ATI vs. nVidia for general Linux use: my results
- From: Daniel Barrett <dbarrett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 12:16:31 -0600
I recently installed ATI and nVidia graphics boards and drivers in my
Linux machine (Suse 9.1, XFree86 4.3) and wanted to share the
experience.
My needs were simple: general Linux use with a large monitor (24"
LCD). I don't play games or overclock.
Summary:
- Installation was MUCH easier with the nVidia driver. I simply
installed the board and followed the directions at:
http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8178/README/index.html
A few minutes later, everything was working.
- The ATI installation was much harder. The instructions are harder to
follow, and different web pages & files describe different,
inconsistent installation methods.
/usr/share/doc/packages/fglrx/README.SuSE
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge
- After installing the ATI driver, my computer began crashing every
few days, with no error messages logged anywhere. The display would
freeze and the OS became completely hung. ATI support was completely
unhelpful.
- Based on my experience, I heartily recommend nVidia over ATI for Linux.
Details:
Needing a fanless graphics board that does 1920x1200, I purchased the
Gigabyte GV-R96P256D, which is a Radeon 9600 Pro board. I followed
ATI's instructions, but sax2 (the Suse graphics configuration utility)
was unable to generate a working XF86Config file, so I had to do it by
hand. This took a lot of searching on the web. After several hours
and MANY trips between init levels 3 and 5, I had a working config
file and all was well.
However, over the next few weeks, my computer started crashing every
few days. Previously, the system had been very stable, no system
crashes at all. These crashes were mysterious, leaving no information
in any log files.
I filed a "Linux Driver Feedback" (the closest thing to tech support)
with ATI, including detailed information. Over the course of several
weeks, I received a few canned messages, a request to run a Windows
utility to diagnose the problem (on a Linux machine, duh), and no help
at all. Granted the driver is unsupported, but if you have an
official channel for help, it should at least help a little!
In frustration, I tossed the Radeon board and purchased a Gigabyte
nVidia GeForce 6600, also fanless. nVidia's instructions say to
obtain the driver using Suse's automatic update utility (YOU), but
this produced a failure message, so I downloaded the driver manually
and followed the directions exactly. Ten minutes later I had a
working display, and the computer has remained stable for a week.
XF86Config files:
Incidentally, if anyone else needs an XF86Config entry for the Dell 2405FP 24"
LCD monitor, here is mine:
Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
ModeLine "1920x1200" 154.0 1920 1968 2000 2080 1200 1203 1209 1235 +hsync -vsync
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Dell 2405FP"
VendorName "Dell"
ModelName "2405FP"
UseModes "Modes[0]"
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
Option "DPMS" "On"
EndSection
I hope this information helps someone.
--
Dan Barrett
dbarrett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
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