AMD

Back at it!

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Tonight I rightfully returned to Source Filmmaker under my Manjaro install, with my primary focus being how well does the program run on my new swank GPU. After a few good hours I can say that the results are in, and the answer is awesome! My Vega64 ran SFM alright for the most part, but if you imported too many models or particles into the world it would lag when dragging your cameras, even when splitting clips into smaller ones. So far I haven’t experienced that with the 6800XT, even with the same stage setups I’ve created! If this continues to perform as such I’ll only really need to go into Windows to do the export (and possibly for After Effects work if I can’t get it to work under Wine/Proton), and even then I don’t always have to depending on the scene (lighting sometimes looks better under Windows or vice versa depending on the map and the materials being used).

I mostly spent the entire session doing mouth movements and some animation tweaking. I am shrinking the audio as I go; removing any long gaps in between.I’ll continue on it some more tomorrow after I get off work and do my usual stuff. Who knows, if I get far enough along that I can post something different I might provide an update tomorrow! 😛

My 6800XT Is Making Linux Suicidal

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My plans to reinstall Manjaro have hit a brick wall… Updating to Manjaro 21 didn’t fix anything, in fact it wouldn’t even let me into the operating system and produced the same result as yesterday when I tried to login. I tried installing ArchLinux, but the installer decided to throw auditing errors just as it seems to want to do under Manjaro. I also decided to give Solus a whirl, but that just ended up freezing the fucking installer. I finally got Mint to install, but now I’m having issues installing drivers via PPA.

I forgot to factor in the GPU shortage makes it difficult for Linux developers to code for them. This is going to require more research; I’ll have to rely on Windoze until I can find time to get it sorted. But I’ll get it working at some point… I always do.

Some Penguin Approved Gaming And Chill

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I kicked back today with a good breakfast, a little photo work, and lots of Linux gaming. Took a bit of a break from using Proton to play some native Linux TF2 and Dusk. Apparently in Discord it reads that I’m playing hl2_linux instead of TF2, that made me chuckle a bit. The last time I played TF2 under Linux it kept giving me stack errors, nice to see they’ve fixed it.

I prepped my laptop on the Linux side for some fun lunch time shenanigans tomorrow. Since DMC5 runs so well on my Manjaro desktop setup with pure AMD hardware I want to see how well it runs on my laptop with Intel/NVidia. I did a quick test launch and it automatically detected the best settings, always a good sign! It even sees the proper refresh rate (144hz). Should make for a fun, scientific lunch break. I also installed a few Portal 2 mods in case I wanted to do somewhat actual not actual science.

AMD Trades Oculus Support For SteamVR Support

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AMD released their new 18.12.2 driver; Featuring a new addition to AMD’s Radeon Adrenalin Software that will enable users to stream their games to Android and iOS via the AMD Link App, including SteamVR across a wide selection of VR Headsets, however… it appears Oculus headsets will no longer be supported by AMD.

AMD’s Radeon ReLive for VR feature won’t support Oculus devices, despite at first being claimed to. The functionality allows for Radeon graphics card owners to stream PC virtual reality games to standalone headsets. Unfortunately, this is inherently tied to SteamVR, which puts it on Facebook’s bad side. Therefore, as AMD has now informed us, it will not support any Oculus devices.

Apparently AMD’s choice to support SteamVR was a step too far, looks like NVidia now has their own exclusive headset… and they didn’t even have to bribe anybody! :trollface: But seriously, that move is going to cost Oculus a pretty penny

Not that any of this matters to me. Facebook’s involvement was enough to discourage me from ever buying into it. The HTC Vive looks sexier by comparison… although I’m not sure if my eyes could handle VR.

