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#1 2008-11-13 17:05:57

skew
Member
Registered: 2005-04-05
Posts: 11

graphics card recommendation?

Hi,

I'm looking to buy or build a new desktop for the first time in 8 years. I'm a little out of touch with current hardware, so I was hoping to get some recommendations from fellow Archers, specifically about graphics cards to consider or avoid. I will be using the machine for work and gaming, so I'd like to get good video performance. I will probably be dual-booting with Windows, but I want good (Arch) linux support. I know that the ATI drivers have been making some progress this year, but I really have no idea how ATI and Nvidia compare right now. Hopefully the linux gamers and video gurus here can help steer me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

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#2 2008-11-13 17:20:41

scio
Member
From: Buffalo, NY
Registered: 2008-08-05
Posts: 366

Re: graphics card recommendation?

From what I have read so far, yes the ATI drivers are progressing but are still somewhat lacking.  I was always told if you plan to play any games in Linux, Nvidia (with the proprietary driver) is the way to go.

If you are only going to play games in Windows, I think ATI is the current speed leader (but that stat changes almost monthly).

[Edit: Also, this should probably be moved to multimedia/gaming]

Last edited by scio (2008-11-13 17:21:30)

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#3 2008-11-13 17:45:19

skottish
Forum Fellow
From: Here
Registered: 2006-06-16
Posts: 7,942

Re: graphics card recommendation?

Welcome to the forums to both of you.

nVidia works. My slightly older card is a 8800GT and it performs great. You may want to be careful on how state-of-the-art the card that you're buying is though.

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#4 2008-11-13 18:20:52

Zeist
Arch Linux f@h Team Member
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 532

Re: graphics card recommendation?

The top two cards at the moment are the 4870x2 and the GTX280... both are a bit overpriced unless you require every shred of performance you can possibly get. You may want to aim a few numbers under either of them to get something that has a better price:performance ratio.

In my experience both Catalyst and nVidia's proprietary drivers work perfectly fine. Both are a bit flaky at times, but nothing serious. Catalyst used to be a complete mess back in the day, but now it's fully usable and I'd say ATI and nVidia are relatively equal at that point.


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#5 2008-11-13 18:40:46

crispus
Member
Registered: 2008-07-31
Posts: 54

Re: graphics card recommendation?

Get a nvidia card, and don't look back.  8800GTs are super cheap now.


archin since 04!
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#6 2008-11-13 20:25:33

Mikko777
Member
From: Suomi, Finland
Registered: 2006-10-30
Posts: 837

Re: graphics card recommendation?

buy an overclocked ati 4850! I DID big_smile

Cheap, fast, silent (overclocked models with better coolers). takes alot less power than nvidias similar models.

I was very happy until catalyst 8.11 and new xserver. It works but changing any setting in amdcccle makes x not to start.

But then again kde4 is superfast unlike with nvidia. (altho nvidia has improved their drivers too)

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#7 2008-11-13 20:50:09

ahaslam
Member
Registered: 2007-05-11
Posts: 119

Re: graphics card recommendation?

G92 8800's are great value imo. Got the GTS 512 & don't see myself upgrading it. Take a visit to Tom's Hardware if you're after something newer but heed Skottish's advice.

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#8 2008-11-13 21:02:11

ozar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2005-02-18
Posts: 1,686

Re: graphics card recommendation?

skew wrote:

I'm a little out of touch with current hardware, so I was hoping to get some recommendations from fellow Archers, specifically about graphics cards to consider or avoid.

nVidia 8800GT, 9600GT, and the 9800GT cards are all certainly affordable these days, and come highly recommended!  cool


oz

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#9 2008-11-14 00:18:33

elmer_42
Member
From: /na/usa/ca
Registered: 2008-10-11
Posts: 427

Re: graphics card recommendation?

If I had to pick right now, I would chose the HD4850. It's got a HUGE bang for the buck factor, and as far as I know it works well in Linux.


