[ubuntu-uk] Video Card

[Alan Lord (News)]

On 07/04/10 08:38, Jon Farmer wrote:
> Hi
>
> I have been asked by a charity I work with to recommend some new PC to
> replace some of their older machines. They are keen to give Ubuntu a try
> after hearing me evangelize about it.
>
> I am looking for the install process to go as smooth as possible and the
> one area I am unsure of is the video display card. So can anyone
> recommend a card that will work out of the box. I am looking for 3D
> acceleration.

If it just for the Compiz effects and user interface then almost any 
modern chipset should work just fine and "out-of-the-box". There are 
(were) some issues with one of the intel chipsets (gma950?) but I am not 
sure if that has been fixed.

My personal experience has been with Nvidia mainly. And although the 
driver is binary and closed source, they do, at least, seem to update it 
regularly and it generally *just works*.

ATI have been making big moves toward supporting linux and also open 
sourcing much of the driver code. They just recently announced a new 
driver that will support the brand new OpenGL 4.0 specification 
simultaneously across Windows and Linux.

The long and short is that for most modern systems with a built-in GPU 
you should be just fine. It might be worth just posting a link to a 
machine you like of just so anyone can comment and in case there is a 
"gotcha".

You might want to recommend some of the newer ION based systems using 
the Intel Atom Dual Core processor and Nvidia embedded GPU. These are 
just fine for "normal" desktop use and use much less power than 
traditional PC h/w so will save the charity a shedload in running costs 
over the years.

HTH

Alan

-- 
The Open Learning Centre
http://www.theopenlearningcentre.com