As I said previously, look in my DRI thread, and come to your own conclusion.

The entire thread was started with just Intel in mind, then Nvidia. Both of thos together only take up ~15% of the top post.

Then I added ATI. Wow.

Just read it, and come to your own conclusion.

I think if more linux users begin to buy their hardware then they'll make better support and drivers for it. Like what was said earlier, Nvidia doesn't give code to Xorg, but evidently ATI doesn't have a problem with it. I believe Linux users should be more supportive of ATI then ATI will be more supportive to Linux in general. ATI has almost become like AMD , the underdog. AMD Rox and some don't think so. Some people swear by Intel with the higher clock speed(even though clock speed isn't everything!!) ATI is directed towards media while Nvidia is directed towards more gaming. I'm not saying ATI doesn't do gaming , I'm saying its not their forte! I've just downloaded the ATI drivers for my Raedon X200M for my new HP laptop for when Slack 11 comes out. I've been looking up stuff on the net and It doesn't seem bad! So don't be discouraged when thinking about an ATI just watch what you're buying and do some googling!!

Well I don't like Intel for gaming.

I have AMD machines only, all of them nVidia powered. Of course the clock isn't everything, my Athlon64 3700+ at 2.2 GHz San Diego core (90 nm) with only 1Mb of L2 cache, can beat the hell out of my Intel-based office machine, it's an 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT 640 Prescott 2M core (90 nm) with 2Mb of L2 cache. Hands down.

This seems to have degenerated into a "ATI vs Nvidia: Which is better?" thread.

The original question was:

1. Yes, it is a good idea. The accelerated graphics are a plus.
2. Yes, you can MOST TIMES easily install the drivers. But the support from ATI is laughable at best for us Linux users.

ATI has gotten better in the past few months with their drivers, but are still a long way from the easy install of Nvidia.

@ gkiagia

Yea you're right about the kernel-source, and headers requirements on older drivers. Initially when I came to linux, ATI proprietary drivers wanted them. As of the latest "major number" series they do not anymore, to which I am glad. It was not an issue for me in slackware, but it was in SuSe. Sorry to hear about your open-gl issue on older cards. The local pc stores here stock them cards, at a nice price too; I'll make sure I keep my receipt.

@ raska: just add *Old_Fogie* to the buddy list in UT2004 and come play

@ Darksurf : I agree with linux guys supporting ATI more too. For the reason that I've only been here in linux for, mmm, 4 months now? And I have seen significant improvement in driver developement (e.g. my reply to gkiagia), and increase in FPS in glxgears of 2000 from when I first got dri.

For the record: Whereas I concede the fact that ATI may not be as easy, or as good on Linux as nvidia --- YET, I see significant effort to which I'm happy as an existing ATI Windows XP customer.

And I have called ATI personally, on video cards after the warranty and I was surprised, I got a real person on the phone in my native language, and I did not have to give a credit card number first, and I was out of warranty.

I am happy that nvidia has at least supported my nforce 2 board in gnu/linux, but I'm very un-happy that they did not release code for me to take advantage of surround sound. They only issued an AC-97 codec which is blah.

But if I had to buy a card tomorrow, I don't know who I'd buy to be honest. If it were for a dual boot winxp/linux then I'd go ATI only, but for linux, I don't know. I'm just happy that these video guys are paying attention to us.

Too bad we have nothing from: linksys, netgear, microtek, canon.

Actually, some Linksys stuff is coming out GPL.

Try this link

If you can overcome, the slight negative tone of tom's hardware guide, you might enjoy this interesting article on nvidia vs. ati. it's pretty informative, now I have to download those tools to OC my card, and get hold of that benchmark tool.

here's the link:

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/07/12...e_on_linux_uk/

ATI does not give source code to the X.org team. They will only give source code after signing NDA and non-competes.

Now, what they DO give the X.org team is some crappy documentation on registers for some older products (mainly the video chipset, not tuner or VIVO features usually) and an engineering sample or two of cards using each chipset.

If they DID provide source code for their drivers to X.org, then ATI would be loved by all here, and you'd see folks buying AiW cards in droves for MythTV boxes.

I found that interesting too how they address the information sharing.

ATI even says on their web-site that they can't give info away becuase some of the stuff they use is by other 3rd parties who are not willing to play ball. I read it as ATI trying to put blame on others, in a way of "getting out" of giving away the info to be honest.

I wish they did give the info out, as we'd see DNA drivers or Omega drivers for Linux...oh I dare to dream. DNA and Omega make much better drivers in windows than ATI ever ever ever could. The first thing I do when I buy ATI is throw out my cd...as does any real pc enthusiast in the windows world. Noone uses ATI drivers for windows, what makes them think we'd use them in linux.

If they just gave the code out, we'd have smart people making better drivers, and they can save their money and f(re, that's right..f(re they're lame software engineers who know absolutely nothing!

That's good, but it doesn't belong in this thread. Linksys sells network cards, routers, etc, not GPUs.

Hey, I created a good debate here.

There is tons of information here, I will look into that DRI thing cwwilson721.

Oh yeah, thanks cwwilson721 for getting back on track, I needed to know if it was actually possible and whether it can be done - not what is better or worse.

I have yet to buy a new computer or graphics card, so there is still room for thought. Though I am still stuck with my Rage 128.

Thanks anyway.

Hey, I just bought a LiveStrong HP special edition notebook. AMD turion 64 2.2 ghz 1gig ram(400mhz) ATI radeon x200m 128mb hypermemory with a lot of nice extra gadgets that I will not list at the time being but I payed $1000 @ compusa and found it on the net for $1500!! anyway I'm a Slacker and the ATI drivers given are fairly simple and nice. It looks great on my widescreen and I even get DRI!! I don't have any problems with this graphics card or the driver in linux. Works like a charm. I haven't tried it yet in linux, but in windoze it runs my NeverWinterNights Diamond Really well. Thank god for Lilo and dual-booting!:]. I suggest using the 2.6 kernel put in the /extra folder though. Some hardware will act funny without it i've noticed.

I need to get ATI graphics drivers intalled for my ATI X1600.

Any help please...!

Oh and post/see here - http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...=486258&page=3

As for me I just ban ATI for now because of there crappy Linux drivers. If I have the choice I alsways buy Nvida. Now that AMD has aquired ATI things may change but for now Nvida still is my #1 choice for 3D cards for linux. It's very well supported and works pefectly in Linux. Plus their driver support is surperb and very easy to install.

Check out my DRI link in my sig.

It has an extensive ATI section. But for Slackware 10.2 only.

For info on 11, check the last few posts. Old Fogie posts things all the time in that thread about ATI.