[ lamy + pilot ] [ arch64 | wmii ] [ ati + amd ]

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#10 2008-11-16 18:47:20

mips1
Member
Registered: 2008-01-02
Posts: 99

Re: graphics card recommendation?

ozar wrote:
skew wrote:

I'm a little out of touch with current hardware, so I was hoping to get some recommendations from fellow Archers, specifically about graphics cards to consider or avoid.

nVidia 8800GT, 9600GT, and the 9800GT cards are all certainly affordable these days, and come highly recommended!  cool

+1

I have a XFX GeForce 9600 GT 512MB DDR3 Standard (PV-T96G-YDF4) which also has amazing overclocking capabilities and runs cool, see link below.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1243&pageID=4556

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#11 2008-11-16 20:10:40

skottish
Forum Fellow
From: Here
Registered: 2006-06-16
Posts: 7,942

Re: graphics card recommendation?

nVidia just did this which is nice. FFmpeg and Mplayer are already talking about the implementation:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a … dpau&num=1

ATI responds:

http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php? … 57&catid=3

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#12 2008-11-17 00:45:05

RagingDragon
Member
Registered: 2008-07-27
Posts: 24

Re: graphics card recommendation?

The ATI 48xx series (4830, 4850, 4870) works well, the 46xx and 45xx cards less so (might not work with catayst driver in Arch extra, but should work with driver in testing). Nvidia have had some issues with drivers for their 8xxx and 9xxx cards, but I believe their latest drivers mostly resolve these issues. As skottish notes Nvidia beta drivers include video decode acceleration. ATI's current drivers also include video decode support, though it hasn't been officially announced, nor have I heard of any applications using it yet (likely this feature is still alpha or beta quality...)

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a … xvba&num=1

I have both an ATI 4850 (currently available) on 64-bit Arch and an Nvidia 7600GT (discontinued at least a year ago) on 32-bit Arch. Both work well with their respective proprietary drivers.

EDIT: with catalyst 8.8 and 64-bit Arch I'm experiencing occasional pauses with Unreal 2004 (not sure if this is due to catalyst driver, or if UT just doesn't like 64-bit). Doom 3 and Quake 4 work fine, as do all the open source games I've tried. I'm going to try the latest catalyst 8.11 from Arch testing to see if it resolves my UT issues.

EDIT: catalyst 8.11 improved performance, especially KDE4. Setting "nopat" kernel boot parameter fixed stuttering.

Last edited by RagingDragon (2008-11-17 06:22:55)

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#13 2008-11-24 19:26:45

skew
Member
Registered: 2005-04-05
Posts: 11

Re: graphics card recommendation?

Thanks very much to everyone for their suggestions and experiences. I believe I have decided on the 4850 - it seems to give a lot of value for the cost, looks like the drivers are up to par (I was initially worried here), and I do like that ATI specs are a little more open. Now I just have to figure out the cpu/mobo...

And thanks for the welcome skottish. I have few posts, but I have been lurking here for some time smile

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#14 2008-11-24 23:32:34

koch
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2008-01-26
Posts: 369

Re: graphics card recommendation?

skew wrote:

Now I just have to figure out the cpu/mobo...

try this...

http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_t … roduct_tab

http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_t … roduct_tab

this were just the 2 that came to my mind first but the 8400 or the 8500 are pretty good. if you want to overclock the results for the two are not bad.
the asus p5-(motherboard)series seems to be pretty good also.

Last edited by koch (2008-11-24 23:37:59)

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#15 2008-11-26 01:18:09

RagingDragon
Member
Registered: 2008-07-27
Posts: 24

Re: graphics card recommendation?

skew wrote:

Now I just have to figure out the cpu/mobo...

I have an E8500 and Gigabyte EP45-DSR3 (very similar to what koch suggested).

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#16 2008-11-26 09:43:11

kaola_linux
Member
From: Bacolod City/Philippines
Registered: 2008-09-23
Posts: 513

Re: graphics card recommendation?

skottish wrote:

nVidia just did this which is nice. FFmpeg and Mplayer are already talking about the implementation:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a … dpau&num=1

ATI responds:

http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php? … 57&catid=3

This was very informative...I'm going to update my nvidia driver as soon as I get home..:D


Netbook (Acer Aspire One 110 || 160gb SATA HD || 1.5gb ram): archlinux i686 / KDEmod 4.3
Registered Linux User # 481212 / Machine Registration # 390468
"In a world without walls and fences, who needs windows and gates?"

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#17 2008-11-26 09:45:54

kaola_linux
Member
From: Bacolod City/Philippines
Registered: 2008-09-23
Posts: 513

Re: graphics card recommendation?

I'm still using Sparkle NVIDIA 6600LE and it works fine and runs compiz-fusion well...

Someone out there having a spare graphics card? big_smile

+1 NVIDIA


Netbook (Acer Aspire One 110 || 160gb SATA HD || 1.5gb ram): archlinux i686 / KDEmod 4.3
Registered Linux User # 481212 / Machine Registration # 390468
"In a world without walls and fences, who needs windows and gates?"

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