cheap 3D graphics card

[Sridhar Dhanapalan]

On Saturday 25 November 2006 12:08, Mark M Lambert 
<mark+linux.ubuntu at marklambert.net> wrote:
> I want to get a cheap 3D graphics card, something under $250. The
> current issue of Atomic magazine has a comparison of 12 cards under
> $500, but doesn't say if the drivers for Linux are crap or not. Anyone
> got any suggestions?

3D in Linux is unfortunately not a straightforward decision. Firstly, you want 
to be examining the chipset, not the card itself. The market is dominated by 
ATI and Nvidia, two companies who refuse to share their specs with the free 
software community. This means that for reliable 3D you need to load a binary 
driver straight into your kernel, which carries a range of risks. With that 
said, Nvidia drivers are widely respected. ATI has been lifting its game in 
recent months, but they still trail far behind Nvidia.

What do you intend to use the card for? If it is not for gaming in GNU/Linux, 
you should be able to get away with anything. There are competent 
non-proprietary drivers for ATI and Nvidia chipsets, if all you want is 2D.

-- 
"I always believe ultimately that we should think of it as being like 
politics. Choice in operating systems is kind of confusing, But it is better 
to have choice than not to have choice." - Linus Torvalds, July 2003
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-au/attachments/20061125/2b010e77/attachment.pgp