Linux Gaming Improves, Thanks to DXVK 2.7
Gamers with Linux PCs should download the latest version of translation layer DXVK, which helps Direct3D games run on Vulkan, as it's just received an important update. Version 2.7 has bug fixes for several games, including Lego City Undercover, Star Trek: Starfleet Command III, and Wargame: European Escalation. It also has improvements for gamers with Intel Battlemage graphics chips.
DXVK is a translation layer for Wine that supports Direct3D 8/9/10/11 and enables gaming with many Windows-based games. As VideoCardz points out , the improvements in DXVK 2.7 will lead to less stuttering with Battlemage GPUs. Memory defragmentation is enabled by default now if your system has Intel Battlemage GPU.
"On discrete GPUs, DXVK will now enforce the driver-reported VRAM budget as much as possible, and dynamically evict unused resources to system memory when under memory pressure," Github user doitsujin wrote in DXVK's version 2.7 release notes. "This should improve performance in many Unity Engine titles on VRAM-constrained system, and may allow for higher texture quality settings to be used in some games."
Credit: PCMag.
The update won't eliminate stuttering completely if the game needs more VRAM than you have, but the update should alleviate it in some situations. The notes indicate that there is an unresolved issue that prevents older Intel GPUs from being able to safely use memory defragmentation. So for older Intel GPUs, memory defrag is still disabled by default.
A reworking of the descriptor binding model means that PCs running AMD and Nvidia GPUs should benefit from reduced CPU overhead. As the release notes suggest, that should be helpful when you play certain CPU-heavy games, like Final Fantasy XIV and Gods of War, among others. In some cases, there will be a bit of a GPU hit, but it's a trade-off for consistency in overall performance. And if you don't want the change, you can override it. (The release notes offer details on this.) This is disabled for older GPUs, which would likely suffer a performance hit.
As we mentioned, the fixes and workaround list features several games. You should now be able to change graphics options without crashing Astebreed. If you've been having trouble getting GTR - FIA GT Racing Game to start without crashing, give it another try. The intro video in Lego City Undercover now works, and Star Trek: Starfleet Command III no longer has a resource leak. Test Drive Unlimited 2 no longer has the alt-tab glitch, and Wargame: European Escalation shouldn't encounter gamma problems with Nvidia GPUs anymore.
