[SWLUG] graphics cards

[Steve Anderson]

Chris M. Jackson wrote:

> While there's probably a joke in it somewhere, I'd suggest you trust
> Dick on this one - of the Big Two, you probably want to take nVidia
> over ATI.  ATI's drivers are pretty poor, and there's no decent
> alternative out there.  On the other hand, an ATI card will do just
> fine if all you want to do is plug a gap in the back of the case, and
> you're a backplate or two short.

Very much a two-pence-worth and based only on very limited experience:

I've had X running on an nVidia graphics card with acceleration. It may 
not have been set up perfectly, but it worked.

In comparison, when I had X running on an ATI card (admittedly in a 
G4-450 Mac) I could only get X running using the framebuffer driver. At 
1280x1024, it resulted in the most painful downloaded episode of the 
Simpsons I'd ever watched in my entire life. (It was "I-(Annoyed 
Grunt)Bot", trivia fans. The version shown on Sky One is cut due to a 
very unfavourable joke about their sponsors.)

This is not representative - there was more than one factor varied (in 
fact, every factor that could be varied WAS varied). However, my 
friend's company has only ever had problems with ATI kit under Linux, 
and I remember having similar problems with their cards under Windows 95 
when I was working in the NHS.

As ever, YMMV. And plugging gaps in the back of the case - isn't that 
what gaffer tape was invented for?

Steve