Best 100? (~130 US$) (=midrange) Card for Linux?

[Henni]

Hello,

in the past this question was a 'no-brainer' because the AMD/ATI Cards were much slower then the nVidia. But now with the new ATI Drivers the question is => which card is 'the best' choice in this range:

The 'old' ones:

• Radeon X1950 Series (GT and PRO are in this price range (at least here))
• nVidia 7900 Series (GS and if you find a GT)

Or the 'new' ones:

• Radeon X2600 Series
• nVidia 8600GT (The GTS costs here around 140? ~190 US$)

(Did I overlook a chip/card in that range?)

Whats your opinion? Mine is, that the 'old ones' (X1950/7900) seems to be the better choice but the question for me is, is the X1950 really a good choice now with the new drivers for a 'linux gamer'?

mfg, Helmut

[ivanovic]

I think I would first wait at least one or two weeks until some users of that card have posted some experiences with the new driver. But in general the most performance "potential" should be in the X1950 Pro series. Though the cheapest of them I found here in Germany is at about 125? (incl vat+shipping).

The X1950 GT is quite a bit slower than the Pro version, just as the Pro version of the 2600 is quite a bit slower than the XT version.

So in short:
I'd wait a little and then look for some comments from X1k users about the new driver and the forthcoming support. Especially if they really hold their word and release the specs as promised. So maybe in one month it is possible to say more about the *real* commitment of AMD/ATI towards graphics under Linux and open source support.

[Malikith]

Well for about 130 US$, I think the best option is the 7900GS, at least it looks like the best bang for the buck at the moment. Here in the U.S. you can get one for 120$ off newegg, not sure how prices compare in Europe but here they're pretty cheap.

The 7900GS is faster than the x2600 and the 8600gt, the x1950gt and pro's I believe are at comparable prices/performance to the 7900GS. The biggest question is, how much longer are you going to wait for? If you want to try ATI, I'd wait a month to see how the 8.42 driver turns out then make your move.

At least then you'll know that you made the right choice whatever it may be.

But to be honest, I would shoot for the 7900GS, x1950 pro/gt before i'd go for the 8600/x2600. Reason why is the 7900gs and x1950 pro/gt's will beat the newest mid range cards in performance, due to 7900gs and x1950 pro/gt's having 256-bit memory interfaces against the 2600/8600 128-bit memory interfaces. They may not be the latest, but they're definately greater and proven.

[Panix]

But to be honest, I would shoot for the 7900GS, x1950 pro/gt before i'd go for the 8600/x2600. Reason why is the 7900gs and x1950 pro/gt's will beat the newest mid range cards in performance, due to 7900gs and x1950 pro/gt's having 256-bit memory interfaces against the 2600/8600 128-bit memory interfaces. They may not be the latest, but they're definately greater and proven.

What about the theory that the newer cards will be better supported (i.e. the idea that ATI/Nvidia will be working to target specific support to the newer cards)?

[Chandon]

That'd be "entry level".

As it has always been:
Non-gaming card: up to $80
Low end card: $80 to 160
Mid-range: $160 to 250
High-End: $250+