MESA, the open-source OpenGL & Vulkan API library, has received the NVIDIA NVK Vulkan driver along with AMD RDNA 3.5 GPU support in the latest 23.3 release.
MESA 23.3 Brings in NVIDIA Vulkan & RDNA 3.5 Enablement, Shaping Up To Be a Viable Alternative to Mainstream Drivers
The new MESA 23.3 update has come with exciting bits, starting with the introduction of NVIDIA's Vulkan "NVK" driver, which is supported by utilizing the Nouveau DRM kernel driver. For Linux users who are intrigued by the "open-source" developments on the platform, this is indeed a huge piece of news, since it would bring in Vulkan API support within the NVIDIA graphics segment. In order to take advantage of the new Mesa update, you must have Linux 6.6 or above loaded into your systems.
Apart from NVIDIA's Vulkan driver, the new MESA 23.3 update has also brought in support for RDNA 3.5 GPUs, or in other words, the " RDNA 3 Refresh"
. As reported previously, this is highlighted as the GFX 11.5 series in Linux's kernel. For a quick recap, RDNA 3.5 will see its debut in AMD's Ryzen 8000 "Strix Point" APUs, which is expected to feature 8 WGP's (Work Group Processors) and a total of 16 Compute Units for up to 1024 stream processors.
It is interesting to see Team Red providing early support for the architecture since past trends have shown that AMD is always late to the party when it comes to offering next-gen support in Linux.
The new MESA 23.3 update is a great addition for Linux consumers, since not only has it brought in "enhanced" support for NVIDIA users, but it has gained enablement for upcoming architectures as well. The open-source developers are certainly doing their job to keep the MESA Vulkan driver well-competitive at Linux, since by the looks of it, they are getting much ahead of what the proprietary offerings present in the markets. You can download Mesa's new update from here.
News Source: Phoronix
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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