Just a clarification: There are plenty of good open source drivers out there. My point is that "open source" does not always mean "better", although it often does.:)
Why would you trust XFree86 to write a better driver for NVidia's cards than NVidia themselves? Sure, it's open source (and yeah, open source is usually good), but if you look at the state of current 3D drivers, the "open source" Voodoo 5 driver is crap. The drivers for all NVidia cards, on the other hand, have consistently shown themselves to be of extremely high quality. I use them myself (GeForce 2), and obviously I'm a happy customer.:)
1.Speed. Everything review of 3D cards that has compared performance under XF3.3.6 with XF4.0 has rated XF4.0 as slower. If I'm getting a less expensive card, it might as well be one that gets the most out my environment.
The only comparisons have been between cards that have 3D support in both XF4 and XF3. In these cases, the XF3 drivers are usually more mature and thus better optimized. NVidia cards, on the other hand, have nothing resembling a 3D driver for anything less than XFree4 (the XF3 driver sucked), but their XF4 drivers are faster than any 3D driver for any other card in Linux, period. In other words, don't choose the card for the XFree version, choose the XFree version for the card.
2.Time. I'm running RedHat 6.2 (my preferred distro until RedHat gets most of the 7.0 bugs out) and I would prefer not to waste time chasing down XFree86 4.0 bugs in addition to chasing down adapter 'features'. I'd rather spend my meager free time enjoying myself...
XF4.0.1 runs perfectly for me on my NVidia GeForce 2, and on RH6.2 it should be very easy to set up (with RPM's). I doubt it would be any more trouble than trying to get any other graphics card to work right, but then you never know when it comes to X and XFree86.:/
The GeForce 2 MX would probably be the best for Linux gaming (best driver support), but that would require XFree 4.0. Why do you want 3.3.6, just out of curiousity?
On PriceWatch, the GeForce 2 is selling for $169, just $10 more than the ATI Radeon DDR, and $30 more than the Radeon SDR. I don't think the Radeon DDR fits in the "value" range, and the SDR is arguable.
Last I checked, the GeForce 2 is the second fastest card on the market, right behind the GeForce 2 Ultra (which is still insanely expensive).
The point is, with a faster card, you get better visual quality, be it from FSAA, multiple rendering passes, higher GeoLOD, or just higher resolution. Also, if you get 72fps on average, that might drop noticeably when you least want it to (during big firefights), which would be bad. At 200fps, your performance could take a sudden 64% hit and you wouldn't be able to see it.
You don't typically store polygons in VRAM. You calculate polygons dynamicly as you render the frame. Yeah, you need some sort of reference point (3D models, etc.), but that can be stored in regular RAM just fine. Anyone know how much main memory the PS2 has? The DC?
On the other hand, the Voodoo 1 also had 4MB of VRAM. I'm having trouble understanding how a "next generation" console can get by with so little. Even 8MB is puny compared to modern PC graphics cards.
That's why all natural quantities come in discreet units. Yes, the units are incredibly small, but they are discreet none the less. Digital system? Wouldn't surprise me.
Does anyone remember the Virtual Boy? Made by Nintendo, it worked just like the device you describe, but projected a slightly different image into each eye to make things look 3D. For some reason, no one liked it. I thought it was neat.
This goes against everything I have ever learned about computer hardware. I'm not going to say that it's wrong (I suppose it is possible), but I'd research this very carefully before buying any new hardware.
I was about to note that all the "never released" games are available via emulation with full english translations done by hackers, but then I realized who you are, and that you obviously already know all this.:) I love your comic! It's one of the six that I read daily.
I don't know about you, but I could write a flight simulator with the functionality of the one in excel in less that 200k. (assuming, of course, that I could use OpenGL for the graphics)
My Win2k box has not crashed once in the three months I've had it, and I typically leave it on for many weeks at a time without rebooting. Same goes for the Debian (Woody) Linux box. RH typically dies on me as I type my password (I'm not kidding!), but I think that was some sort of hardware problem. It seems 7.0b, as well as 6.1 and 6.2, did not like my GeForce 2 for some reason.
Why do you need to keep count? I've been maxed out on karma for awhile now, but that doesn't stop me from posting my thoughts, or enjoying it when I get modded up. It's just harder to brag about when you don't have an actual number.:)
Unfortunately, Harry Browne also says that anti-trust laws are a tool that the government uses to stifle competition. He also seems to think that we should repeal environmental laws and other laws that keep the big corporations in check. I like some of what the Libertarian Party says, but some of the other stuff is just disgusting.
