AMD has released AMDVLK 2023.Q2.1, its first official open-source Vulkan driver update for the quarter, which provides Linux users with an alternative to the Mesa RADV driver or the code included in their Radeon Software packaged driver.
With AMDVLK 2023.Q2.1, a number of new Vulkan extensions and other enhancements are supported; this is the first open-source Vulkan driver update since mid-March.
New extensions found with AMDVLK 2023.Q2.1 include VK_KHR_map_memory2, VK_EXT_image_sliced_view_of_3d, VK_EXT_vertex_input_dynamic_state, VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3, VK_EXT_shader_module_identifier, VK_EXT_mesh_shader, VK_EXT_pipeline_library_group_handles, and VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer. Overall, a nice collection of updates, particularly the addition of mesh shader support and the fact that some of the other extensions are also useful for Steam Play with DXVK/VKD3D-Proton.
Since the RDNA2 / Navi 2 GPUs, Radeon GPUs have supported mesh shading functionality, and the RADV driver has already exposed VK_EXT_mesh_shader. It’s great that AMDVLK has finally joined the party. In September of last year, the official Vulkan extension for mesh shaders was published.
In addition to a smattering of new Vulkan extensions, AMDVLK 2023.Q2.1 now supports the new floating point instructions found on Navi 3x GPUs. Additionally, the Vulkan API specifications have been updated to match the v1.3.246 release.
This release concludes with a few problem fixes for Vulkan CTS failures and other issues being resolved. On GitHub, you can find the AMDVLK 2023.Q2.1 source code as well as binaries for Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.