MSI GeForce 9800GT 512MB

[phoronix]

Phoronix: MSI GeForce 9800GT 512MB

For Linux desktop users interested in a mid-range discrete graphics card there are more choices than ever before with NVIDIA continuing to release new stable Linux drivers as they have done for many years while AMD this year has been making evolutionary leaps compared to their earlier state. AMD is now providing same-day support with all new products, CrossFire on Linux, OverDrive, and many other recently introduced features. NVIDIA and AMD are nearly at a feature parity and even in the past two months they both released new video APIs for Linux (PureVideo / VDPAU and X-Video Bitstream Acceleration, respectively) and they are now battling it out on Linux over performance. We recently looked at AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4830 mid-range graphics card, but in this article we are comparing it to the NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT, courtesy of Micro-Star International.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=13124

[deanjo]

A few things to note here:

- The version of the 9800GT here is identical to the 8800GT. This card does not possess the die shrink of the G92. If it had their would have been 2 sli connectors as found on the cards with the smaller G92

- On the Uningine tests the 8800GT was slower because it was running out of video ram in these tests @ 2560 x 1600. I expect that Michael was using the 8800GT 256M that he had tested earlier. PTS supresses these messages unfortunately. Had the test been run straight from cli with out PTS the issue would have been readily apparent.

- Coolbits could very be well broken in 180 drivers. This might be a regression that was found in a earlier driver but was fixed with 177.80.

- There is no reason why a 8800GT with the same amount of ram would be any different in results at the same clock speed when compared to this particular card.

[Vadi]

I'm getting this next then: http://system76.com/product_info.php...products_id=87

Graphics: 1GB DDR3 nVidia 9800M GTX

[hdas]

@ Vadi, why don't you get gateway p-7811fx for 2/3rds the price (and better screen!) and install linux by yourself .

[Vadi]

Originally Posted by hdas

@ Vadi, why don't you get gateway p-7811fx for 2/3rds the price (and better screen!) and install linux by yourself .

Because then I'll get zero support (and I've had to use system76's support several times - it is top-notch and worth paying for. Sure does beat getting ignored on the IRC or waiting hours on forums)

[Yfrwlf]

Nvidia finally realized AMD was kicking butt and have adjusted their prices accordingly. Curious to see AMD's video acceleration when it comes vs. Nvidia's.

[dashcloud]

Originally Posted by phoronix

Phoronix: MSI GeForce 9800GT 512MB

NVIDIA and AMD are nearly at a feature parity and even in the past two months they both released new video APIs for Linux (PureVideo / VDPAU and X-Video Bitstream Acceleration, respectively) and they are now battling it out on Linux over performance.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=13124

Maybe it's just me, but that statement above implies that it doesn't matter if you buy your video card from AMD or Nvidia: you'll be able to use HD acceleration for video either way. This is definitely not true- as much as I wish it was.

[Yfrwlf]

Originally Posted by dashcloud

Maybe it's just me, but that statement above implies that it doesn't matter if you buy your video card from AMD or Nvidia: you'll be able to use HD acceleration for video either way. This is definitely not true- as much as I wish it was.

Well it's pretty new on both fronts I think, but things are heading that way. That's why I think video acceleration comparisons between Intel, Nvidia, and AMD would be really great to see, though since there is currently a lot of work being done in these areas, I'm not sure when a good time to do them would be.