Radeon 9700 or ti4200???

BlackArrow · n00b Joined: 23 Nov 2002 Posts: 21

I'm looking to upgrade my machine, and the first thing I want to do is upgrade the video card (since I can use that straight away). Ignoring price for this comparison, which board will make me happier under gentoo?

I require great 3D games performance. I also want to get a card that supports agp 8x as my next motherboard (in about a month or so) will have that.

I've had great experience with nvidia under all my linuxes - driver is simple to install and playing UT2003 or Q3 or Everquest all "just work". I really like the performance of the 9700 (who wouldn't), but are the drivers nightmarish right now (as seems to be some opinions on the forums...)?

Thanks for any input on this!

Jesore · Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2003 3:53 am Post subject:

Hmmm, as you are quite into performance why not wait for the Geforce FX ?
As price is no point and first tests indicate it's even faster than the 9700 pro, there is no reason not to wait? Nvidia had linux drivers for the gf4 series very short after their release so there shouldn't be a problem either.
The 9700 is a good card - you might even beat a ti4600 in performance under linux but not to the extent the hardware allows (compare win benchs). This is just my opinion but it would drive me mad to know my hardware just uses a certain percentage of it's true potential - after all that's one big reason for switching to gentoo - optimized software that runs a lot faster than with other distros. I personally would hate such a piece of software in my shiny gentoo.

But on the other hand drivers tend to get better with time ...

jesore

taskara · Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2003 8:47 am Post subject:

if price was not an issue, the 9700 will give you better performance under linux than the 4200.

however I'm not sure how easy the ati drivers are to install, not sure if they have fixed the agp8x problems, and don't forget agp8x is only as good as the linux support for your agpgart (not that agp8x really makes a diff atm anyhow).

I know that nvidia drivers are pretty good, and that has made me stick to nvidia - I just bought a ti4200.

the performance is not breathtaking (unlike the FX), but it's a good decent card.

If you want to get a ti card, I'd recommend the Abit Siluro GF4 Ti4200-8X OTES - it has agp8x support, has an awesome cooling feature and is factory clocked close to a ti4600, but for a much cheaper price. here's a link
_________________
Kororaa install method - have Gentoo up and running quickly and easily, fully automated with an installer!

encrypted · n00b Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 3 Location: Johannesburg

Let me offer some advice here, it's like I always say:

"Nobody buys more than 1 ATI card in their life."

Ati have terrible drivers, absolutely terrible, they are bad in windows and worse in linux. When it comes to Linux its NVidia or nothing in my opinion. ATI dont look after their customers properly and I doubt that is going to change anytime in the near future. I dont need a gfx card upgrade but im going to get a geforce 4 just so I can drop this stupid ATI off a tall cliff.
_________________
--------------------------------
End Of Encrypted message

jufoa · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:14 pm Post subject:

yep its for sure that nvidia has best drivers for linux. nvidia drivers are easy to install and they work great. i would wait for the geforce fx or by geforce 4 now. ati and linux is not so good combination

BlackArrow · n00b Joined: 23 Nov 2002 Posts: 21

Thanks all for the replies. My impressions of ATI have in the past been similar - I was hoping they'd change.

To make my judgement easier, I'm getting the chance to try out the ATI first for a week or so from a friend. If I can't get the R9700 working in that amount of time, the nvidia is what it will be.

I have a feeling though that as you've all said, the drivers will suck, and even if they didn't, I doubt I could day any king of overclocking, etc. with it.

We shall see.

Thanks!

TheMole · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 5:23 pm Post subject:

ATI cards are overclockable in bios, so it's OS agnostic. (You do need a bootable DOS floppy or windows installation to reflash the bios though)

I just recently bought my second ATI card in a row and, although I haven't been able to get my 3D working in X yet, I'm pretty pleased with it. Ati has shown great progress, both in linux support and driver quality (the Catalyst 3.0 drivers on windows beat the latest detonaters quit easily, although I admit comparison is difficult)

I'd say: take the plunge, go with Ati...

Greetz, Mole

*edit* Hey, I got it working, all I needed was a fresh X install

*edit*
_________________
"Nevermore" - The Raven