Most supported graphics card under linux?

TenLeftFingers

I hope to assemble my own pc with linux on it. What is the best graphics card to use?

Lukin Black

Have a gander here.

The best way to go about it though, is it to pick a graphics card you like, and find out if it is supported.

quozl

nvidia have had superb linux support for years now. There are good open source drivers but to get hardware acceleration you need to use Nvidias' closed source drivers. Those are almost as uptodate as their windows ones.

I've been using them in linux since the tnt1 and never had a problem. Radeon's are almost ment to have good linux support, but i've no experience with them myself.

Greg

BenH

Originally posted by quozl
nvidia have had superb linux support for years now. There are good open source drivers but to get hardware acceleration you need to use Nvidias' closed source drivers. Those are almost as uptodate as their windows ones.

nvidia's stuff isn't really open source, but rather provided at no cost. They can also be a bit of a swine if you compile oyur own kernels.

I've been using them in linux since the tnt1 and never had a problem. Radeon's are almost ment to have good linux support, but i've no experience with them myself.

ATI release enough information to the community in order to allow for the creation of open source drivers, of variable quality. One other possibility you may wish to consider is Matrox, who in the past have contributed code to X86.

Best,

Ben

quozl

Originally posted by BenH
nvidia's stuff isn't really open source, but rather provided at no cost.

I know I was talking about the "nv" module which comes with the kernel, is open source and nothing (as far as I know) to do with the nvidia corporation.

Greg

nadir

Nivida definately. My Geforce ti4200 runs realy sweet. Plays a seriosly l33t game of Unreal 2003. Also got Tv out(dual monitor) support. I had an ati all in wonder pro before and it was hell, never got Open GL working. Maybe they are better these days i dont know, but Nivida, the Geforce is a safe bet. One thing tho, as far as I know there is no 8x AGP support yet in linux, it will just use 4x so dont fork out the extra cash Geforce is a bargain imo, get an excellent piece of hardware for bout 100 euro and all the linux stuff in a nice easy to install package, altho tv out takes a bit of configuring.

niallb

Originally posted by BenH
nvidia's stuff isn't really open source, but rather provided at no cost. They can also be a bit of a swine if you compile your own kernels.

I must say, I've had no problem rebuilding the nvidia drivers against my own kernels.
So long as you have the src tree still installed (don't make clean) it should build fine.
Problems occur when you have linux src installed
from an RPM or similar that doesn't match the kernel you're running.

I've only had one nvidia card - a geforce2 MX-400
which I bought mainly to see what the big deal was.
It's also got a TV out for future use.

I wish nvidia would be more open than they are but they're in tight competition with other manufacturers and someone must feel they would be compromising their market by giving out too many details.
the nvidia driver does seem faster than the open 'nv' one.

BenH

Originally posted by niallb
I must say, I've had no problem rebuilding the nvidia drivers against my own kernels.
So long as you have the src tree still installed (don't make clean) it should build fine.
Problems occur when you have linux src installed
from an RPM or similar that doesn't match the kernel you're running.

Unfortunately I habitually make clean, so I have to wget the src, copy across my configs, wget the new drivers and re-compile. It can get a little irritating .

Best,

Ben

Lukin Black

I can put in another vote for an nvidia card. I've had a tnt2 card, and it's run grand under various flavours of linux since 2000. The nvidia-provided driver works a treat too, though I tend not to be doing any tinkering with the installation, so I wouldn't have come across any problems in that regard.

pickarooney

You should maybe steer clear of Radeon 7000s.

gom

NVidia by far
With the exception of GeForce 3 under Debian

But since your are buying get the 4200ti

good luck

Typedef

Nvidia, Matrox, 3dfx and ATI are all well supported.

glimmerman

one thing that is worth considering is games: for instance, neverwinter nights runs on linux, but only with a geforce (afaik).

not sure if ut2k3 will run with an ati card, but it sure runs sweetly with my gf4mx440

also, all my dvd/mpeg/tv apps run really nicely using this card.

BenH

In regard to games, your going to need WineX from transgaming, which means an nvidia card, due to them giving transgaming lots of money. There is support for ATI's but its far from great.