Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any recommendations for graphics cards?
Hi, On Tue, 2007-10-23 at 14:36 +0100, Peter Lewis wrote: I can't help thinking that if there isn't even an interest in nvidia opening up their drivers / specs, then I really don't want to be buying something from them. Indeed. I previously bought a laptop with an Nvidia chipset and a desktop with one too. My latest laptop however has an Intel 945 chip for graphics and whilst it's nowhere near as great at 3D as the NVidias, I feel a lot better for it. Cheers, Al. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any recommendations for graphics cards?
On Tuesday 23 October 2007 at 15:38:58 Alan Pope wrote: On Tue, 2007-10-23 at 14:36 +0100, Peter Lewis wrote: I can't help thinking that if there isn't even an interest in nvidia opening up their drivers / specs, then I really don't want to be buying something from them. Indeed. I previously bought a laptop with an Nvidia chipset and a desktop with one too. My latest laptop however has an Intel 945 chip for graphics and whilst it's nowhere near as great at 3D as the NVidias, I feel a lot better for it. Similar situation here with my laptop, but my desktop has the ATI card I mentioned. I feel like if I wait around for a while, perhaps ATI will be the big open company of next year... Have the ATI specs actually been released yet? If not, any idea when? Pete. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any recommendations for graphics cards?
- Alan Pope [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, On Tue, 2007-10-23 at 14:36 +0100, Peter Lewis wrote: I can't help thinking that if there isn't even an interest in nvidia opening up their drivers / specs, then I really don't want to be buying something from them. Indeed. I previously bought a laptop with an Nvidia chipset and a desktop with one too. My latest laptop however has an Intel 945 chip for graphics and whilst it's nowhere near as great at 3D as the NVidias, I feel a lot better for it. I guess this is the difference between the two camps: a) Want all software hardware to be free/OSS b) Want their computer working 100% without fuss, or caring about OSS stuff I'm definitely a b. TBH, if I could see a distinct advantage in it, I would be willing to pay for codecs / graphics drivers, to install on my Ubuntu boxes. I want my hardware to work fully, all of the time, whether I'm in windows or Linux ;) If you're worried about the Free/OSS issue, go with ATI, but be prepared to have issues with your card not working/stopping working randomly. It should work before too long with the release of info from AMD/ATI. If you want to play top-of the range games with no hassle at all (and on Ubuntu, automatic proprietory driver installs) go for Nvidia. If you want dual-screens with a fancy layout, such as mine (one screen on onboard Nvidia chip, one screen on Nvidia PCI Card), then go for Nvidia. The Gutsy screens graphics doesn't do the trick, and I've had enough of playing with my /etc/X11/Xorg.conf file. Use gksu nvidia-settings to configure for dual screens. -- Blog: www.kirrus.co.uk RPGs: Captain Senaris Vlenn, CO, USS Sarek Lt Aieron Peters, XO DS5 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any recommendations for graphics cards?
Hi, On Tue, 2007-10-23 at 15:58 +0100, Kirrus wrote: I guess this is the difference between the two camps: a) Want all software hardware to be free/OSS b) Want their computer working 100% without fuss, or caring about OSS stuff c) Want to support free and open software and where available will use it, but sometimes will be pragmatic and use proprietary if there is no reasonable alternative. ..is more my camp. And b) doesn't always apply even with the nvidia binary driver. I have a desktop which ran 32-bit ubuntu quite happily for some time. I installed 64-bit Ubuntu on it and added the nvidia binary driver. As soon as the 64-bit binary driver was enabled, both screens went black, even after a reboot, even _during_ POST, there was nothing on the screen. I could ssh into the machine, but from the point I installed 64-bit binary driver there was no output on the screen where previously it worked fine under 32-bit ubuntu. I posted a bug report on launchpad and unsurprisingly it was recommended that I contact Nvidia. I did via their forums - which are not on nvidia.com. I had replies from someone claiming my hardware was bad, that I should go to the manufacturer of the video card, and there was nothing at fault with the driver. Thinking the forums were not officially part of nvidia (they don't _look_ it in any way), I got all my logs and traces and emailed the linux support email box at Nvidia. I got a particularly crappy reply from one of their support people telling me that he had _already_ told me the answer on the forums, and that emailing them wouldn't change that answer. What irritated me most was that the guys nickname on the forum had no real name on it, there was no real name in the email address used to contact nvidia, so I could make no correlation between one support system and the other. For their very first corporate communication to a _customer_ to be that crappy I thought was pretty off. As a result I refuse to buy Nvidia products. They lost a customer that day. In the end I changed from DVI to VGA output on the card and it magically worked again under the 32-bit driver. There is nothing wrong with the cards, cables or monitors, all the same hardware works perfectly under 32-bit ubuntu, it's _only_ under 64-bit ubuntu with the 64-bit binary driver that it b0rks. Cheers, Al. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any recommendations for graphics cards?
Hi Matt On Tue, 2007-10-23 at 15:17 +0100, Matthew Larsen wrote: It would be nice if the drivers are open source, but it shouldn't affect your buying decision that much, as long as they have linux drivers! And they are pretty good linux drivers for Nvidia, ATI's linux drivers are a mess. I know plenty of people who buy hardware based on the free-ness of the drivers available. Relatively speaking it's not many, but there are certainly a significant number of people who look for that when buying hardware. That's their choice. Cheers, Al. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Any recommendations for graphics cards?
Hello, - Alan Pope [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip c) Want to support free and open software and where available will use it, but sometimes will be pragmatic and use proprietary if there is no reasonable alternative. ..is more my camp. And b) doesn't always apply even with the nvidia binary driver. I have a desktop which ran 32-bit ubuntu quite happily for some time. I installed 64-bit Ubuntu on it and added the nvidia binary driver. As soon as the 64-bit binary driver was enabled, both screens went black, even after a reboot, even _during_ POST, there was nothing on the screen. I could ssh into the machine, but from the point I installed 64-bit binary driver there was no output on the screen where previously it worked fine under 32-bit ubuntu. snip For their very first corporate communication to a _customer_ to be that crappy I thought was pretty off. As a result I refuse to buy Nvidia products. They lost a customer that day. In the end I changed from DVI to VGA output on the card and it magically worked again under the 32-bit driver. There is nothing wrong with the cards, cables or monitors, all the same hardware works perfectly under 32-bit ubuntu, it's _only_ under 64-bit ubuntu with the 64-bit binary driver that it b0rks. Nasty... We've never come across that because we don't use 64-bit linux as a rule (even when we're on 64-bit processors). It takes too many _fun_ games getting stuff like Flash working in firefox. (Simple analogy to the evils of closed source. But there's not much we can do about it, so we stick with 32bit and wait for the OSS replacements to mature...) -- Blog: www.kirrus.co.uk RPGs: Captain Senaris Vlenn, CO, USS Sarek Lt Aieron Peters, XO DS5 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