CentOS 7 doesn’t like Ryzen

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Naturally when I think about something too much it inevitably causes me to migrate towards whatever I’m thinking about. In this case my Linux install, which has come to a bit of a halt for the time being due to the fact that its kernel is too old for my new chipset. There are a few other options I could try; such as adding another repo and installing a newer kernel via command line. There is also installing another distro entirely, but I wouldn’t be sure what one to go with. I don’t like Ubuntu, Mint left a bad taste in my mouth, and Fedora can go fuck itself with a bag of salted dicks. This is something I’ll have to sit and chew on. :zorak:

Guess it’s back to my shenanigans.. :melon:

Ryzen up to the challenge

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I’m happy to say my new build has passed with flying colors, literally:

I’ve been quite happy with the setup so far. I’m still running at stock at the moment, everything has been running stable with only a couple Windows 10 quirks that doing a couple regedits can easily fix. I’ve already done some benchmarking in 3DMark and a couple Tomb Raider games. Here are my results with both running on the highest settings with Tessellation disabled:

I’ve run 3DMark, but for whatever reason it doesn’t recognize my graphics driver (currently 18.4.1 non beta), will try to run more tests at a later date. I tested Wolfenstein II since it was designed with Ryzen and Radeon in mind, and I can say it runs on Uber settings above 100FPS! :meeseeks: Whereas before it stayed in the 60 FPS range on high, definitely happy with the results. I can’t wait to see how this thing handles large video rendering projects! :happy:

My next goal is to purchase an external Blu-Ray burner, for backing up data (and experimenting with PS3 emulation) but that isn’t a requirement at this time. I’m going to try and take a break from spending lots of money and only save it for the small stuff. As it is I’m coming back up on renewing my webdomain. :rick:

x58 and Vega64 don’t play well on Windows 10

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As I mentioned in a small blurb on Friday; I had issues plugging in my graphics card into my current motherboard. At first I thought Windows 10 was installing a bad driver, but after some messing around and reading teh interwebz it became clear this is a widespread issue for people who are still running on an x58 chipset. There are two ways to get around it though: I can either go back to Windows 7 where this problem doesn’t exist, or upgrade my hardware. My choice is a pretty obvious one.

As I’ve previously mentioned a few posts ago, I already planned to upgrade anyway. Fortunately I have enough money set aside and have already ordered the parts needed to get myself situated. I have a Ryzen 7 2700X, ASRock X470 Taichi and 16GB of G-SKILL Flare X series memory on the way. This will be my first all AMD build since the 90’s. it should go without saying that overall I’m pretty stoked. :meeseeks: In some ways I’m kinda bummed, my audio setup is going to have to change. I run a Sound Blaster XFi Titanium Edition with an external breakout box, and I’ll be giving up two SATA slots (I’ll have 8 instead of the 10). For now I can use my Shure X2U DAC (digital analog converter) to run my microphone into the system until I decide what sound card solution to go with, or if I should just get a larger USB DAC, or if the onboard audio is well enough to plug my speakers into.

Overall this will be a great learning curve. I look forward to playing and rendering, the 2700X is an absolute beast when it comes to games and even moreso when it comes to rendering. Since I do a lot of video rendering every little bit helps. :happy:

Nothing wants to work today.

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If you’re getting an SSL error when trying to view this site, or any of the others running through this domain it seems my certificates haven’t auto updated yet. I’ve been messing with my new graphics card today (which sadly doesn’t want to run with my current motherboard) and haven’t had a chance to look too deeply into it. I’ve purchased the parts I need to build my new system, so much for taking it slowly. Within the next week or so I should have a new setup to drool over.

This is just a heads up: The website itself is safe still, just hasn’t updated the certificate yet for whatever reason. :zorak:

Look what arrived!

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It has arrived! I’m too tired to put it on right now, but if things go well I might see some more HBM graphic goodness during my weekend. I can even color it to match my keyboard and mouse! I’m going to have bling out the arse. :happy:

I may also start collecting parts to get my Ryzen setup started. All I really need is a new motherboard, processor, and RAM to go that route. Maybe within three months I can get started? :happy:

Upgrades!

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By the powers that be I have a new graphics card coming in the mail. I’ve managed to score a RX Vega64 to surpass my current R9 Fury. It was a toss up for me to either completely switch to Ryzen or upgrade graphics. For now I can still get by on my Xeon, and throughout the year I’ll just scout for parts individually as they get cheaper. I have a goal to completely go pure AMD on my desktop by next year. I’ve read and seen enough about Ryzen processors, with threadripper continuing to make me drool.

I wonder how many Bungholio Marks I’ll be able to score? :v: