Time to say hello to Mint 19.1 AKA Tess!
- Thread starter Daniel~
- Start date
The Quadro FX2800M in my old laptop would only run on the 340 drivers as well. Anything after that wouldn't work. That is about 10 years old now, IIRC.
I remember, maybe incorrectly that Linux always liked Nvidia cards more than AMD ones. Seems that doesn't hold true any more. Does this mean the AMD designed vidcards are finally getting a fair shake? Or something else?
Should your next video card be AMD designed? And is this ONLY a Mint thang?
Should your next video card be AMD designed? And is this ONLY a Mint thang?
Kaitain
Active Member
Where graphics drivers are concerned, AMD and Intel have gone one way, while nVidia has gone another. AMD and Intel both embraced the Gallium driver model in Mesa, and contributed a lot of developer time and code, plus working firmware, to getting their graphics working well under Linux.
The end result is that, for recent AMD cards, the open source driver is at least as good as the closed-source driver.
Conversely nVidia has engaged somewhat sparingly, providing no material support to nouveau and, by requiring signed firmware in their recent cards, actively hamstrung the open source effort. However, their driver is robust and relatively easily installed in all distros under Linux.
Who's right?
After a little over a year running AMD based on their newer architecture, I can't say it's been plain sailing. Regressions keep creeping into the kernel and Mesa, resulting in my gaming experience being patchy: some kernel/mesa combinations work well, others are horrible, and my mileage varies greatly with vulkan. In comparison, nVidia drivers "just work," but don't permit the flashing-free bootup and seamless transitions from boot logo to desktop that I get with AMD.
Make of that what you will. I've made my peace with my laptop's graphics, at least.
This video card seems to cost as little as $60 and as much as $185. I can't imagine booman using a $60 video card. Elucidation please? Retailers seem a little confused as to its price.
Thank you very much for your rapid reply Kaitain. I was planning on building my next machine around an AMD processor (which also means an AMD video card) because AMD's performance is kicking Intel's adze imho. Now there's confusion. Granted, I get confused about lacing up tennis shoes...
Here's a thought, perhaps a reservation....
In all the time I've been using video cards and their drivers, I have only very seldom seen a real improvement that I can see or at lest notice the improvement.
Driver improvements seems to mean compatibility improvements...far more than performance that can be seen or experienced.
I have done all the bench marks, or use to. Bench marks, without them I'd never know I had improved performance.
In the past to see really noticeable improvement I have needed to skip a generation or more.
Being as I am prone to error, I'd be interested in the experience of others when seeking to improve performance by way of new drivers.
In all the time I've been using video cards and their drivers, I have only very seldom seen a real improvement that I can see or at lest notice the improvement.
Driver improvements seems to mean compatibility improvements...far more than performance that can be seen or experienced.
I have done all the bench marks, or use to. Bench marks, without them I'd never know I had improved performance.
In the past to see really noticeable improvement I have needed to skip a generation or more.
Being as I am prone to error, I'd be interested in the experience of others when seeking to improve performance by way of new drivers.
Thank you Daniel. Plus experience with up to date video cards, please. They do much more for less money, perhaps ~$200 can buy one a very good vidcard? But a $500 video card is out of the question.