clearly they knew the Khronos group was readying the new lowlevel opengl before they made that decision.
Click to expand...

Its. Not. Fucking. OpenGL, or any continuation thereof. There is ZERO legacy OGL code in Vulkan. It is a clean slate.

And there isn't a "big list of Vulkan games" because until yesterday's announcement, working with Vulkan, and beta drivers from NVIDIA/AMD/INTEL was under NDA.

There are some big titles that will feature it. 100% of Source 2 titles will feature it. SteamVR titles will feature it. Have no fear, the titles are coming.

Battlefield 5 is the main one I'm looking forward to.
 
DPI said:
Its. Not. Fucking. OpenGL, or any continuation thereof. There is ZERO legacy OGL code in Vulkan. It is a clean slate.

And there isn't a "big list of Vulkan games" because until yesterday's announcement, working with Vulkan, and beta drivers from NVIDIA/AMD/INTEL was under NDA.

There are some big titles that will feature it. 100% of Source 2 titles will feature it. SteamVR titles will feature it. Have no fear, the titles are coming.

Battlefield 5 is the main one I'm looking forward to.
Click to expand...

Well continuation wasn't really the right word. It is the next gen api from the same industry group... it was named glNext before getting its new name. As you are saying likely to keep people from confusing it with opengl. Anyway point taken. No its not opengl... its opengls successor, not replacement as I may have inferred with my choice of words. It will be interesting to see if the CAD stuff starts moving that way. I know manufactures of the pro stuff are of course a lot more cautious, so I am sure OpenGL will continue in that space for a long time yet.

Should be pretty interesting comparing the first round of games vs DX... and also interesting to see how many upcoming titles get solid releases on linux. The steam machine might get a lot more attractive to a lot more people.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
I have to say this first:
Vulkan is NOT a continuation, or the next iteration of OpenGL. It shares no coding what soever. It is the successor to Mantle; but since AMD wanted this to be open source and cross platform; the assess for Mantle were given to Khronos to develop into Vulkan. That said Vulkan may eventually replace OpenGL as the go-to graphics API. And this is the real point. OpenGl and DX are based on legacy coding that bottle necks today's powerful PCs.
This is why regardless of the huge computing/graphics power they have, there is only so much you can squeeze though those APIs. This is why game development has stagnated so much. There is no point of doing anything amazing if you cannot make it run successfully on the PCs out there. This being the case we all should be cheering instead of taking turns pissing on it.
There has been some examples of alpha versions of Vulkan running on SoC. The result on a such a relatively low power system is amazing.

Linky Early Vulkan proto vs OpenGL ES


Demo Vulkan running on a Mali SoC
Click to expand...


Those vids are amazing. My GPU just went from six to midnight.
 
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