Dear list members,
I want to upgrade the graphics card for my second display.
The requirements are that it must be using a PCI or PCI-express slot and
must support rotation, currently with a 19" TFT (1280*1024).
My applications are purely 2D (software development, office, mail,
browsing; no graphical games or 3D construction).
I checked the X.org web pages, but they seem to mostly deal with 3D and
acceleration, I found few info about rotation.
While I appreciate "xrandr" to be available for runtime changes, I hope
to not need it - this is a stationary machine with stable display
settings, so I want to define my setup in files ("xorg.conf").
Currently, I am using a Matrox G 200 (PCI) which works fine
(software-wise) using X and the "mga" drivers coming with Debian 5.0
("stable").
However, it supports only a VGA connection (I would prefer DVI, the
monitor has both), and the hardware seems to become flaky: Only on the
second initialization of X do I get the full resolution (1280 * 1024),
on the first start the X log claims insufficient video RAM (only 2 of 4
MB), and the X server falls back onto 1280 * 800 (?).
(Ctrl-Alt-Backspace fixes that, but it is annoying.)
I want to use a card with passive cooling, the machine has 2 case fans
(in addition to the CPU and power supply fans), so the card should not
bring its own.
Recent experiments with the Catalyst driver for my on-board Radeon HD
4290 were not too positive, I really want all settings to be stored in
"xorg.conf" so that it is easy to backup, modify, and check them.
(That's why I decided against using that HD 4290 dual-head, "vesa" works
fine in single-head landscape but won't rotate.)
Also, I expect software upgrades to be easier if I need not keep a
proprietary driver in sync.
So the criteria are:
- DVI output (single-head is sufficient)
- resolution at the very least 1280*1024, preferred 2048*1536
at 60 Hz (or better)
- passive cooling
- PCI slot or PCI-express
- free driver supports rotation,
or well-kept proprietary driver using "xorg.conf" (second-best only)
What I do not need:
- Gaming or 3D support
- TV output
- VGA output
My questions:
- I know the free "mga" supports rotation (I used that for MGA 200 and
MGA 450), so Matrox cards are an option.
- Stefan Dirsch reported here (early 2009) the same holds for free
"radeonhd", so (older) Radeon cards are an option, too.
I assume that still holds?
(Stefan recommended cards based on Radeon 1xxx, explicitly the 1650.
Checking on ebay, 1650 seems to always come with a fan, but 1550 and
1300 to be passive. Correct? Will rotation work?)
- What about nVidia - does the free "nv" or "nouveau" support rotation?
For which chips / cards?
The company describes "nvidia" to always support rotation - comments?
(source:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/256.44/README/xconfigoptions.html
- In notebooks, Intel graphics seem to play fine with Linux, but on the
"intellinuxgraphics" web page it looks to be all notebook (chipset)
graphics. Are there PCI(-express) graphics cards using Intel chips?
- Until now, my graphic cards were using PCI, but the new machine has
just 2 PCI slots and 4 PCI-e ones (2 x1, 2 x16). I would prefer the
new card to be PCI-e, best x1, so that it doesn't require a scarce
resource in case I add more cards.
Are there any functional differences (not performance) associated with
the slot a graphics card is using?
Thanks for your comments / recommendations / warnings,
Jörg
--
Joerg Bruehe - persoenliche Aeusserung / speaking only for himself
mailto:[email protected]
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