Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Can AMD/ATI drivers be recommended now, or not ?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Can AMD/ATI drivers be recommended now, or not ?

    Hi Guys,

    I need to get a new GFX card once UT3 is released (for linux, of course). I'm looking for a decent but not too expensive card.

    This might now be:

    a) 8800GS
    b) 3850

    This is how i see it:

    pros:
    8800gs: nvidia
    3850: cheaper

    cons:
    8800gs: more expensive
    8800gs: smaller memory bus
    3850: ATi
    3850: marginally slower in winblows

    From reading this forum, it seams that there are still some issues with the ATi drivers.

    would anyone recommend me buying the ATi instead of the nv?

  • #2
    You are just too funny, maybe ask the question in 1 year again.

    Comment


    • #3
      I agree with the above poster.

      If you have any hopes of enjoying ut3 on linux, I suggest you avoid the ATi cards until they get their act together with their drivers. I went from a 7800gtx which worked fine to a hd2600xt which was nothing but a disapointment to a 8600gt and have been happy since.

      save yourself the trouble, get the nvidia.

      Comment


      • #4
        Ok. OTOH, 8800GTs finally hitted the market (large), so I could get one for a reasonable price. I will wait 'till the Linux Client is released, though!

        Comment


        • #5
          I think that would be a really great choice right now. I see many 8800gt cards around $250 on sale which I think is reasonable for what you are getting.

          I do think the current midrange line up from ATi is nice, particularly their 3850's, very good value. I think it would be a good idea to continue following the ATi driver development to see how things are shaping up.

          I'm guessing by years end the catalyst driver will be more on par with what nvidia has out right now. We'll see...

          Comment


          • #6
            Right now I wouldn't use ant ATI card if I could help it. Every month it's a new drama with their drivers.

            Comment


            • #7
              I'm using my HD2900XT with no problems (aside from the known video limitations). The HD3850 I have on another PC works fine too. Most of the love from the recent driver revisions seem to be targeted at these latter models (HD2xxx and HD3xxx), since my other older ATI cards still perform like dogs for the most part.

              Comment


              • #8
                Melcar, when you say "perform like dogs" do you mean in terms of 3d performance or something else ? All of the fglrx-supported cards should have seen a decent 3d performance boost from 8.41 on and should be performing on a par with other OSes.
                Test signature

                Comment


                • #9
                  Well you forget the rendering problems (or why are Pointsprites now invisible?), stability problems - like why is vesafb killed when fglrx is loaded or why does the xserver segfault when modelines are used (espeically after the extra funny changelog in 8.01). Also your driver likes to lockup with my X700 SE when ati was used before as driver (not always, but sometimes). To compare I have got NV cards, there the X server can crash in some cases but usually not that "hard". Then the whole thing with the AGP cards of the 2xxx series. All users I could only tell to get rid of the cards because there is no solution there. 2d only via oss driver is only for purists.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by bridgman View Post
                    Melcar, when you say "perform like dogs" do you mean in terms of 3d performance or something else ? All of the fglrx-supported cards should have seen a decent 3d performance boost from 8.41 on and should be performing on a par with other OSes.
                    I find that it's easier and less of a hassle just to use radeon on my 9xxx parts. Fglrx also chews up my poor 200M. Yes, overall 3D speed is great, in fact, the increases were outright outstanding, but 3D performance isn't everything. I used to not care that much because all I ever wanted was good gaming ability, but nowadays I concentrate more on productivity. The current drivers seem to be kinder on post x1xxx parts, which is what I use on my main PCs, so I can't complain that much.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X