Best card for under $100

[JS987]

Is 1GB of VRAM enough? There's another version of this card with 2GB of memory, but memory clock is at 1Ghz, not on 1.6Ghz like this one above, should I take the faster one with less RAM, or slower one with more RAM?

And what's with KMS Console, I read that KMS has something to do with resolution setting. Is it important?

1 GB of VRAM is enough for GT630. 1 GHz memory is very slow.
KMS Console isn't important.

[grege]

Someone with Steam experience please speak up

@Zoran

What we really need is someone with Steam experience to speak up and tell us what card they use. I can only speak theoretically. I know through a friend that GT610s work fine (Xubuntu 12.10) for normal desktop work and multi-monitor works with the Nvidia driver. Personally I run HD2000 graphics - but have no interest in games. I do not think KMS is really a problem once the Nvidia driver loads and you reach the log in screen. Unless there is some other issue with Steam and Wine. Is KMS really an issue that matters?

ps

Putting an Nvidia card on a motherboard with integrated Intel is not the same thing as Hybrid graphics. In your case the Intel will no longer exist (to the system) once you plug in the Nvidia card and Bumblebee is not relevant.

[Zoran]

Maybe look at a GT630 at around $75. It is a rebadged GT440. Much better than HD2000, but still mid-range. Will work with Nvidia Linux drivers. You should be able to get a GT640 for under a hundred.

The other option, and probably better, is to get a second hand 9800.

That's the card that I had my eye on, look at this:

http://www.centro.hr/detalji_proizvoda.f80b3b04355f409088ae72188ed83a54.graficka-kartica-palit-gt630-1gb-torchlight.aspx

I read somewhere that there's some kind of problems with Intel integrated and Nvidia discrete cards, that Nvidia can't take full control over graphics processing, that something called Bumblebee needs to be installed. Is that only on open source drivers, or are proprietary affected as well?

Is 1GB of VRAM enough? There's another version of this card with 2GB of memory, but memory clock is at 1Ghz, not on 1.6Ghz like this one above, should I take the faster one with less RAM, or slower one with more RAM?

And what's with KMS Console, I read that KMS has something to do with resolution setting. Is it important?

I realize that there's cards with faster memory speeds, but their more expansive and I really don't have the need for something like that. I just installed Team Fortress 2, and the game works rather well on full HD with medium quality settings, it just loads for an eternity.....

[grege]

GT640 has bad performance per price because of DDR3 memory. It is better to buy GTX650 which has DDR5 memory.
9800 has bad performance per watt.

A GT630 is still miles better than HD2000, but of course any of the GTX series is going to be way better than a GT. But then the price climbs rapidly. This one is close to "under $100".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130827

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTE4NDE

It all comes down to how much money you want to spend and how keen you are.

[JS987]

Maybe look at a GT630 at around $75. It is a rebadged GT440. Much better than HD2000, but still mid-range. Will work with Nvidia Linux drivers. You should be able to get a GT640 for under a hundred.

The other option, and probably better, is to get a second hand 9800.

GT640 has bad performance per price because of DDR3 memory. It is better to buy GTX650 which has DDR5 memory.
9800 has bad performance per watt.

[grege]

There are many answers to that question

I don't know, like I said, it doesn't have to be bad-ass, I know that it can't be since we're talking about cards which are under 100$. I just need something that would let me play current games without flickering, and if it's at all possible to have graphics quality settings to medium. I'm not very demanding when it comes to these things. The cheaper, the better.....

Maybe look at a GT630 at around $75. It is a rebadged GT440. Much better than HD2000, but still mid-range. Will work with Nvidia Linux drivers. You should be able to get a GT640 for under a hundred.

The other option, and probably better, is to get a second hand 9800.

[Zoran]

I don't know, like I said, it doesn't have to be bad-ass, I know that it can't be since we're talking about cards which are under 100$. I just need something that would let me play current games without flickering, and if it's at all possible to have graphics quality settings to medium. I'm not very demanding when it comes to these things. The cheaper, the better.....

[JS987]

Would any of these cards improve performance. I know that nvidia is best for Linux, but I don't know which to choose, or should I be going for ATI?

I would wait for passively cooled Geforce GT730

http://videocardz.com/nvidia/geforce-700/geforce-gt-730

[Zoran]

I forgot to mention that, well I don't have anything against proprietary drivers, count them in....

[Loafers]

Hi everyone, I've decided to try Steam for Linux, I bought some games like Serious Sam BFE and Amnesia. Since I have integrated graphics, I thought I might upgrade and refresh my system a bit. Here's what I have now:

MB: H61M-S2PV
CPU: Intel Celeron G530 Dual Core @ 2.4Ghz
GPU: Intel 2000HD
Memory: 8GB DDR3 @ 1333Mhz
21.5" Acer Monitor Full HD

I'm using Mint 13 KDE 64bit. I'm not familiar with graphics cards, I haven't really needed them up until now, so I don't know what to buy, what's supported properly on Linux, what will be supported and so on, how much of a bottleneck would my CPU be and so on. Graphics quality doesn't have to be the best. Now with Intel 2000HD and added Xorg Edgers ppa, Serious Sam is pretty much playable, Amnesia not so much, objects and walls are flickering when in-game. Look here:

http://www.centro.hr/kategorije.2581a91b861d43419f48222d06c0cd97.graficke-kartice.aspx

Would any of these cards improve performance. I know that nvidia is best for Linux, but I don't know which to choose, or should I be going for ATI?

Are you planning on using the proprietary or open source driver?