Red or Green?

[Ertaz]

I have an
650W PSU
Asrock x58 Extreme
i7 930
4g of OCZ Low voltage 1333 DDR3 (will move this to my wife's system if ddr3 prices ever come down again.)
Spinpoint 1TB/7200RPM/32M
*No Video Card*


What manufacturer/model video card do you recommend between $80-$130?

I plan on a dual boot between Windows 7 Ultimate and Kubuntu.


I will do virus removal & light/moderate gaming on the windows side (Until Diablo 3 comes out, then I will take a weeks vacation and run it 24x7.)

I know that Nvidia's linux drivers were a little better a few years ago, but I don't know where things are these days. I really want the rig to be stable in 2d and perform decently in 3d @ 1080p. It must also do HDMI.


Thanks in advance,

Eric

 

[happy medium]

gts 250

 

[Lonyo]

Gts250 +1

Or check FS/FT and see if there's a GTX260 available.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2052260 <- this guy has one listed for $130 + shipping, so you might be able to get something for around that.

 

[v8envy]

If you want to use your card under Linux in anything more advanced than basic framebuffer mode (power management, multimedia decode acceleration, compiz & friends) then NV is the only way to fly. Read the phoronix drivers discussion threads for either the closed or open source Radeon drivers for "why."

In the future ATI may well be the way to go for Linux because of their support for open source. Today *all* the ATI drivers are feature-incomplete, buggy, unstable and generally dire when it comes to desktop vs professional app use. Every fglrx release breaks more things than it fixes, and at the rate the open source version is maturing the 5xxx cards may be usable by 2014 or so.

Since a "light gaming" card won't magically turn into an enthusiast card when you need it I'd recommend a GTS250. It's the highest performing NV card available for < $200.

If you can get by with pretending your card is a circa 1989 SVGA under Linux the 5770 will make you much happier when windows gaming. Several hot deals have had them dip to about that price range AR.

 

[Madcatatlas]

gts 250

wait, isnt 5770 in his price range?


edit: Ati should really get started on devoting some people to linux (how many use linux compared to windows?)

 

[Lonyo]

wait, isnt 5770 in his price range?

And I quote:

I plan on a dual boot between Windows 7 Ultimate and Kubuntu.

 

[Madcatatlas]

omg you were too fast! die!

 

[v8envy]

wait, isnt 5770 in his price range?


edit: Ati should really get started on devoting some people to linux (how many use linux compared to windows?)

ATI has quite a few people devoted to Linux, actually. Like NV, they port their windows code for the closed source version. Unlike NV they also support (as in, pay for) developers to create open source drivers.

Problem is, NV has been supporting Linux for over 10 years. ATI interest in Linux is a relatively recent thing. Since there WAS no ATI support for many, many years (and is arguably usable now) all the Linux developers (and power users) are running NV or Intel video hardware. So ATI gear gets relatively little testing and support. Which results in end users brave enough to try it having a horrible experience (what do you mean I have to downgrade my kernel and X server to run this driver?!?!?, e.g.), swearing off of it, and buying NV instead perpetuating the cycle.

Now, granted, ATI has come a long way since even 2006. But they still have a long, long way to go until they're anywhere close to the experience provided by NV on Linux in 2003, never mind today.

 

[Ertaz]

Thanks Guys. I had been looking at the 250......

 

[tincart]

GTS 250 seems like the best idea for that price range.

The 5750 as in that price range too and seems to match a 250 in performance. Whether having DX11 is an incentive is up to you.

 

[sandorski]

Red - Ferrari
Green - Toyota

 

[Ertaz]

Red - Ferrari
Green - Toyota

I can't afford red, and Green may kill me because it's unstoppable. FTW

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Frankly, given the financial situation AMD is in and has been in since 2006 I find it amazing that they devote any resources to Linux development at all. Given their drivers still seem to be a complete mess on the linux side, combined with the fact that linux as a consumer product (as opposed to server) has an almost non-existent market share you'd think they would have either walked away or dedicated their support to Server releases.

 

[Ertaz]

Frankly, given the financial situation AMD is in and has been in since 2006 I find it amazing that they devote any resources to Linux development at all. Given their drivers still seem to be a complete mess on the linux side, combined with the fact that linux as a consumer product (as opposed to server) has an almost non-existent market share you'd think they would have either walked away or dedicated their support to Server releases.

They just announced they made money today. I'm expecting new drivers post-haste.....

Directx has killed Desktop Linux, IMHO. Looking to try the latest Fedora too. I've heard 12 is pretty good.

 

[mm2587]

at your price range a 5750 (or 5770 if you can find one on sale) is your best bet in terms of gaming. Its on average %10 faster then a gts250 and in some cases even more then that and its dx11 hardware. On the other hand linux support is still better on the green side though that is slowly starting to even out.

Its a tough choice between the gts250 and 5750 in your case and really, I think your best bet is to (as someone already suggested) see if you can grab a gtx260 used in your price bracket.