AMD64 drivers, ever

[tutkija]

or should i hang my self and try nvidia quattro

[Marshmallowman]

yeah, nvidia may save you a lot of pain in the long run.

[K6-III]

I've already gone NVidia. Unfortunately, there is no good alternative to NVidia under Linux...

[tutkija]

so , what should i get older quattro, or 6800 GT.
I need sufficent speed on blender.

[Ribbit]

I was about to reply that the 6800 would be faster, since this was Linux and Free Software, so the "Pro" chip doesn't get special treatment because it has a different PCI ID. But then I remembered that this is nVidia and their closed-source drivers, so it doubtless does actually make a difference. (No I'm not ranting, I was actually about to post that.)

My advice would be to find some performance data (even anecdotal) for Blender under Windows with those cards, as (relative) performance under Linux will probably be similar.

[leech]

Know of a way to test blender? If I ever get time (hopefully this weekend) I can benchmark the 6800 GT for you. I know it scores 12k in glxgears at 1600x1200x32bit, if that's any help...

My setup is a 3.06ghz P4 w/HT (though in linux I haven't gotten around to installing an SMP kernel... didn't before due to the lousy Parhelia support for SMP.) with 512mb of Ram and the eVGA 6800 GT.

Leech

[The PIT]

Although I hate to say it another reason why Linux is struggling to make the full break through.


However it's the chicken and the egg problem.


To write drivers you need a large enougth user base to make it worth while for your time for very little return finacally.

To use the system properly you expect proper drivers etc yet you don't expect to pay for it.

Before you all start jumping up and down how many of you have brought a product that has linux drivers on the CD.

When you buy the product your paying development time and costs of production.

[Ribbit]

Originally posted by The PIT
When you buy the product your paying development time and costs of production.

I'd quite happily pay less for a product that came with no drivers and full programming specs...

[The PIT]

Originally posted by Ribbit
I'd quite happily pay less for a product that came with no drivers and full programming specs...

Which is complete nonesense since 99% of the population don't know how too programme. Something you got to start too understand.

[spadnos]

Originally posted by The PIT
Which is complete nonesense since 99% of the population don't know how too programme. Something you got to start too understand.

Luckily, the 1% that does understand how to program is perfectly capable of creating drivers that the other 99% can also use.

Or at least we would be able to if the companies would release programming specs.

- Steve

[The PIT]

Originally posted by spadnos
Luckily, the 1% that does understand how to program is perfectly capable of creating drivers that the other 99% can also use.

Or at least we would be able to if the companies would release programming specs.

- Steve

Mmm not really installing drivers/software under Linux still has room for improvement.

Still it's considerably better than it was compaired to even a year ago.

[spadnos]

Originally posted by The PIT
Mmm not really installing drivers/software under Linux still has room for improvement.

Still it's considerably better than it was compaired to even a year ago.

Agreed!

I haven't used Linux for my main workstation yet (most of the software I have to use only runs on Windows), and I can definitely say that it's difficult to upgrade, even for an "expert". Changing from kernel 2.2.x to 2.4.x was pretty involved (unless you waited for a distribution to package all the other stuff for you). I always end up reinstalling, since I don't generally have any valuable information on the machines I experiment with.

Here's hoping things get much better soon (as your sig says )

- Steve

[Chrono_Wanderer]

unfortunately the 99% won't know how to install/get the drivers lol...

oh ya, get a 6800GT if you can afford it, or get the NV43 gonna be released soon

[spadnos]

Getting / installing drivers wouldn't be an issue if documentation were available, since they would likely (unless badly written) be included with the stock kernel.

- Steve

[albatorsk]

Originally posted by spadnos
Agreed!

I haven't used Linux for my main workstation yet (most of the software I have to use only runs on Windows), and I can definitely say that it's difficult to upgrade, even for an "expert".
Changing from kernel 2.2.x to 2.4.x was pretty involved (unless you waited for a distribution to package all the other stuff for you). I always end up reinstalling, since I don't generally have any valuable information on the machines I experiment with.

Well, you were compiling an operating system kernel from source code. Of course it was involved. That's exactly why you should wait for the distributor to provide packages for those critical parts of the system unless you're sure about what you are doing or have "nothing important" to lose if all goes to hell

Would you really install a Windows Servicepack from source code if it meant getting it a few days earlier than a pre-compiled version?