[Intel-gfx] [ANNOUNCE] xf86-video-intel 2.8.0

[Timo Jyrinki]

2009/7/21 Carl Worth <cworth at cworth.org>:
> We are pleased to present this major release of the xf86-video-intel
> driver. This release is very similar to the 2.7.99.902 release
> candidate but includes a couple of additional bug fixes, (for bugs
> #22760 and @22483).

Hi. Thanks for the release. It seems to be now quite stable after all
the KMS/GEM/DRI2/UXA hassle, I'm happy to say (and so are / will be
the other users).

However, Intel is getting its worth of bad publicity because of all
the stability problems (now addressed) and performance problems (only
getting worse). Could there be at least some blog post analysis about
what's going to be done about performance?

Newest Phoronix numbers just in:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=intel_q309_flakes&num=2
- Ubuntu 9.10 (2.6.31, 2.8.0, 7.5) is much slower, even double in some
tests, than Ubuntu 9.04 (2.6.28, 2.6.x (EXA), 7.4). And Ubuntu 9.04,
where GEM was introduced, was already 2x slower than Ubuntu 8.10/8.04
(intel 2.2-2.4 / EXA / no GEM) in many important areas.

When the GEM & co. were introduced, also performance benefits were
touted. In the light of what has happened, people are probably getting
the idea it's only getting worse. Could the blog post (or something)
analyze a bit what has happened so far, is it all understandable that
at the stabilizing phase performance has gotten so much worse, or has
there been surprises that weren't understood at the GEM/UXA design
phase?

I'm all positive on Intel gfx with the 2.6.31/2.8.0/7.6 class of
software on my GMA X3100, but I'd just hope some positive PR action
from Intel addressing the performance issues many users are keen to
know more about.

-Timo