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  • GPU for Game Developer

    Hey guys,

    I'm currently building a new rig for my home office. As you can see in the title, I'm a game/graphics developer and i need support for some newer OpenGL features.

    I hate Windows like hell. And that's the problem: GPU Driver support for Linux is always a little... uncomfortable. I've had a AMD 6770 Card for a pretty long time and every time I tried to use it on Linux my computer nearly started burning.

    So now I have to decide between the newer GPUs. My first bet was to buy a R9 290 but after reading through the forum, it seems that this isn't yet a good way to go on linux. Are there any chances that the R9290 will be running smoothly soon?

    The other option is using a GTX770. Because this is a NVidia card (and because I read about it) there should be far less issues when running on Linux. It should even be on par with the Windows Version.

    Both cards are nearly the same price. Though If I'm not wrong, then the R9290 has better performance (if the drivers would allow it).

    Do you guys have any recommendations?

    Greetings,
    Knuke

  • #2
    Gtx780

    BTW: What about the GTX780. It's only a bit more expensive than the R9 290 but it should perform even better. Also I wouldn't have these AMD/Linux-Issues. I should mention that I plan to use a 3 monitor setup and also'd like to play games on them.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by knuke View Post
      BTW: What about the GTX780. It's only a bit more expensive than the R9 290 but it should perform even better. Also I wouldn't have these AMD/Linux-Issues. I should mention that I plan to use a 3 monitor setup and also'd like to play games on them.
      I agree. I like AMD's price/performance but if you're looking at the latest OpenGL you'll want Nvidia, and their 700 series have been really nice.

      But if you want to exploit raw compute performance, AMD is generally the choice there, and you'll want whatever has their new GCN cores. Either way, both AMD and Nvidia have much better proprietary graphics support now. And if you have a 6770, the latest open source graphics are basically as good if not better than the proprietary graphics. Well, general desktop usage will feel smoother.


      Also, check out http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_value.html
      It's a good site for guesstimations on price-performance but I don't trust their benchmark numbers most of the time.
      Last edited by profoundWHALE; 23 January 2014, 07:24 PM.

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      • #4
        Well, there's this old thread here where someone claimed that some of the problems with many opengl software was that the game developers use nvidia GPUs and that those don't fail with non-standard opengl code so end up releasing software that's not opengl compliant and it'll break on standard compliant drivers, but it works for them. I can't find it right now, maybe someone else can. And did that complaint turn out to be valid in any way?

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        • #5
          Originally posted by ChrisXY View Post
          And did that complaint turn out to be valid in any way?
          In my own experience all my games are run well on both Nvidia proprietary and open source drivers. Only Calalyst having problems with many games.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by _SXX_ View Post
            In my own experience all my games are run well on both Nvidia proprietary and open source drivers. Only Calalyst having problems with many games.
            ...the plot thickens!

            ::ENTER CONSPIRACY MODE::

            Nvidia purposefully created this mess so developers can get accustomed to writing code that works well with nvidia cards and not other cards. then when there is a problem, everyone can blame competing graphics vendors. In Windows, this issue can be fixed by releasing drivers that can accommodate the nvidia mess but for other platforms, competitors such as AMD would not be able to fix the problems right away because they haven't put up the resource to develop good drivers for non-windows platform. This is why MANTLE is so important. It will force (console) game developers to write good code for consoles since that is the biggest market, and then provide an easy step for porting the games to GCN architectures on PC. Effectively, it's the GLIDE of today as 3Dfx had back in the glory days.

            ::EXITING CONSPIRACY MODE::


            Note: I am not a game developer nor do I personally hold any knowledge of such information as stated above.

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            • #7
              Nvidia and Intel have always been known (at least for me) as being what I call, guaranteed performance. AMD has always had what I like to call, bang for your buck.

              I like AMD, but I'm not blind to the superior performance that Nvidia and Intel have. Also, both Nvidia and Intel have been caught in some shady business. There was this Intel compiler that basically gave really crappy performance to anything other than intel. Someone disabled the 'check for intel' in the compiler and then AMD CPUs did better instantly. Also there's the whole Nvidia CUDA thing.

              Anyways, Nvidia and Intel I think have better overall OpenGL performance, while AMD generally has better raw compute for the price.

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              • #8
                Thank you all very much. (y)

                I think I will go with an NVidia Card.

                So on to the next question: Do you think that a GTX 780 would do well in a multimonitor setup? Especially when it comes to gaming.

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                • #9
                  If you aren't experienced OpenGL programmer grab AMD card. Why? NVidia drivers are really bugged in OpenGL specifications case. You can write shader is not compatible with GLSL specification and which will run on NV card without problems, but eg. on AMD it'll not work properly. Simple example:
                  Use float4 instead of vec4 in GLSL shader, it's not compatible with specification and this program will fail at compilation stage on AMD card, but on NV card with blob drivers it'll work properly. NV drivers are terrible in thats cases. Many developers use NV cards for developing and next you can see comments like that:
                  AMD drivers are crap, XXX game/app doesn't work on this drivers!!! etc.
                  But in 99% cases it's not AMD driver fault, but developer without enough experience in OpenGL/GLSL specification and without good debugging platform. Of course if you're experienced OGL programmer and you know specification really good you can grab NV too. AMD cards are definitly more restricted for OpenGL specification, but it's good because you know that if something work on AMD cards it's compatible with specification and it'll work also on other vendors cards. It's your choice, but if you will buy NV card please use just tools like GPU ShaderAnalyzer for GLSL programs.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by nadro View Post
                    If you aren't experienced OpenGL programmer grab AMD card. Why? NVidia drivers are really bugged in OpenGL specifications case. You can write shader is not compatible with GLSL specification and which will run on NV card without problems, but eg. on AMD it'll not work properly. Simple example:
                    Use float4 instead of vec4 in GLSL shader, it's not compatible with specification and this program will fail at compilation stage on AMD card, but on NV card with blob drivers it'll work properly. NV drivers are terrible in thats cases. Many developers use NV cards for developing and next you can see comments like that:
                    AMD drivers are crap, XXX game/app doesn't work on this drivers!!! etc.
                    But in 99% cases it's not AMD driver fault, but developer without enough experience in OpenGL/GLSL specification and without good debugging platform. Of course if you're experienced OGL programmer and you know specification really good you can grab NV too. AMD cards are definitly more restricted for OpenGL specification, but it's good because you know that if something work on AMD cards it's compatible with specification and it'll work also on other vendors cards. It's your choice, but if you will buy NV card please use just tools like GPU ShaderAnalyzer for GLSL programs.
                    I see your point. Well, I've coded in OpenGl for some years now and I think this will not be problem. Nonetheless, the tool you recommended is definitively worth to look at. Thanks

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