[Eug-lug] good (low-end) graphics card?

[Ben Barrett]

Bob, is your 24" monitor 4:3 or 16:10 aspect ratio?
Looks like only the very last display resolution you quoted was wide-screen.
I use a pair of measly 20"ers but 1680x1050 is their widescreen hardware
res.
One is actually upright, 1050x1680, and displays long documents nicely.

~ben


On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 12:09 AM, Bob Miller <kbob at jogger-egg.com> wrote:

> Hal Pomeranz wrote:
>
> > I'm in the market for a graphics card (PCI Express) for running a
> > fairly generic Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) desktop.  I'm not planning on
> > gaming or other rendering-intensive tasks-- just normal desktop use,
> > some streaming video, etc.  At a minimum, it needs to drive a 24"
> > widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 resolution.
> >
> > Who are the Linux-friendly graphics companies these days?  I'm out
> > of the loop on this...  Thanks!
>
> Intel is the most Linux-friendly.  I'm running a 965G-based system,
> also known as X3300, and all the features work: randr 1.2, DRI, Xv,
> DPMS, multiple monitors.  (See glossary below.)  This is a desktop, so
> I can't comment on suspend/resume.  That's using the open source X11
> driver that Intel paid for.
>
> Intel recently (within the last two weeks) released the specs for
> their graphics chips.  Previously, Intel employees read the specs
> under NDA and released the drivers as open source.
>
> However, it's built into my motherboard.  AFAIK, there are no *cards*
> with Intel graphics, just north bridge chips.
>
> I also have a laptop with ATI graphics.  Sorry, I don't remember the
> exact model.  The fglrx driver sucks on this laptop.  No randr.  No
> Xv.  No hardware cursor on second monitor, and incorrect refresh of
> software cursor.  Every few minutes the screen blinks.  Suspend/resume
> work, and DRI works so long as there's no external monitor.  DPMS
> works sometimes.
>
> The open source radeonhd driver is in the Ubuntu Hardy Heron alphas.
> I've tried it (alpha 2, a couple of months ago), and on my laptop,
> xrandr 1.2 is there.  External monitor works.  But no DRI and no Xv.
> I didn't test suspend/resume.
>
> On my older boxes I have RADEON 9000 cards which are very well
> supported by the open source radeon driver.  I don't know whether
> sufficiently old RADEONs are available in PCI Express.
>
> Are you sure your 24" monitor supports 1680x1050?  Mine only supports
> these modes.
>
>    ~> xrandr -q
>    Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 1920 x 1200
>    default connected 1920x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm
>       1920x1200      60.0*
>       1600x1200      60.0
>       1280x1024      75.0
>       1024x768       75.0
>       800x600        75.0
>       640x480        75.0
>
> Glossary:
>
>        DRI - Direct Rendering Interface.  Infrastructure required for
>        3D and Xv
>
>        Xv - XVideo extension.  Uses 3D hardware to play video
>        efficiently.  Needed for full-screen zoom and HD resolution;
>        good (reduces CPU load) for all video.
>
>        randr, xrandr - resize and rotate.  Run-time switching of
>        display resolution and, on a few systems, orientation.
>        xrandr 1.2 is a redesign that supports monitors entering
>        and leaving the system.
>
>        DPMS - Display Power Management System - signals the monitor
>        to go into power saving mode when the computer is idle.
>
> --
> Bob Miller                              K<bob>
>                                        kbob at jogger-egg.com
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