AMD Graphics, which drivers and OpenCL?

Darmok N Jalad · Jun 17, 2019

Fairly easy question, or at least I think so. I have an AMD card in my Linux machine, the RX 560. I want to use OpenCL for Darktable, and the open source AMD drivers (the default kernel ones) don't have that functionality, so I've installed the AMD proprietary option to get OpenCL support working. My question would be, is AMD's proprietary driver better or worse than the open driver, and if I want to use the open driver, how do I enable OpenCL support? I really don't expect much else from my machine, so gaming and the like isn't that important to me.

GoldenX · Jun 18, 2019

The rule is like this, the open source drivers are a lot better for 3d work, but the proprietary one is better for OpenCL work. The idea of the proprietary AMDGPU-PRO driver is to keep profiles for professional applications that need them, and use the Windows OpenCL driver too, so, for normal use, it's good enough for 3d and the best for opencl.
What distro are you using? In archlinux there's a way to only install the proprietary OpenCL driver and keep the mesa one for 3d.

Darmok N Jalad · Jun 18, 2019

GoldenX said:
The rule is like this, the open source drivers are a lot better for 3d work, but the proprietary one is better for OpenCL work. The idea of the proprietary AMDGPU-PRO driver is to keep profiles for professional applications that need them, and use the Windows OpenCL driver too, so, for normal use, it's good enough for 3d and the best for opencl.
What distro are you using? In archlinux there's a way to only install the proprietary OpenCL driver and keep the mesa one for 3d.

Sorry, I should have mentioned. Linux Mint 19.1. Currently have the 19.20 pro drivers installed.

FordGT90Concept · Jun 18, 2019

GPGPU - ArchWiki

wiki.archlinux.org

I think ROCm is the best:

ROCm, a New Era in GPU Computing

ROCm, a New Era in Open GPU Computing : Platform for GPU Enabled HPC and UltraScale Computing

rocm.github.io

GoldenX · Jun 18, 2019

FordGT90Concept said:
GPGPU - ArchWiki

wiki.archlinux.org

I think ROCm is the best:

ROCm, a New Era in GPU Computing

ROCm, a New Era in Open GPU Computing : Platform for GPU Enabled HPC and UltraScale Computing

rocm.github.io

Agree, it's compatible with Polaris.

ROCm Install

ROCm, a New Era in Open GPU Computing : Platform for GPU Enabled HPC and UltraScale Computing

rocm.github.io

Following Debian instructions works for Linux Mint.

Darmok N Jalad · Jun 18, 2019

So do I need to uninstall the old somehow first? Last time I tried to do that I lost the ability to StartX.

GoldenX · Jun 18, 2019

That's the horrible thing about proprietary drivers. Uninstalling.

There is a script for uninstalling AMDGPU-PRO with the download but ROCm is only for OpenCL, I would try it on top of what you have right now.

System Name	Mac Pro 4,1 > 5,1
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Processor	AMD Ryzen R3 1200 @ 3900MHz / Intel Core i3 5005U
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Mouse	Banghó MOUSE-PRO-1600 / Elan Touchpad
Keyboard	Generic / Stock
Software	Windows 10 LTSC x64 + Arch Linux
Benchmark Scores	Time Spy: 2200

System Name	Mac Pro 4,1 > 5,1
Processor	Intel Xeon W3690
Memory	16GB DDR3 ECC
Video Card(s)	MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor 8GB OC
Storage	Kinston 480GB SSD
Display(s)	LG 27UL500-W
Case	Cheese Grater
Audio Device(s)	My ears
Software	Mojave

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System Name	Ciel / Yukino
Processor	AMD Ryzen R3 1200 @ 3900MHz / Intel Core i3 5005U
Motherboard	MSI B350M PRO-VDH / HP 240 G5
Cooling	Wraith Stealth / Stock
Memory	2x 4GB Corsair Ballistix Sport DDR4 2400MHz @ 3000MHz / 2x 4GB Hynix + Kingston DDR3L 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire R9 270X Toxic 2GB / Intel HD 5500
Storage	SSD WD Green 240GB M.2 / SSD Kingston A400 120GB SATA
Display(s)	HP w17e 1440x900 @ 75 Hz / Integrated 1366x768 @ 94Hz
Case	Generic / Stock
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC892 / Realtek ALC282
Power Supply	Sentey XPP 525W / Power Brick
Mouse	Banghó MOUSE-PRO-1600 / Elan Touchpad
Keyboard	Generic / Stock
Software	Windows 10 LTSC x64 + Arch Linux
Benchmark Scores	Time Spy: 2200

AMD Graphics, which drivers and OpenCL?

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