is ati radeon card worth it? or should i go w/a geforce fx?

[hjlane3]

Hi, I've been thinking of upgrading my videocard in my PC, and was orginally planing on going with a new Geforce FX. The nvidia cards work great with linux and I've never had a problem with them. But I've heard the ATI cards give a better performance and are faster. So I started thinking of going with one of them instead. The thing is, from what I see, ati cards can be a real pain for linux users and don't work as well in linux. My question is, is it really worth getting an ATI card? Or should I just stick with Nvidia?

[corteccio]

I've done some research on the subject lately since I'm in Tokyo for work and euro is quite strong now, so buying here is quite convenient, and Akihabara is a cool place.

I've a laptop here running gentoo with an ATI Radeon Mobility 9000, and performance is poor. It has just 64MB, of course, but i'd exepct something more from a 1.5 Ghz/128Mb machine.

Can't tell you about desktop cards, But I've seen some success from other users here on the forum.
Anyway, if you really care about 3D performance and features, you should go with Nvidia. Just because of the drivers. I'm looking actually for a GeFroce FX5900 Ultra here. It is said to be available in few days in Akiahbara stores. But price should be around 60.000 Yen = 420 euro as release date, and not for the ultra, but just basic version. Maybe I'll wait for it to be available and buy a GFX5800 Ultra for a lower price than now (around 35/40.000 Yen = 250/280 euro).

As of other features of the card, don't know how well Radeon devices are supported under X, but I saw something on the Net.

IMVHO, go with Nvidia. They are making good drivers. They are not opensource, but I personally don't care. They are the best consumer 3D support you can get in Linux right now.


bye

[dberkholz]

Some of the very latest ATI cards aren't quite as well-supported as the latest Nvidia cards yet, but this is improving. People have been having trouble with the Radeon 9700 in particular, and dual-head cards in general.