Video Card Recommendations For Linux

C

Carlosinfl

Loves the juice
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
6,633
It's been maybe 2 years since I've dedicated Linux to a hardware machine rather than a virtual instance & since that time, I have no idea if AMD/ATI is even worth looking at. 2 years ago is was absolutely pointless to get anything but nVidia for Linux.

Has things changed? Are AMD/ATI cards worth looking into?
 
AMD drivers are still a bitch but they are better. Last I checked the current drivers (12.4) still don't work correctly under Xorg 1.11.x or higher in most cases. For instance HD playback on fullscreen is laggy for most people. You have to stick with Xorg 1.10.x to get around that.

That may not be an issue for you based on what distro you plan on running but I know the previous drivers hosed up my Ubuntu 12.04 machine. Haven't tried installing the newer ones since if it ain't broke don't fix it. ;)

When I was running Arch I had to do a lot of pkg control in order to prevent Xorg or AMD from updating anything otherwise I'd be stuck at a command line trying to fix it all.

In the long run I'd go Nvidia at this point if I was doing a dedicated hardware machine. Their drivers are always top notch with Linux (Linus' recent rant not withstanding). ;)
 
AMDs future is looking good for linux, but in the mean time nvidia is still the best.
 
AMD binary driver (Catalyst) is completely fine if you're using distros like Ubuntu 12.04.

But if you'll be using a bleeding edge distro like Arch, you'll have to stick with nVidia. Because Catalyst lags behind every time a new X.org is released.

AMD open source drivers are great for what they are though. I use xf86-video-ati in Arch.

But you should go with nVidia. :)
 
AMD's drivers are good enough that our IT guys only buy AMD for Linux desktops at work since they can support >2 monitors on one card. A single card is cheaper and easier than messing around with 2 cards + SLI-Mosaic and doesn't impair graphics performance like Xinerama. So basically it's run Xinerama and annoy engineers, annoy engineers by telling them they can't have 3 screens, run SLI-mosaic and annoy IT while spending more money, or just get a cheap AMD card and be done with it.

NVidia's new Kepler chips support >2 screens. However, the cheapest one out is the GT 640 ($100) since the 610, 620, and 630 are rebadged 400 and 500 series cards (sound familiar?). You can spot the Kepler based boards by counting the number of VGA and DVI-I outputs they have. Kepler only supports one analog output, so if you see two DVD-I or a DVI-I and a VGA it's a rebadge.
 
I am about to confirm that a 680 will work for mint :p

After all the shit I have been through with AMD cards on linux it will take some convincing for me to try them again.
 
Nvidia is your best bet at this point in time. AMD is improving, but still not ready for primetime imo.
 
My 680 works nicely in Centos 6 w/ NV drivers. Now I just need one more digital monitor so I can test >2 screen support and another 680 so I can try out SLI Mosaic. Both are coming "soonish," "soonish" meaning in a few months. Next up is a new apartment & moving expenses, so no more shiny things until that's done.

I have a guy feeling our IT guys at work have a script they can run on a freshly installed Ubuntu or CentOS box that just makes 5000 and 6000 series AMD cards work. We don't need 3D, so we don't buy the latest and greatest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top