Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
Hal Pomeranz wrote: I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! Intel is the most Linux-friendly. I'm running a 965G-based system, also known as X3300, and all the features work: randr 1.2, DRI, Xv, DPMS, multiple monitors. (See glossary below.) This is a desktop, so I can't comment on suspend/resume. That's using the open source X11 driver that Intel paid for. Intel recently (within the last two weeks) released the specs for their graphics chips. Previously, Intel employees read the specs under NDA and released the drivers as open source. However, it's built into my motherboard. AFAIK, there are no *cards* with Intel graphics, just north bridge chips. I also have a laptop with ATI graphics. Sorry, I don't remember the exact model. The fglrx driver sucks on this laptop. No randr. No Xv. No hardware cursor on second monitor, and incorrect refresh of software cursor. Every few minutes the screen blinks. Suspend/resume work, and DRI works so long as there's no external monitor. DPMS works sometimes. The open source radeonhd driver is in the Ubuntu Hardy Heron alphas. I've tried it (alpha 2, a couple of months ago), and on my laptop, xrandr 1.2 is there. External monitor works. But no DRI and no Xv. I didn't test suspend/resume. On my older boxes I have RADEON 9000 cards which are very well supported by the open source radeon driver. I don't know whether sufficiently old RADEONs are available in PCI Express. Are you sure your 24 monitor supports 1680x1050? Mine only supports these modes. ~ xrandr -q Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 1920 x 1200 default connected 1920x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm 1920x1200 60.0* 1600x1200 60.0 1280x1024 75.0 1024x768 75.0 800x60075.0 640x48075.0 Glossary: DRI - Direct Rendering Interface. Infrastructure required for 3D and Xv Xv - XVideo extension. Uses 3D hardware to play video efficiently. Needed for full-screen zoom and HD resolution; good (reduces CPU load) for all video. randr, xrandr - resize and rotate. Run-time switching of display resolution and, on a few systems, orientation. xrandr 1.2 is a redesign that supports monitors entering and leaving the system. DPMS - Display Power Management System - signals the monitor to go into power saving mode when the computer is idle. -- Bob Miller Kbob [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
Bob, is your 24 monitor 4:3 or 16:10 aspect ratio? Looks like only the very last display resolution you quoted was wide-screen. I use a pair of measly 20ers but 1680x1050 is their widescreen hardware res. One is actually upright, 1050x1680, and displays long documents nicely. ~ben On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 12:09 AM, Bob Miller [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hal Pomeranz wrote: I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! Intel is the most Linux-friendly. I'm running a 965G-based system, also known as X3300, and all the features work: randr 1.2, DRI, Xv, DPMS, multiple monitors. (See glossary below.) This is a desktop, so I can't comment on suspend/resume. That's using the open source X11 driver that Intel paid for. Intel recently (within the last two weeks) released the specs for their graphics chips. Previously, Intel employees read the specs under NDA and released the drivers as open source. However, it's built into my motherboard. AFAIK, there are no *cards* with Intel graphics, just north bridge chips. I also have a laptop with ATI graphics. Sorry, I don't remember the exact model. The fglrx driver sucks on this laptop. No randr. No Xv. No hardware cursor on second monitor, and incorrect refresh of software cursor. Every few minutes the screen blinks. Suspend/resume work, and DRI works so long as there's no external monitor. DPMS works sometimes. The open source radeonhd driver is in the Ubuntu Hardy Heron alphas. I've tried it (alpha 2, a couple of months ago), and on my laptop, xrandr 1.2 is there. External monitor works. But no DRI and no Xv. I didn't test suspend/resume. On my older boxes I have RADEON 9000 cards which are very well supported by the open source radeon driver. I don't know whether sufficiently old RADEONs are available in PCI Express. Are you sure your 24 monitor supports 1680x1050? Mine only supports these modes. ~ xrandr -q Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 1920 x 1200 default connected 1920x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm 1920x1200 60.0* 1600x1200 60.0 1280x1024 75.0 1024x768 75.0 800x60075.0 640x48075.0 Glossary: DRI - Direct Rendering Interface. Infrastructure required for 3D and Xv Xv - XVideo extension. Uses 3D hardware to play video efficiently. Needed for full-screen zoom and HD resolution; good (reduces CPU load) for all video. randr, xrandr - resize and rotate. Run-time switching of display resolution and, on a few systems, orientation. xrandr 1.2 is a redesign that supports monitors entering and leaving the system. DPMS - Display Power Management System - signals the monitor to go into power saving mode when the computer is idle. -- Bob Miller Kbob [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
What about 1680x1050 is low-end?? Well, the Intel 965 chipset in my Thinkpad can drive the monitor at 1680x1050 and higher, so I assumed that this was old hat for PCIe cards. I'm guessing that you're specifying that you don't need to run 3D games? (ie, that 2D will suffice) or is that 2D minimum avoidable? Right, no 3D gaming. Streaming video is about the most graphics intensive thing I can imagine doing on the monitor. Do you have a particular interest about the licensing of the video driver code, or are you agnostic, ie, just make it work? I have to say that I'd be happier in running a card that had a true Open Source driver, but I realize that might not be realistic at this point. --Hal ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
