Is a Radeon X1050 with 128MB enough?

[Louise]

Dear readers

With the latest (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=826) announcement (http://www.linux.com/feature/119049) from AMD that they will release the source code and specs on Monday for R500 and R600, I would like to buy such card.

So is 128MB enough or are there cases in Compiz Fusion where 256MB is needed?

Lots of love,
Louise

[NoSkill]

Dear readers

With the latest (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=826) announcement (http://www.linux.com/feature/119049) from AMD that they will release the source code and specs on Monday for R500 and R600, I would like to buy such card.

So is 128MB enough or are there cases in Compiz Fusion where 256MB is needed?

Lots of love,
Louise

128MB is plenty for compiz fusion and should be fine even with a dual screen display. The only time 256MB (or more) would be needed is if you are running 3D games at "Ultra" texture levels. I run a nVidia 6600GT with 128MB at 1280x1024@32bits fine with compiz fusion.

[adamk]

That card should be fine. Just so you know, however, it is really an r300 card, not r500/r600 (or even r400). compiz works great on that card with the open source drivers.

[Louise]

128MB is plenty for compiz fusion and should be fine even with a dual screen display. The only time 256MB (or more) would be needed is if you are running 3D games at "Ultra" texture levels. I run a nVidia 6600GT with 128MB at 1280x1024@32bits fine with compiz fusion.
Excellent. I will then go for a 128MB card :D

[Louise]

That card should be fine. Just so you know, however, it is really an r300 card, not r500/r600 (or even r400).
I would like to be able to use the open source drivers that AMD/Novell will produce, and they say the smallest card to be supported is R500.

Do you know what card I should buy then?

compiz works great on that card with the open source drivers.
Do you mean the AVAIO drivers from freedesktop.org or X.Org?

I have a nVidia card now, so I am not used to the ATi cards yet.

[adamk]

I would like to be able to use the open source drivers that AMD/Novell will produce, and they say the smallest card to be supported is R500.

Do you know what card I should buy then?


The X1300 is probably the cheapest r500 card. Besides, you may want to buy a card till you actually see what AMD/Novell actually come up with.



Do you mean the AVAIO drivers from freedesktop.org or X.Org?

I have a nVidia card now, so I am not used to the ATi cards yet.

No, the AVIVO driver only provides 2D, and only works on x1300 and higher cards. The x1050 will work with the open source "radeon" 2D driver and the open source "r300" 3D driver.

Adam

[Louise]

The X1300 is probably the cheapest r500 card. Besides, you may want to buy a card till you actually see what AMD/Novell actually come up with.
Yes, and at that time, a X1300 might even be cheaper =)


No, the AVIVO driver only provides 2D, and only works on x1300 and higher cards. The x1050 will work with the open source "radeon" 2D driver and the open source "r300" 3D driver.

Okay, that very interesting! My main goal to buy a new gfx card is really to avoid the painful driver installations.

Are the open source drivers that you speak of easy to install? Perhaps just intalling RPM packages? I use Fedora.

[adamk]

By default, the open source drivers for the x1050 should already be installed... At least, they're installed by default in opensuse, mandriva, and ubuntu, so I doubt Fedora would be any different.

Adam

[Louise]

By default, the open source drivers for the x1050 should already be installed... At least, they're installed by default in opensuse, mandriva, and ubuntu, so I doubt Fedora would be any different.

WOW! That is really what I am looking for! =) Compiz Fusion to work out-of-the-box! =)

X1050 it will be then! =)

[adamk]

If you can find one, an X800 or X850 is an even better card and will still work out-of-the-box. You can probably locate a decent deal for on-line.

[Louise]

If you can find one, an X800 or X850 is an even better card and will still work out-of-the-box. You can probably locate a decent deal for on-line.

Cool! Thanks =)

I'll starting looking right away =)