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Just a clarification: There are plenty of good open source drivers out there. My point is that "open source" does not always mean "better", although it often does. :)
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Why would you trust XFree86 to write a better driver for NVidia's cards than NVidia themselves? Sure, it's open source (and yeah, open source is usually good), but if you look at the state of current 3D drivers, the "open source" Voodoo 5 driver is crap. The drivers for all NVidia cards, on the other hand, have consistently shown themselves to be of extremely high quality. I use them myself (GeForce 2), and obviously I'm a happy customer. :)
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The only comparisons have been between cards that have 3D support in both XF4 and XF3. In these cases, the XF3 drivers are usually more mature and thus better optimized. NVidia cards, on the other hand, have nothing resembling a 3D driver for anything less than XFree4 (the XF3 driver sucked), but their XF4 drivers are faster than any 3D driver for any other card in Linux, period. In other words, don't choose the card for the XFree version, choose the XFree version for the card.
XF4.0.1 runs perfectly for me on my NVidia GeForce 2, and on RH6.2 it should be very easy to set up (with RPM's). I doubt it would be any more trouble than trying to get any other graphics card to work right, but then you never know when it comes to X and XFree86. :/
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The GeForce 2 MX would probably be the best for Linux gaming (best driver support), but that would require XFree 4.0. Why do you want 3.3.6, just out of curiousity?
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The NVidia TNT2 is faster and has better Linux drivers, and it's going for $58 (32MB) on PriceWatch.
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Holy crap! Are you people still here? Fine, don't buy NVidia then. Your loss (especially if you use Linux).
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I was refering to the full GeForce 2 GTS. The MX is <$100.
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On PriceWatch, the GeForce 2 is selling for $169, just $10 more than the ATI Radeon DDR, and $30 more than the Radeon SDR. I don't think the Radeon DDR fits in the "value" range, and the SDR is arguable.
Last I checked, the GeForce 2 is the second fastest card on the market, right behind the GeForce 2 Ultra (which is still insanely expensive).
Oh, and the Voodoo 5 goes for $234. Go figure.
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The point is, with a faster card, you get better visual quality, be it from FSAA, multiple rendering passes, higher GeoLOD, or just higher resolution. Also, if you get 72fps on average, that might drop noticeably when you least want it to (during big firefights), which would be bad. At 200fps, your performance could take a sudden 64% hit and you wouldn't be able to see it.
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You don't typically store polygons in VRAM. You calculate polygons dynamicly as you render the frame. Yeah, you need some sort of reference point (3D models, etc.), but that can be stored in regular RAM just fine. Anyone know how much main memory the PS2 has? The DC?
On the other hand, the Voodoo 1 also had 4MB of VRAM. I'm having trouble understanding how a "next generation" console can get by with so little. Even 8MB is puny compared to modern PC graphics cards.
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Woops, missed that. Heh.
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I second that. IMO, STL is one of the best libraries I've ever seen. It is a wonderful example of what Java can't do, and C++ can.
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That's why all natural quantities come in discreet units. Yes, the units are incredibly small, but they are discreet none the less. Digital system? Wouldn't surprise me.
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Does anyone remember the Virtual Boy? Made by Nintendo, it worked just like the device you describe, but projected a slightly different image into each eye to make things look 3D. For some reason, no one liked it. I thought it was neat.
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Umm... that's funny, because I have a GeForce 2 and I have no stability problems whatsoever.
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Yes, but only if you were capable of thinking about it. (An unpopular argument, but...)
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This goes against everything I have ever learned about computer hardware. I'm not going to say that it's wrong (I suppose it is possible), but I'd research this very carefully before buying any new hardware.
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I was about to note that all the "never released" games are available via emulation with full english translations done by hackers, but then I realized who you are, and that you obviously already know all this. :) I love your comic! It's one of the six that I read daily.
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I heard that SquareSoft owns one third of all SGI boxes in the world. Or maybe it's just one third of all SGI Onyx boxes. I'm not sure.
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I don't know about you, but I could write a flight simulator with the functionality of the one in excel in less that 200k. (assuming, of course, that I could use OpenGL for the graphics)
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My Win2k box has not crashed once in the three months I've had it, and I typically leave it on for many weeks at a time without rebooting. Same goes for the Debian (Woody) Linux box. RH typically dies on me as I type my password (I'm not kidding!), but I think that was some sort of hardware problem. It seems 7.0b, as well as 6.1 and 6.2, did not like my GeForce 2 for some reason.
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Why do you need to keep count? I've been maxed out on karma for awhile now, but that doesn't stop me from posting my thoughts, or enjoying it when I get modded up. It's just harder to brag about when you don't have an actual number. :)
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Didn't CmdrTaco once claim that he reads *all* of Slashdot? Hmm... guess not.
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Unfortunately, Harry Browne also says that anti-trust laws are a tool that the government uses to stifle competition. He also seems to think that we should repeal environmental laws and other laws that keep the big corporations in check. I like some of what the Libertarian Party says, but some of the other stuff is just disgusting.
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