24 has a native resolution of 1920x1200. 20 and 22 are 1680x1050. Pretty much any *new* ATI or Nvidi card will do the trick however my 24 forced me into an upgrade because I do in fact play a few games and trying to play at native resolution brought my existing card to its digital knees. That be all Mr O. --- Hal Pomeranz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! -- Hal Pomeranz, Founder/CEO Deer Run Associates [EMAIL PROTECTED] Network Connectivity and Security, Systems Management, Training ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
24 has a native resolution of 1920x1200. 20 and 22 are 1680x1050. Yeah, but I'm an old fart and 1920x1200 is too tiny for my weakening eyes... :-) --Hal ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
You can all jump on me for this but, as far as I can tell there are *no* Linux-friendly graphics companies today. None release their API. Instead they provide a binary driver. That's not in the spirit of things. -- Allen Brown http://brown.armoredpenguin.com/~abrown I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! -- Hal Pomeranz, Founder/CEO Deer Run Associates [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
Hal, I'm not sure what low end means for you, but I've been running Nvidia cards for about three years now and have had high compatibility with Linux. Nvidia actually provides a proprietary driver (for free) that you can download, build and install as a module. If you aren't going for the 3D acceleration, then the standard nv drivers provided by most distributions (including Ubuntu) should work. I've seen Nvidia based cards on New Egg and Tiger Direct for less than 50 dollars. That being said, NextStep has plenty of old S3 Virge cards lying around for like less then 10. You might be able to find one there that will get you up to 1680x1050. I've also had high compatibility with Linux and the S3 Virge chipset. The last Nvidia card that I had that ran perfectly under Linux was a 6800 GT. Now I'm running an 8600 GT and have problems with the native Nvidia driver due to incompatibilities with my mother board. I can still use it under Linux, but no 3D acceleration. Hope this helps! - Gabriel Hal Pomeranz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! -- Hal Pomeranz, Founder/CEO Deer Run Associates [EMAIL PROTECTED] Network Connectivity and Security, Systems Management, Training ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug - Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
Gabe, what motherboard do you have? I run an 8800GT flawlessly. What distro? If you're using Ubuntu I'd recommend Envy to install the Nvidia driver. I've never had an issue on Slackware, Gentoo, or Arch (my current desktop distro) running any decent cards. That be all, Mr O. --- Gabriel Merritt [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Now I'm running an 8600 GT and have problems with the native Nvidia driver due to incompatibilities with my mother board. I can still use it under Linux, but no 3D acceleration. Hope this helps! - Gabriel Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
Both Nvidia and ATI release binary drivers and the NVIDIA drivers seem to be released faster with better quality. But recently ATI/AMD promised open source drivers http://enterpriselinuxlog.blogs.techtarget.com/2007/05/09/amd-will-deliver-open-graphics-drivers/ so that might become a better choice. Bill Barry On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 6:50 PM, Hal Pomeranz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! -- Hal Pomeranz, Founder/CEO Deer Run Associates [EMAIL PROTECTED] Network Connectivity and Security, Systems Management, Training ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
Re: [Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?
What about 1680x1050 is low-end?? I'm guessing that you're specifying that you don't need to run 3D games? (ie, that 2D will suffice) or is that 2D minimum avoidable? Yeah, AFAICT any basic intel/ati/nvideo card (or clone) should suffice, just check specs on desired resolution :) If you want 3D, then throw down some money against whatever eventual throughput you'll be happy with. Do you have a particular interest about the licensing of the video driver code, or are you agnostic, ie, just make it work? ~ben On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 8:53 PM, Bill Barry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Both Nvidia and ATI release binary drivers and the NVIDIA drivers seem to be released faster with better quality. But recently ATI/AMD promised open source drivers http://enterpriselinuxlog.blogs.techtarget.com/2007/05/09/amd-will-deliver-open-graphics-drivers/ so that might become a better choice. Bill Barry On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 6:50 PM, Hal Pomeranz [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop. I'm not planning on gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use, some streaming video, etc. At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24 widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution. Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days? I'm out of the loop on this... Thanks! -- Hal Pomeranz, Founder/CEO Deer Run Associates [EMAIL PROTECTED] Network Connectivity and Security, Systems Management, Training ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug ___ EUGLUG mailing list euglug@euglug.org http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
