[NTLUG:Discuss] PCI ?? AGP

[Greg Edwards]

Steve,

Thanks for the rundown.  I'm putting together a parts list on an Athlon
workstation that I'm going to build and a big stumbling block has been
the issue of what video card.  With the current state of supported cards
vs the state of available cards it doesn't seem to be a good time to be
buying a card for a Linux system.

I've come across several bad comments on the G400 due to lack of driver
support as well as references to zip support for the Savage.  The lack
of a completed driver for the GeForce makes me hedge there as well.

I've been leaning towards a Diamond Viper 770 AGP but your comment about
S3 makes me currious.  Would you include the Viper 770 in your S3
comment?  I've got the Viper 330 and I've been pretty happy with it
considering the age and state of driver support for it before XFree
3.3.5.


Steve Baker wrote:
> 
> 
> The TNT is rather an old chipset - TNT-2 or -2ultra are much better
> and likely to be supported for longer.
> 

[snip]

> 
> So, right now, my advice is this:
> 
> * Avoid S3 like the plague.
> 
> * If the only choice is the Savage or the TNT, get the TNT.
> 
> * If you need something that definitely works right now and
>   runs pretty much everything with good support, get a Voodoo-3
>   for about $99.
> 
> * If you don't mind waiting a little while and suffering initially
>   poor drivers (although with a good likelyhood that things will be
>   better in a month or so) then get any board with a GeForce chip
>   on it for about $240.  It knocks the spots off anything else in
>   terms of performance. In most situations, it can run about 10x
>   faster than any of the competition - more so if your main CPU
>   isn't exactly state-of-the-art.
> 
> * If you can't afford the GeForce but you still want something
>   better than a Voodoo-3, then look at Matrox G400 - not as fast
>   as the GeForce (by far) - but should be better than the Voodoo-3.
>   The drivers are still a little 'iffy' but coming along nicely.
>   Dunno how much they cost - but if it's more than about $150, I'd
>   either go down to the Voodoo-3 and save myself $$$ or go up to
>   GeForce.  YMMV.
> 

[snip]

> 
> --
> Steve Baker                  http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
> sjbaker1 at airmail.net (home)  http://www.woodsoup.org/~sbaker
> sjbaker at hti.com      (work)
> 

-- 
Greg Edwards
New Age Software, Inc.
http://www.nas-inet.com