Arch Linux

marte

Member

Registered: 2007-09-26

Posts: 24

advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

[sorry if i'm asking it in the wrong place]

hello,

i'll buy a new desktop in the next few days and i'm stuck on the motherboard choice.
i want a onboard video (not too much performance, just a little), and the best cost-bennefit i found was a gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 (it seems to be popular here where i live, in brazil). BUT, the onboard video is an ATI Radeon X1200, and looking around (arch forum, google, another forums, ati drivers page) i'm very unconfident with it. the most part of the answers to problems involving linux and ati just says "buy a nvidia".
what do you guys think about it?
the mb looks very good, except by this annoying detail. for example, one of feats i liked was TV-out. but if it doesn't work on linux, why bother?

thanks in advance.

praka123

Member

From: Kerala,India

Registered: 2008-03-04

Posts: 188

Website

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

ati --support is improving .
but DONT BUY ANY MOBO WITH VIA/VIA UNICHROME IGP!the worst!
only some support from http://openchrome.org exists;thats all

kazuo

Member

From: São Paulo/Brazil

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 413

Website

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

For on-board I think I go with intel... ati is giving me a lot of bad time... the computers I used with an intel card worked all fine.

I don't have any experience with a nvidia. But for my next laptop I gonna buy a nvidia and not a ati (neither a amd proc it is to hot to use in a country like Brazil)

And +1 for the praka123 comment never buy a VIA mobo, man they have a component called 'I'm not going to work, don't try'.  A friend have a laptop with a VIA card, vesa don't work on it... the openchrome drive don't work, the driver from via don't work the framebuffer don't work correctly...

And I tip for brazil ppl don't buy laptops from Positivo... If you need a cheap one buy they from Amazon PC (they come with Linux)

lucke

Member

From: Poland

Registered: 2004-11-30

Posts: 4,018

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

Look for 780G chipset, it's the best IGP there is at the moment.

marte

Member

Registered: 2007-09-26

Posts: 24

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

thanks for the answers!

i'll stay away from via stuff

@kazuo: i never used amd before, but i'm convinced by the prices. i'll search about the cooling and stuff. and i agree about the positivo... my desktop i'll buy on a nice sta. ifigenia store (jne). i don't like these "assemblers" (or whatever they're called).

@lucke: is the 780g available already? anyway, it seems too new for my semi-low-budget.

i'll keep searching, but i'm almost convinced by the m69vm-s2.

NecroRomancist

Member

Registered: 2005-01-02

Posts: 53

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

I'd go for the 780G..It looks great on paper and on tests

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/04/ … g_chipset/

What surprised me the most was when i found a ASUS motherboard with that chipset,from an online retailer on my country (Portugal), for something like 75 €.

http://www.chiptec.net/index.php?extra= … oria=geral

Misfit138

Misfit Emeritus

From: USA

Registered: 2006-11-27

Posts: 4,189

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

Look for 780G chipset, it's the best IGP there is at the moment.

Which linux driver does it require?

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Amiga 1000 restomod
IBM PCjr restomod
C=64 restodmod
Sauengard

marte

Member

Registered: 2007-09-26

Posts: 24

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

ok, now i want a 780g ¬¬ (after reading more...)
it seems very adequate to what i plan doing with my pc in the next few years.

but.. what about the linux compatibility?

NecroRomancist

Member

Registered: 2005-01-02

Posts: 53

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthre … light=780G

I also want one of these ^^

lucke

Member

From: Poland

Registered: 2004-11-30

Posts: 4,018

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

780G uses Radeon as GPU - not optimal, but with latest catalyst drivers it seems AMD/ATI is finally going in a proper direction, so it's still worth it, IMHO.

schivmeister

Developer/TU

From: Singapore

Registered: 2007-05-17

Posts: 971

Website

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

I'd think onboard is a safe route no matter what chipset/GPU model is in question, except maybe a few brands. I'd ask in the Phoronix forums though, them guys know the graphics stuff extensively when it comes to Linux. Intel X3000 series shouldn't be bad.

Last edited by schivmeister (2008-03-24 13:43:13)

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I need real, proper pen and paper for this.

marte

Member

Registered: 2007-09-26

Posts: 24

Re: advice on onboard video (buying a desktop)

today i "remembered" that 780g mobos will take a while to get to brazil, and probably it'll be very expensive, so i'd have to wait several months for it. (i don't want to import one)

i didn't know about phoronix, it's exactally what i was looking for -- info on graphics from a linux point of view.
the news and the forum were encouraging about ati, and anyway it's the cheapest on my list (the pc without monitor and keyboard is 1240 reais, for those who knows what it means). with luck i'll buy the one with x1200 igp (amd 690v) and start to install arch on it on the weekend.

thanks again!

Last edited by marte (2008-03-25 03:23:03)