AMD Radeon R9 270X On Linux

All you alternative OS types out there might want to know how AMD's Radeon R9 270X performs in a Linux environment. Hell, all you Windows guys might want to take a peek at the results too.

This Volcanic Islands graphics card in Microsoft Windows benchmarks has been faster than a Radeon HD 7870, but today we have the first Linux test results and compatibility information available. This article serves as our first Linux review of the AMD R9 270X - or any Rx 200 series graphics card for that matter - in the form of the Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X 2GB.

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Let's hope AMD keeps it up and helps Steam OS become a home run.

SteamOS is not going anywhere unless it can run on mobiles. They should of made a version of Steam and the Steam store for Android and not Linux, which will forever be a dead-end OS without a services backend company like Google or Microsoft.

I think it is a bit misleading to say that it outperforms a 7850 because they are comparing the R9 270X on current drivers to a 7870 on much older drivers. On the same driver version they should be essentially the same perf, or at least a lot closer than they showed.

EDIT: Realized it was a 7850 not a 7870 they compared against. AND they actually used the same driver version for all the tests. So, yeah I retract my statement.

Terminus said:

SteamOS is not going anywhere unless it can run on mobiles. They should of made a version of Steam and the Steam store for Android and not Linux, which will forever be a dead-end OS without a services backend company like Google or Microsoft.

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I'm watching these tests with great interest as I'm sure some others on the forums are. When SteamOS comes out I already have a little PC ready for it. I still need a decent graphics card. Neither Nvidia or AMD are impressing me yet. I hope they get their stuff together by then.

And just curious, why doesn't AMD send cards to the Linux reviewers? Are they really that far out of the loop as far as the "buzz" that is going around about the SteamOS?

Terminus said:

SteamOS is not going anywhere unless it can run on mobiles. They should of made a version of Steam and the Steam store for Android and not Linux, which will forever be a dead-end OS without a services backend company like Google or Microsoft.

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There are so many incorrect things here in such a short post that I almost feel like applauding it?

OOOOOOhhhhh yay another 10 frames in my Quake 1 source mods.

Terminus said:

SteamOS is not going anywhere unless it can run on mobiles. They should of made a version of Steam and the Steam store for Android and not Linux, which will forever be a dead-end OS without a services backend company like Google or Microsoft.

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How can one post have so many thing that are simply just wrong. You may seirously want to seek help.

Android is.. *gasp* a linux based operating system, so the fact that you recommend Steam be for android and not linux is errm. wow.

Next, why would Steam focus on the mobile market? They'd be releasing a product with no existing software base to offer people. They'd be basically going head to head with apple and google but without any of their previous software offerings. It'd be stretching them thin for a market they've never shown a real interest in.

Next, Steam OS has a backend. Its called Steam. It's the number 1 digital distributor of pc games.

^^Yep, Skyrim runs perfectly fine for me off of Steam on Mint 15 with nVidia's drivers. I'm going to tackle getting some others up and running on it soon.

InternationalHat said:

There are so many incorrect things here in such a short post that I almost feel like applauding it?

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Agreed, but in a left-handed compliment sort of way, he does make a point of sorts--his very ignorance about Linux in general proves that whatever effort is being made to popularize Linux is weak, fragmented, and almost completely ineffective in terms of the mass market (Windows market.) There are reasons for that, though--even giving the stuff away to consumers doesn't help--with Linux desktops percolating at <1% of the entire worldwide consumer desktop market. [Linux is great guns in enterprise, of course, but we aren't talking about that here. Also, I can't help but remember that being "based on Linux" doesn't mean that Android is OOB-compatible with Steam's Linux game library, etc.]

SteamOS...it is interesting why, even though Valve has already stated in the Q&A/FAQ on SteamOS that its current Ubuntu 12.03+ games library is already compatible with SteamOS, that few seem to realize that "SteamOS" is in fact Valve's own slightly custom release of Ubuntu 12.03+. Indeed, Valve has also stated that the ratio of Windows games on Steam versus SteamOS games on Steam is approximately 10-1 in favor of Windows games (~3,000 to ~300, my own estimate--which may be giving Ubuntu credit for having more Steam game support than is the case.) Primarily, it seems to me, SteamOS is all about marketing--doesn't seem it's really a new OS after all--not even "just another Linux derivative"--it's Ubuntu 12.03+, with a few custom Valve additions that do not break compatibility with a standard version of Ubuntu 12.03+.

In terms of SteamOS, then, it is business as usual for Valve, except that now Valve will be distributing Ubuntu direct to end users. This does absolutely nothing to alter the landscape in terms of the effort game developers put into supporting Ubuntu 12.03+, which is miniscule and almost invisible when compared with the effort game developers put into developing for Windows. Since all Linux distributions combined total ~1% of the world-wide consumer desktop market, why should they?

What is Ubuntu 12.03+?

WaltC said:

In terms of SteamOS, then, it is business as usual for Valve, except that now Valve will be distributing Ubuntu direct to end users. This does absolutely nothing to alter the landscape in terms of the effort game developers put into supporting Ubuntu 12.03+, which is miniscule and almost invisible when compared with the effort game developers put into developing for Windows. Since all Linux distributions combined total ~1% of the world-wide consumer desktop market, why should they?

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Are you intentionally narrowing your statement for truth? No developers aren't going to expand efforts into supporting Ubuntu 12.03+. They are going to push harder towards Linux in general.

Having the largest distributor of PC games backing a Linux distro (even if it's their own re-brand) is specifically intended to popularize and increase the user base of that platform. Valve/Gabe absolutely wants games away from Microsoft's licensing clutches (and DirectX shenanigans) and a Linux platform running under their name, supporting OpenGL is the best hope they have for that.

The only reason Linux isn't 90% of the desktop market is the same reason it's so attractive to those of us that understand directory structures or know what a development trunk is. It's free, it's open source and 'we' aren't afraid of a learning curve. Consumers, on average, are utter morons by comparison and if it doesn't work out of the box, they'll want to dump it. SteamOS is intended to focus efforts into a singular platform to make linux gaming work out of the box. What's so hard to understand about this? They aren't trying to make showy marketing buzz-words with a nonexistent market, they're trying to change the market.

The 270x has really great performance for a $200-ish card. Impressed!

Terminus said:

SteamOS is not going anywhere unless it can run on mobiles. They should of made a version of Steam and the Steam store for Android and not Linux, which will forever be a dead-end OS without a services backend company like Google or Microsoft.

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Yeah, expanding Steam to Android would have been a better strategy than trying to dump Windows, or use Windows for streaming.

pxc said:

Yeah, expanding Steam to Android would have been a better strategy than trying to dump Windows, or use Windows for streaming.

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SMH

Brilliant analysis in all your posts, and I mean in all forums here.