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Which graphics card should I get?

Tags:
  • Drivers
  • Graphics Cards
  • Device Driver
  • Linux
Last response: in Linux/Free BSD
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July 10, 2014 6:54:01 AM

I currently have an MSI Radeon HD 7790 - however it does not work very well on Linux (TF2 barely like 20FPS on proprietary drivers, bugs caused by drivers etc).

I'm looking to replace it with another card - and I'm not against downgrading since I only play old games and a couple of non-intensive ones (rarely, gaming is really not my priority).

My absolute top priority is that support for all those various features is great, comes out of the box, and everything on the Linux desktop is smooth. Obviously, it would be great if it had better 3D support than my current one - so at least it could run TF2.

Essentially I want it to be smooth and hassle free - but still good performance for gaming at least from time to time.

Which card should I get?

I have no preference over Nvidia or AMD, and no preference when it comes to open source or closed drivers (as long as they're all easy to install and work well).


    Motherboard: M5A97 EVO R2.0
    Processor: AMD FX-8320

More about : graphics card

a b \ Driver
a b U Graphics card
a b 5 Linux
July 10, 2014 7:47:33 AM

AMD/ATI linux drivers have, historically, had lousy OpenGl support, whereas NVidia's, while not perfect, has been vastly superior.
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a b 5 Linux
July 10, 2014 7:49:42 AM

Nvidia proprietary drivers are best for gaming performance, but the open source Radeon/AMD Driver is much better than opensource Nouveau driver.

Have you tried TF2 with latest opensource radeon driver? Particularly Your 7790 uses the RadeonSI driver which is currently undergoing active development as it is a new chip architecture.

In particular Ubuntu 14.04 is using older driver code...
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July 10, 2014 10:53:35 AM

skittle said:
Nvidia proprietary drivers are best for gaming performance, but the open source Radeon/AMD Driver is much better than opensource Nouveau driver.

Have you tried TF2 with latest opensource radeon driver? Particularly Your 7790 uses the RadeonSI driver which is currently undergoing active development as it is a new chip architecture.

In particular Ubuntu 14.04 is using older driver code...


It seems that I cannot replace my card after all - so I'm very interested in this 'active development' that you cite. When is it coming to Ubuntu? Is there a place where I can track its progress?

Thank you a lot
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July 10, 2014 4:16:48 PM

skittle said:
Yes check its git:
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/log/?qt=grep&q=ra...

http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/RadeonsiToDo/

Ubuntu will always be behind the latest drivers and opengl code. It is a "stable" distrobution.

Use a more bleeding edge distrobution like ArchLinux (try 'Antergos' for a easy installer), debian (unstable), fedora (rawhide), gentoo... if you want latest drivers.


Thanks for the links.

I rather like Ubuntu though, so I'm gonna wait. It's usable. However, could you give me a rough estimate for when my situation will start improving - 1 year, 2, 3...?
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