Reply With QuoteI have the same question. All I know is, I agree with you about nvidia drivers. Finicky.
This might belong over in hardware, but I need video card advice.
It looks like I'll be acquiring a LCD monitor with DVI inputs. Obviously, it would be silly to continue to use my trusty Voodoo 3000 card. Since my beloved 3DFX card was so reliable, I haven't kept up on the tech.
I use Linux, so I'm leery of NVidia cards, although I'm willing to have my mind changed. I don't do heavy duty gaming - Alpha Centauri is about the most video intensive thing I use, although I might take the time someday to get Heretic and other older Loki games working. I have no plans to do anything like connect my comp to my TV, run 2 monitors or anything else fancy. My motherboard has both AGP and PCI slots open. And, I'm cheap <g>.
Does anyone have any ideas on what kinds of video cards might be appropriate for a skinflint Linux user who doesn't do much gaming?
I have the same question. All I know is, I agree with you about nvidia drivers. Finicky.
I use nVidia in large part because of their Linux drivers.
I actually bought an ATI 9700 when they came out, but took it back because the Linux drivers weren't available yet. I've heard that they have decent Linux support now, but I just haven't bothered with them since my FX5900 seems plenty fast for now and it works perfectly under Linux.
The default nv driver that comes with XFree86 4.0 works like a champ for 2d stuff. If you want to play games, then you'll want to use the Linux drivers by nVidia (which I use day in and day out). I'm currently using v4496. I haven't had any problems with them whatsoever (on the desktop or gaming).
Given all that, if Linux support is your only concern with nVidia, feel free to pick up one of their cards and give it a go. The GeForce 4 MX series might be a good place to start for price/performance, but I'm not in the loop too much for the mid-range of video cards.
I'm a fairly serious gamer who's all grown up and has money to spend so I generally only keep track of the high end stuff, so you may want to shop around a bit for which is the best card for the money.
"So utterly at variance is destiny with all the little plans of men." - H.G. Wells
I would also highly recommend NVIDIA cards for a Linux box. To tell you the truth, I believe that the NVIDIA chipset has more support under linux than any other chipset. I have never had a problem with any NVIDIA card under Linux. A nice midrange card would probably be a NVIDIA MX 400/440 (64mb).
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I haven't lost my mind; it's backed up on tape drive somewhere.
The only cards that I have had zero issues with under Linux are Nvidia and Matrox. Matrox have the best image quality by far.
Train hard, fight easy
Ok, sounds like it might be worth the hassle of the non-free nvidia drivers, then. I appreciate everyone's suggestions, and will start looking for a MX 400/450 64 meg card.
I'd be a serious gamer, Dyryyth, if I didn't suck quite so badly <g>. I might be able to beat Stef.
Thanks, gang.
The ATI Linux drivers should actually be pretty okay now. At least that's what a friend that's about to start a new game company (he's a pretty cool opengl programmer). In general ATI has had better video quality that Nvidia and Matrix has had the bedst. Not sure whether that is still true or matter when it's DVI?Originally posted by Dyyryath
I actually bought an ATI 9700 when they came out, but took it back because the Linux drivers weren't available yet. I've heard that they have decent Linux support now, but I just haven't bothered with them since my FX5900 seems plenty fast for now and it works perfectly under Linux.[/B]
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