AMD GPU Driver questions...

[_t8r_]

Not sure where to ask this as a first time poster to the forum, but here goes.

 

TL;DR, Can I install both the gaming and workstation drivers at the same time? I game and I'm looking to do massive video upscaling, and I'd like to switch between the two like NVidia offers (or at least used to...) in the GeForce app.

 

Build:

5950X

AMD 6950XT OEM 

MSI Gaming Edge WiFi X570

32 GB 3200 mhz RAM (set to that speed in bios, accordingly)

 

Longer version: I'm looking to backup and upscale my DVD collection for Plex or Jellyfin. So far, I'm using MakeMKV for the rips and that works perfectly. I've tested Topaz Labs and AVCLAbs for the upscaling software using different settings to actually test before buying. Personally, I like the AVCLabs results better, Topaz seems to look a tad off if there's too much motion. 

 

Here's my issue: it takes 6 hours at the earliest to upscale to 1080p, and 15 hours to upscale to 4k, using no corrections other than the upscaling setting, denoise, and deinterlace, base AI settings. I could enable more, but that adds more processing time. This is without trying the workstation drivers for the GPU. If anyone has feedback on their process and if this seems right, I'd like confirmation. If not, what's your secret?

 

[PDifolco]

Short answer : you can't have both, only 1 driver is possible, unless you setup a dual boot system obviously  

 

[_t8r_]

Well, that kinda sucks. What if I want to be productive some days but game on others? Huh AMD? Didn't think ahead! Phenomenal cosmic powers ... Itty bitty living space. I want Lisa Su's direct line and we're gonna fix this!

[PDifolco]

7 minutes ago, _t8r_ said:

Well, that kinda sucks. What if I want to be productive some days but game on others? Huh AMD? Didn't think ahead! Phenomenal cosmic powers ... Itty bitty living space. I want Lisa Su's direct line and we're gonna fix this!

Really a dual boot setup is quite simple to create, you create 2 separate windows install and choose which to boot in Windows Boot manager

You could also use a VM for the productivity setup, looks simple with Hyper-V but I didn't use it yet

 

[Bagzie]

By workstation drivers I assume you just mean the pro drivers.

 

The pro drivers BTW are nearly the same as the gaming drivers they are just a few steps behind for stability reasons.

 

Try them out you may find your games work fine.

 

I don't however think it would cut down on your upscaling time , I suspect your cpu is doing the work and not the gpu.

[_t8r_]

21 hours ago, PDifolco said:

Really a dual boot setup is quite simple to create, you create 2 separate windows install and choose which to boot in Windows Boot manager

You could also use a VM for the productivity setup, looks simple with Hyper-V but I didn't use it yet

After the feedback, my next step was to convert my linux drive on my second M.2 to a VM and then install a second W11 for school and productivity. I've played with VirtualBox, Hyper-V, and I have yet to try VMware even though I have a school key for it. My problem is that I don't really know how to passthrough access to the hardware on a VM yet in Hyper-V. It's another thing on my to-do list.

 

14 hours ago, Bagzie said:

I don't however think it would cut down on your upscaling time , I suspect your cpu is doing the work and not the gpu.

Great info in your whole comment. I was not aware of the differences in the pro drivers vs. gaming drivers. I just knew that when I had GeForce Experience, NVidia let you switch between the two with an in-app toggle, which was kinda nice. I never used it at the time, but it was a cool feature. 

 

As far as the CPU doing all the work, both my CPU and GPU usage was at like, 40-50%. I thought it was strange to see even usage spread across both, and then I realized I also didn't try this with SAM enabled. Rookie mistake. I'll update on my experience after trying again. 

[_t8r_]

Yeah, didn't make a whole lot of difference, time-wise. 

 

I'm now sitting at 53% GPU usage, 3% CPU, and it processes at .12 seconds per frame. Which admittedly is astounding, but the overall time is still roughly 6 and a half hours for FHD quality. Maybe Linus can do a video on upscaling technologies? Obviously not for feature length films because of piracy adjacent legal concerns, but the technology is cool and the optimization of this process would be an interesting topic, as well as showcasing things AI can be useful for. Watching the process side-by-side, I'm kinda blown away at how quickly each frame is being upscaled in real time. 

[_t8r_]

Shoot a grainy video of him falling into a pool and use AVC or TOPAZ to upscale it so we can laugh at him in 4K?