Fedora Core 4 Best Video Card
 

I have just installed FC4, however, after dealing with my ATI Radeon 9600 All-in-Wonder with FreeBSD, Debian, Suse, and FC3... I just don't have the time or energy to deal with it anymore.

I have 2 - 21" Dell LCD monitors (2001FP) that I want to use. Dual monitors with the ATI card is a true pain in the ass. Furthermore, while I'm not a HUGE gamer, even games like tux-racer just didn't run well with it.

I have just installed FC4 and I decided I don't care to keep this card. I have a CompUSA 2 minutes from me and I want to just go over there and get a new card(s).

I need complete Linux compatibility with the least hassle.
I need to use dual monitors.
I would like to be able to game if I get more into gaming in the future.

What card, or cards should I get? I have no idea what works best. I want 3D acceleration for games because I probably will get more into gaming in the future.

I'm not sure whether I should get 1 card that works with both monitors, or get 2 cards.

Basically, whatever will work best.

Please recommend to me what to buy as I am clueless. I gather Nvidia seems to be preferred by Linux users, but beyond that I know nothing.

My hardware is as follows:

Intel D875PBZ board
Intel P4 2.4Ghz processor with 800fsb
1 gig PC3200 RAM Dual-channel
WD1200 120GB hdd
CMedia sound card
Firewire PCI card (TI based if I remember correctly)
Lite-On CDRW
Toshiba DVD-ROM


Thank you all very much.

as long as you stick to nividia you should not have problems. the techies at your local hardware store should be able to help you with the rest

actually they don't know.. :(

I know the techies at my local store... lol... one is a good friend of mine.

They really know very little about hardware. They'll sell me the pretty boxes based on the ones that look coolest.

I had figured to go with Nvidia.... what I don't know is whether it's better to do two separate cards (one PCI) or one card with two ports for the dual monitor setup.

Will Nvidia cards work without me installing a separate driver?

I would LOVE to be able to use the display utility in "Desktop -> System Settings -> Display" for the dual monitors.

When I installed the ATI drivers on FC3, that whole utility got screwed up and I couldn't use it to write to my config file anymore. That was one thing I really didn't like. I hate using the stupid old-fashioned config script to change resolution and such.

I remember reading in an artile a while back that Nvidia contributes to an open-source driver as well as their own proprietary driver.

Could anybody tell me more about this?

Please pretend that when I walk into the store, I have to just pick a product and pay. Unfortunately at my local CompUSA people know diddly squat... so I like to walk in there knowing exactly what I need.

Thanks.

Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, I've noticed that Nvidia no longer makes their own cards like ATI does.

What company makes quality Nvidia chip based boards that I can purchase at my local CompUSA?

I have owned two Nvidia based cards made by BFG and I haven't had any problems.
Depending on how much you wish to spend, I would recommend either a 6800GT or 6600GT based card.
If compusa doesn't carry the BFG brand than look for either eVGA or XFX (I've seen both at various retail stores) but stay away from the PNY brand. PNY stuff is low quality in my opinion and you're taking a gamble if you buy one.

Fedora Core 4 worked on my 6800Gt out of the box, but I had to install the Nvidia drivers to get opengl hardware acceleration.

I went to CompUSA and saw that they have cards from BFG.

However, my initial question still remains... is it better to get two separate cards (one for each monitor - one AGP and one PCI) .... or is it better to get one card that supports dual monitors? (if that exists from Nvidia)

anybody?

Just get a card that supports dual monitors. I don't think there are anymore cards out there that does not support that. got to http://www.nvidia.com/page/desktop.html and have a look what nvidia has to offer. also keep in mind you are still using agp and that you can not support sli technology. I would suggest going for a msi based card, I have not had any problems with MSI products. If you need more specific help let me know.

actually..... I just noticed ATI has made an installer for their cards that seems to try to mimic what Nvidia has. I'm going to give that a try before I do anything else.

If it turns out to be as easy as Nvidia's, I'll just leave the ATI card. This way if I need to uninstall the driver module to update X.org and then reinstall it, it won't be as big of a pain in the ass as it was before when they just had the rpm and you had to basically figure out why it wouldn't work on your own. Whether it was kernel headers or something... there was always a problem. Maybe this will be a little more helpful...

*fingers crossed*

If they still make it, you might want to try the Nvidia 5700LE. I have used it in a dual screen configuration on every Fedora Core version. Since the 6600's and 6800's came out, the 5700's should be relatively cheap now. I think they work great.