Ask Slashdot: Quality Graphics in Linux?

Another of Clan Anonymous Coward asked: "We will be getting a few new boxes soon, and I want to know: can you get workstation quality graphics out of Linux? NT-GL seems to be acceptable, SGI-IRIX has great graphics, and the best I hear about Linux is that it runs X in 2D!" I remember hearing a sentence with the words "Titanic" and "Linux" in it. But seriously, how much would one have to spend to get quality workstation graphics out of a Linux box? And this doesn't have to mean Titanic quality either. If you're interested, hit the link. continued...
"Given say, a $1000 budjet for Drivers, Monitor, and Video Card, what could you do with that in Linux? I would like to know details, for example: what 3D-32M video cards work, what cards are the faster cards, what commercial X product with GL/glide/Mesa are avaliable now, and for what price? With money to spend NOW and a need for graphics NOW, what is there in Linux that works NOW? (and not in a few months, or planned, or in progress)"

C :Good questions, I'm sure there are folks out there that have some answers. Does anyone have the link to that Linux Times article about the Linux Farm used to render _Titanic_?