Has ATI changed it's wicked ways?

soggycornflake · 11-20-2006, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurko

I think we have to give AMD/TI some time to really mesh with each other. I don't think we have seen anything yet that is the result of their partnership.

Just because Nvidia's blob offers decent 3d performance, doesn't make them Linux-friendly IMHO. Last I read, there was now support for SLI, only it didn't offer any performance increase over using just one card. They leave exploitable vulnerabilities in the driver for years before fixing them(once the public finds out about it), and basically they suck at making decent drivers, even on windows. Before moving away from Windows, I was using drivers that were over a year old for my 6600gt because the POS would never save my overscan settings for TV-out. Every single driver release post-the-one-I-was-using was flawed in that way. And I bet they still are. There are similar issues with the Linux driver, VT-switching eradicates your overscan settings(might have been fixed in the last couple versions, I altered the way I use TV-out and don't VT-switch from TV to monitor much anymore), and at least on the 8xxx series, whether overscan settings were enabled was hit-or-miss.

This is always the problem with binary drivers. I've also had some trouble with nvidia cards in the past. I had a Radeon 9800 pro a while back and it worked OK for me, but I had to switch to nvidia when I upgraded to an Athlon 64, since at the time ATI had no 64-bit drivers, as far as I could tell.

I agree that just because they (nvidia) have current drivers and a simple installer, doesn't mean that the're linux friendly. Once I got the 9800 working I never had any trouble with it, which is more than I can say for the several nvidia cards I've had.

Quote:

This 6600gt was the first Nvidia product(video-card-wise) I've bought, and it'll be the last. I'll be buying ATI from now on, however dismal their 3d performance under linux may be. I for one think AMD will only improve ATI. At least ATI releases specs after a card has been out for a while...

Indeed. Nvidia don't even support old cards like the tnt anymore, yet they still won't release specs for it. My current card is a mere 6200 and I've been meaning to upgrade but I think I'll wait a while and see how this new partnership turns out.

haertig · 11-20-2006, 02:11 PM

I feel very fortunate indeed. When I built my system, I put an ATI 9600-something in it. IIRC the card was about $90 at the time.

Then I made the move to Linux. I thank my lucky stars that the ATI card crapped out (hardware-wise), although I was having software issues as well. I got a full refund because the specific card was no longer available from the retailer. I replaced it with an MX4000 for, I believe it was, $9 after sale price and rebates. An MX4000 should be quite inferior to a 9600, but for my uses (no games) it's actually much better and more stable. And 1/10 the cost.

I liked it so much I bought another MX4000 to put in the kid's older Windows box the next time the card went on sale/rebate. It's all they need for the type of games they play (The Sims2, WarCraft III, etc.)

I have historically always been nVidia. Then I gave ATI a try. It failed miserably on the first product I bought. Now I'm back to nVidia and don't plan to consider ATI again. Especially after switching almost all my computers over to Linux, and subsequently learning that ATI couldn't care less about Linux.

jkh · 11-28-2006, 09:35 AM

Everybody Loves Eric Raymond is hilarious!
It's clear to me now that neither nVIDIA or ATI are providing prestine drivers. However nVIDIA being the new super power it stands to reason they are providing better support, not sure if relying on a market domination is good though. In conclusion I shall be relying on nVIDIA for their proprietary drivers for my honking 3D games.
My use of ATI (EVER) is pending on any information from AMD about any improvements being made.
Cheers to all.