We've reported earlier today, May 26, 2016, that Valve pushed build 2.80 of its SteamOS gaming operating system to the Brewmaster Beta channels for early adopters and public beta testers.
One new, major feature implemented by Valve's engineers working on the Debian-based SteamOS operating system is the implementation of the RC1 (Release Candidate 1) version of the special AMDGPU PRO 16.30 graphics driver.
This particular version of the AMDGPU PRO video driver is, in fact, build 16.30, and the unique thing about it is that it includes support for the latest Vulkan API and VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix) technologies.
However, the driver is limited to only "Bonaire" GPUs, at least at the time of the SteamOS 2.80 Brewmaster Beta operating system's launch, which is based on the latest stable Debian GNU/Linux 8.4 "Jessie" repositories.
AMDGPU PRO 16.30 now ready for testing
Because SteamOS is based on Debian GNU/Linux, anyone who uses a Debian-based operating system can now download and install this special AMDGPU PRO 16.30 graphics driver for AMD graphics cards on their computers.
The AMDGPU PRO 16.30 is not yet officially released, as AMD borrowed it to Valve engineers first so that it can be thoroughly tested on the SteamOS Beta channel before it hits stable status as an upgrade to the current version, AMDGPU PRO 16.20.
Therefore, if you know what you're doing, and you've installed an AMDGPU PRO driver before, go ahead and download the .deb packages from the official SteamOS repositories and take them for a spin on your Debian or Ubuntu system.
The good thing when you install the AMDGPU PRO 16.30 driver on Debian-based OSes is that it supports all GCN 1.1 and GCN 1.2 graphics cards, which means it is not only limited to "Bonaire" GCN 1.1 GPUs, like Valve's implementation.
Again, we must warn you that you will install the AMDGPU PRO 16.30 graphics driver at your own risk. If it breaks your system, you might not be able to revert the changes, unless you know exactly what you're doing.
