Re: [gentoo-user] New Hardware...

[Donnie Berkholz]

Jerry McBride wrote:
> Howdy,
>
> I'm gearing up for a new hardware purchase and I find that I need a little
> help figuring out "what is" and "what isn't" linux compatible.
>
> The days of pci, agp video and socket A hardware are slowly coming to a close
> and I'm itching to try something new.
>
> Does anyone here run any cutting edge hardware, like socket am2 motherboards
> and pci-e video cards?
>
> Sounds dumb, but I've no hands on experience with the new stuff and would love
> to hear from those with first hand knowledge. In particular, what hardware
> are you using and how does it work on your desktop? Any driver issues with
> xorg-x11, etc.?
>
> My goal is to build a desktop, taking full advantage of the current available
> video hardware... maybe even use xgl on it too.
>
> Anything would be welcomed. Feel free to email me off list if you desire.

As far as video, I would recommend a motherboard with Intel graphics if 
you want to support open source. The latest stuff is roughly equivalent 
to a Radeon 9250. Intel is doing a superb job of supporting open-source 
drivers and is the _only_ company with fully open-source drivers on its 
newest hardware.

If you still want open-source drivers but need better performance, check 
into a Radeon X800 XT or any X### where ### is less than 1000. Those 
will use the reverse-engineered r300 driver.

I cannot recommend any non-Intel graphics outside of the Radeon series 
8500-X850. Nobody in the open-source community will want to help or 
support you if you are using binary drivers, so there's nothing you can 
do if you hit a bug in them.

With the recent news that AMD is buying ATI, perhaps more good news will 
surface that ATI will open up its drivers and specs once again.

Thanks,
Donnie
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