ATI vs NVIDIA Linux Drivers:

What are your current views on which are better. (which are more stable, cause less problems, and are less of a hastle to use?). What are your opinions and experiences?

ATI drivers are a real pain to get installed but once they are working you shouldn't have to worry about them. I have never had any problems with the NVidia drivers, I have heard of more problems with them.

I've bought my computer 2 weeks ago with 2 ATI graphics cards (Sapphire Radeon 7000 and MSI X300). The 7000 was working fine, though connecting a second monitor to it resulted in lower quality. When moving windows or watching TV both monitors where flickering and got stripes (I'm Dutch, hope you understand my English). With one monitor things where better, but not OK. When connecting a 2nd monitor to the MSI x300 both monitors lost brightness and I couldn't get them to work in not-clone mode. I decided to bring the cards back and take nvidia. Installing the drivers was very easy through YOU (Suse), but I had to update XF86Config manually (change nv to nvidia and a bit more). The 3 monitors work like a charm at 1600x1200 each.
I did not download any ATI drivers, I used the drivers included by Suse. For me it's no more ATI. nVidia has the better drivers in my opinion. Keep in mind that ATI has better open source drivers, but they can't beat the closed source nVidia drivers.

A thought:

Omega.com, I believe, makes suped up versions of nVidia and ATI graphic card drivers. I checked tonight as I currently rebuilding my system and discovered to my suprise that FOR THE TIME BEING the work on nVidia Drivers would come to a "pause." A "pause" is apparently a better word than stop because Omega.com or .org is still planning to write drivers for nVidia. Before anyone rushes to Omega release that they only make this drivers for Windows based systems, so I have been told.

One more thoight:

Was not nVidia the first graphics card maker to start writing drivers so that Linux users could play games the Return to Castle Wolfenstien . . . .? I think nVidia was first to recognize Linux; but I not certain. Perhaps someone else might recall with more clarity. . . . .

Tim

TDW

Nvidia hands down.

ATI uses less then 4% of its company resources to work on drivers for its cards, that and 3D support post the 7500 line is extremely iffy and will only come from 3rd party drivers not from ATI them self.

Nvidia on the other hand has an entire devision for linux drivers and they just work. their installer is simple to use and i get better performance with my linux drivers then i do my windows drivers on the exact same system.

for me hands down Nvidia all the way. I will not buy an other ATI graphic card again until they start spending as much money and support for their linux drivers as they do their windows drivers.

I am sorry that I am responding so late to your post . . . . I am experimenting with installations of operating systems and have been wonderingly why I haven't been recieving the normal amount of email I get every day. Just moments before, I reasized that I left a second computer on with the Thunderbird running. I have a lot of mail to respond to currently. For alas this machine, has been hiding my email for three days. . . .

So I have to confess that I am in so much agreement with your "hands down" comments that in a reflected state that my studies in philosophy have taught me to wonder why it is so.

I have even purchased a silly little computer-case badge that says "nVidia Only". Your answer to my questioning is thorough, though I would believe that there has to be die-hard ATI people out there. Don't You? Ever ATI graphics card I have worked with has had some gross major graphic problem. It is amazing that they are even able to make in the market . . . to me! So I am a strong "devotee" to nVidia as a company, not even knowing the information you have at your disposal. . . . But my real question now is what makes us want to be such dedicated consumers of nVidia products. I mean I run a nVidia graphic cards and a nVidia chip-set, the 250. Another company I am an ardent consumer of is AMD. I mean you just can not convince me that Intell is a better company and makes a better product CURRENTLY. What is that about too? And then there is Adobe, and, because I am a graduate student in Landscape Architecture, I would never work on any other CAD system except for Bentley's MicroStation. Why so. . . .? I think I have an answeer but will save it for latter. What about me leaving Apple out of the ruberic of "good-guys" . . . ? nVidia, AMD, Adobe, Bently's Microstation . . . . Why so? And for that matter: "Why Linux"

And by the way I just might match you for spelling errors . . . .

ATI=bad
NVIDIA=good

As Lleb_KCir says, a big difference is the amount of resources spent developing drivers. ATI only recently made the fgrlx driver in a poor attempt to support the Linux community. For the Radeon IGP320 chip in my laptop, I only got it to work with a third party driver. And the quality is less than impressive - little more than enabling hardware accelleration. The nvidia driver is well maintained and stable. I think my geForce2 MX400 works better with it than it did under Win2K with the CD driver.

yep same here. Nvidia all the way. Nforce 3 mobo, nvidia CK8S sound and GBLan chipset, GeForce 6200 graphics card. I did have an ATI 9800 pro graphics card in it, but it blew (!!) after a power surge on an internal h/w modem.

I understand that there is plently of experience and information that condems ATI. I am all into as I learn more. . . . . but my question was getting at something more, I think. . . . For instance, what possessed a 38 year grown man to buy a silly computer case badge saying "nVidia Only". I must have done so not just because there is a clear difference in quality, which I had already expereinced. I would content that there are other reasons besides pro-rated information and poor personal experience that makes us want to like companies like nVidia. I went futher and suggested other "good guys" like AMD, Bentley's Microststion CAD applications and lastly an oddball but in my list of favorities is Adobe--if only because I know Photoshop and PageMaker/Indesign well enough to be published for taking CAD vector graphics and rendering raster oriented maps. I leave Apple out in a special dissappointed manner. Sorry U2. . . I am not keen on this colaboration with Intel. Should have been AMD . . . Plus Apple's legal team must be huge as they sue at a drop of hat. I don't like that. What they have demolished with the small guy trying to take inovative steps forward is not equal but is like Microsoft to me. . . . . They have borrowed so much that sometimes I have heard Apple being considered Linux's best version. Don't know how to comment on that. ----But as I was saying, why so? Why such loyality? I think it because our self-worth is greatly built up in a Linux constructed computer, much moreso than Windows or Apple, though Apple has its snobbery and its own loyality. Let's face it, the loyality to nVida is more than pro-rated information and personal experience. . . . Its about status, I would suggest, though I could be off on this point . . . . I don't mean "status" superficially either, but reather the suff of our being. A loyality to nVidia is a reflection that we want others to see in this confounding mosiac of mirrors that we are. . . . .. . . . . Did anyone feel a lose when a Chinese company bought out IBM's personal computers. I did. I am not a even a fan of the Big Blue. . . .

Lastly I noticed that Dracolich that you are from Virginia Beach, as I am. . . a fine "city" to live in given the effort to create a downtown out of Indepence and Virginia Beach Blvd. But cities change too with time I suppose. Any how I thought the proximity was interesting. . . . .Have you ever gown to the local Linux group meetings?

My opinion, having run an ATI 9800 pro and now running a 7800 GT?

ATI drivers are easy to install, but you get not too great performance. They finally do support xinerama though (for us dual monitor peeps) so that's good.

Nvidia drivers are actually a little more of a pain to get working like I wanted. After getting them working though the performance increase was definetly worth it.

Of course, the 7800 GT is also a much better card than the 9800 pro (2 generations newer), so take it with a grain of salt.

ATI drivers are under-rated IMO, at least nowadays.