Here's a familiar question:

[mastersibn]

And I'm sure a lot of people have had many heated arguments over it, so by now, there should be some accurate info to help me out http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/wink.gif

I am planning (as some of you know) to upgrade my computer soon (actually, it's more along the lines of rebuilding it), and I'd already picked out all the hardware I want, BUT...

I recently read at /. the geek wish list, and it had the voodoo5 5500 (agp/pci) at number 8 on the list. I wanted an nvidia card, so now I'm stuck wondering: If so many geeks suggested that, and nobody suggested any nvidia cards, would I be better off with the 5500? Which plays nicer with linux?

I have a voodoo3, and hate it. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/wink.gif I was hoping to avoid paying for another 3dfx card, but I will if it means i get the better product for it...

thx!

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cAPS lOCK? wHAT cAPS lOCK?
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an operating system has not just advantages...

[ph34r]

Whats wrong with your V3? I love mine, although I now wish I had spent the extra $30 for the 3000 instead of the 2000.

I personally would go with the Voodoo again, simply because 3dfx has been a longtime linux supporter. Nvidia has only recently (about this time last year) offered even 2d capabilities in linux, nevermind 3d stuff.

Altough, if you don't mind not being able to use Glide2x games, the GeForce and X4.something looks to be a very good combo in a few months (after X goes thru another release or two).

[mastersibn]

Originally posted by ph34r:
Whats wrong with your V3? I love mine, although I now wish I had spent the extra $30 for the 3000 instead of the 2000.


I personally would go with the Voodoo again, simply because 3dfx has been a longtime linux supporter. Nvidia has only recently (about this time last year) offered even 2d capabilities in linux, nevermind 3d stuff.


Altough, if you don't mind not being able to use Glide2x games, the GeForce and X4.something looks to be a very good combo in a few months (after X goes thru another release or two).

Frame rates. I have to use X3.3.6 or I can't play Glide2x games (as you pointed out). I tried UT in X4.0.1 with the DRI/GL drivers, and it sucked in no small way. This with all the graphics detail set to low, resolution 640x480, etc. etc...

The problem with using my card the way it is, is that with Windows, I would play in 1024x768 in high resolution. This would score me 30 frames/sec, with the digital music "on." With Linux, I enable digital music, and my framerate takes a 10/sec cut. So with music (and I have to play without, on account of this) I can only push 20 frames/sec. If I set all the graphics options down to the minimum (low res, no dynamic lights, etc etc) then I can pull a mere 30 frames/sec at 640x480.

The drivers work, mostly, but they're soooo sloooowww... I don't want to buy another voodoo card if it means I have to put up with lower frame rates than I would get with a GeForce 2 or something. Money is no object here, because it's something I've got on the "back burner" for when I actually have enough money. That being the case, what is the best board I could possibly buy? I want more bang, and that will necessarily entail more buck. So which one would you pick if you could get a free one, and performance was priority #1?


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cAPS lOCK? wHAT cAPS lOCK?
I cna ytpe 300 wrods pre mniuet!!!
an operating system has not just advantages...

[RoySmith]

for the "for what it's worth file":
seems that 3dfx has been doing some work on their drivers, and i'd like to specifically mention "Hidden Surface Removal", apparently a new feature albeit about useless *so far*. if 3dfx actually makes this work well, you could be looking at some serious framerates. next consideration is whether 3dfx will apply HSR to linux drivers.
btw, HSR is an attempt to not calculate that which doesn't get displayed, thus conserving bandwidth and processor time.

no recommendation, as i have no personal experience with either card. just thought i'd offer some info that you might wanna check into.

[Shad]

Most Distros I would expect to be following 'Drakes example and for the video cards that have open source drivers (pretty much everyone but Nvidia) auto configuring 3D for you during the install.

That right there is why I would not get an Nvidia card. The second reason is the image quality is absolutely atrocious. I could have had a Geforce, but kept my Rage Fury just for the better image quality. Sure it gets lower frame rates, but at least it it looks sharp and crisp.

I would either suggest a Voodoo5, Matrox G450, or an ATI Radeon. The Radeon is going to be a sleeper card for linux.

A linux install out of the box will only support it with Frame Buffer, but currently XF86 cvs supports it in 2d. 3d is is going to rock if the support for the Rage128 is going to be any indication. The current cvs driver for the r128 are faster than thier MS Windows counter parts, and not by just a couple frames either.

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Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life

[mastersibn]

Originally posted by RoySmith:
btw, HSR is an attempt to not calculate that which doesn't get displayed, thus conserving bandwidth and processor time.

So I guessed from the name http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

All very interesting. All I can say is I'm glad I have a few months to look at it. There are plenty of good reasons to go either way; but I want the board that's extremely capable, going to last a while, and will provide 100% (or close to 100) Windows driver quality. Framerates are key, here. I don't want to buy another card that never sees mature drivers again. I've already bought two of them. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/mad.gif


------------------
grab my gnupg key (http://jove.prohosting.com/~msibn/sibn-p.asc) if you feel so inclined.


cAPS lOCK? wHAT cAPS lOCK?
I cna ytpe 300 wrods pre mniuet!!!
an operating system has not just advantages...

[RoySmith]

yeah, figured you would! http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif just being safe; sometimes names don't mean what they obviously should. anyway, it wasn't meant to be condescending or insulting in any way and i apologize if it came across that way.
gonna let us know what card you finally select? you're reasons for choosing a particular card could very well prove useful to your readers. (specifically, moi! http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif)

[jbstew32]

I get about 30-50 FPS with my V3 3000 on UT in Linux http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif It's not a lot, but its still sweet. It's on XFree3.3.6 with Slack's Glide Packages.

http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/cool.gif Slackware http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/cool.gif

[ericb]

I use an NVidia GeForce2 in Slackware7.1 and it looks damn sweet in QuakeIII. the 3D drivers seem quite fast to me, I play with all the detail and graphics settings high @ 1280x1024 with FSAA enabled and get between 30 and 50 fps

[RoySmith]

another contender? here's a review.
http://www.viahardware.com/evilkyro.shtm