Running Debian Mint (Betsy). Nouveau was auto-updated to a newer version where support for the installed Nvidia Geforce 7300 GS was dropped. As a result video failed on startup. Reinstall of Mint no help as install will implement Nouveau in both the regular initialization and safe mode and still fail. Debian uses basic video drivers in safe mode. Mint Betsy does not. No problem loading proprietary drivers in Debian. So my question is which Nvidia PCI Express video card to select to get the best experience running the open source Nouveau driver? A real world experience recommendation is what I am after rather than picking one at random.

Curious, why you think 7300 GS is not supported by nouveau?