AMD Radeon

[M8WHRR]

Hi all,
I've been doing a bit of research on Linux and it's incompatibility with AMD graphics cards/chips. All the information I've found is over a year old now, so does anyone have any updates on whether this will be rectified? I'm gaming currently on Mint, but I feel the graphics would be greatly improved if the Radeon 8850M chip would run. I really didnt want to put windows on this system, but it's looking like I will have to, especially as Fs17 & upcoming 19 are incompatible with Linux. Would any other distros recognise my graphics chip?

Cheers

[Mattyboy]

You can install the AMD catalyst drivers in Mint 17.3/Ubuntu 16.04. Both have about another year of support ( I think ).

There currently is no other Linux alternative for Radeon propriety drivers.

[English Invader]

The only answers in the long term are to either move over to Nvidia or move back to Windows.

I'm quite fortunate in that I tend to mainly play older games through Wine/PlayOnLinux so my HD 5450 (with open source driver) is just fine for me.

[M8WHRR]

Thanks, I will put 17.3 on and see how it goes with that. I really don't want to go back to Windows, I don't know how to use it anymore, the last version I used being Vista. Not only that, it costs a bloody fortune. Push comes to shove, I will have to set up a bare windows 10 OS for purposes of gaming, and keep Mint as my main drive.

I have just changed laptops on a very limited budget to allow me to play games at better spec, I have used a 2011 macbook pro up until last month, when the hatred overwhelmed me. I bought a second hand Dell 3540, though in hindsight, I should have done more research in to compatibilities. Being a lorry driver I just can't justify a desktop.

[shawnhcorey]

Yeah, the newer Linux is not calling the graphics routines in the old drivers. Instead, it falls back to the CPU and it only uses one core when it does. The problem with running an older kernel is it doesn't have the security patches.

[Mattyboy]

Not only that, it costs a bloody fortune. Push comes to shove, I will have to set up a bare windows 10 OS for purposes of gaming, and keep Mint as my main drive.

I'm not a fan of Windows 10 but I do dual boot for gaming/like to keep up. I've nothing against it and tend to go with 'the right tool for the job'.. if I wanna play Windows games I boot Windows. Can't be doing with all the struggles to get them running on Linux. Besides you don't run Linux to use Windows I also run Linux native games on Steam ( you need propriety drivers ).

Here's a tip for you regarding the cost. You can buy, from a well known website named after a river, OEM activation codes for Windows 10 ( will work for the life time of the hardware if you don't dramatically upgrade ) for around five quid. They send you an E.mail. Download the ISO for free from M$, install and activate. I'm running W10 pro for a fiver.

Linux is my main OS now and always will be but its handy having other options.