[plug] Video card of choice for linux

[Peter Wright]

On Wed, Mar 07, 2001 at 03:58:12PM +0800, Dennis Plester wrote:
> Phil wrote:
> "I just wanted to get a sampling of the group's video card of choice for
> Linux systems. [ ... ]
[ ... ]
> If gaming is your thang, it can only be a Nvidia card.

Hell, even if gaming isn't your thing... :)

Nvidia-based cards are, by all indications, so far out in front of the rest
of the field it's not even funny. Their Linux support is thorough and very
effective... and as Dennis has already mentioned, the Linux/Windows drivers
are developed from the same codebase, so the performance gap between Linux
and Windows on Nvidia hardware is negligible.

The only issue with them is the lack of source code. Their kernel driver
source is available, but the XFree86 driver source is not. In my opinion,
it's a relatively minor issue - but it would be nice if they'd open-source
both drivers.

Despite this, Nvidia cards work beautifully on x86/Linux machines. I've
been using a TNT2Ultra (ie. pretty old now) since late 1999, and I've
hardly ever bothered to think about upgrading. I run Q3A, Unreal
Tournament, Soldier of Fortune, Descent 3, Tuxracer :)... and an assortment
of other 3d/OpenGL apps like Blender, flawlessly on Linux.

Haven't yet got Half-Life working under Wine yet though.... one day... :)

> Hope this helps Phil.
> Dennis.

Likewise. BTW, thanks for your info Dennis.

Pete.
-- 
http://cygnus.uwa.edu.au/~pete/

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