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Hi guys!

I have read that AMD drivers for linux are terrible and handles many games at only 10-50% fps compared to their Nvidia counterparts. However, the most recent article I've read about this was written half a year ago. Has the situation changed since? Is there any benefit to getting Nvidia cards?

The reason I'm asking this is because I'm planning to buy a new rig in December or January. I'm thinking of getting the r9-280x for my graphics card. But if it will only perform at a fraction of its potential in Linux, then I'll probably get a GTX 770.

The downside is that a GTX 770 costs $150-200 more where I live. Nvidia has slashed prices recently, but local retailers have not revised their prices. And they are not likely to do so until a few months later. I'll have to consider the difference in performance between the red and green team and see if it is worth forking out the extra money.

*My intention is to migrate from windows completely by then, so I will also be playing games only on Linux.

Edited by lardandweed

I have not personally tested any AMD cards on Linux, but from everything I have read they are not the ideal choice for gaming. Apparently their drivers are a bit problematic at times, and most people use the open source driver, which unfortunately have lower performance on 3D applications.

However, I am only speaking from what I have read, not from experience. With that in mind, I would strongly suggest nvidia.

Also, migrating completely from windows is something I did myself some time ago and I never looked back. In fact, I've been wondering why I didn't make the change sooner.

When it comes to games, so far I have managed to get almost all my favorite games working flawlessly. I've had to make very few sacrifices when it comes to games.

The reputation around AMD/ATI drivers comes from the lack of support afforded by ATI back before AMD purchased them. Since then, AMD has greatly contributed to the open source Radeon driver and also contributes to the Mesa project. AMD also has their own proprietary drivers. I find that the open source drivers perform far better than the proprietary AMD drivers. You'll get higher frame rates with proprietary drivers, though the open source drivers will be much smoother.

The Nvidia situation is completely reversed. Nvidia refuses to contribute anything to the open source community (except for perhaps the 'NV' driver) however their proprietary driver is un-matched. According to recent benchmarks, the proprietary Nvidia driver may out perform their Windows drivers.

The Nvidia situation is completely reversed. Nvidia refuses to contribute anything to the open source community (except for perhaps the 'NV' driver) however their proprietary driver is un-matched. According to recent benchmarks, the proprietary Nvidia driver may out perform their Windows drivers.

This is quite untrue, as of now. Nvidia is helping the Nouveau developers, are releasing (albeit slowly) open-source docs regarding their hardware and low-level functionality, as well as backing Valve by helping them with certain aspects of development for the Steam Machines.

Things are changing. I personally choose Nvidia. I find their drivers to be super stable, and always perform better than their AMD counterparts. Again, this is just my opinion, but its also a standard for me when I build machines. It never fails. My only gripe is the lack of support for using a framebuffer across multiple cards without an SLI bridge (universally implemented Base Mosaic), but thats a different story. haha

As for the open-source vs closed-source part... It doesnt bug me. I use as much open-source stuff as I can, and I love it, but if I have to choose between proprietary vs open-source drivers/modules for my graphics card, Im choosing whichever performs better.

And really, why not? We bought the cards, and subsequently, the right to use those drivers. :)

This is quite untrue, as of now. Nvidia is helping the Nouveau developers, are releasing (albeit slowly) open-source docs regarding their hardware and low-level functionality

You mean the *one* document they released back in September for DCB? The Nouvaeu project was started because Nvidia refused to provide any documentation on their drivers so the founders of the project decided to reverse engineer the proprietary driver. In 2011, AMD had two developers working on the open source Radeon driver. Nvidia has yet only provided one document to the community.

In my opinion, if you want the best performance and don't mind using proprietary drivers, Nvidia is the way to go. If you are an open source purest, AMD is the way to go.

No. They released 2 so far. Lol.

The Nouvaeu project was started because Nvidia refused to provide any documentation on their drivers so the founders of the project decided to reverse engineer the proprietary driver.

The Nouveau project does not technically reverse-engineer their stuff. It is illegal for them to reverse-engineer the binary blob, so they basically throw low-level commands at the Nvidia cards, and use their own software to freeze the state of the VRAM, then they dump the VRAM and view the results.

Again, if you go to nvidia's FTP download site, there are 2 docs released. I cannot find the link right now, but there was the one in Sept that described their hardwares internal architecture, and another that goes into detail about fan control, I think. I follow the graphics stack development VERY close (because of my setup, I need bleeding-edge features that are only available in the newest packages).

You are correct in that, if you want performance, use the proprietary drivers, but I would go further to say that you should use them for BOTH. Again, you paid for the card, and subsequently, have paid for the right to use the drivers. AMD open source drivers are not that bad, Nvidia is not so fast simply because of not being able to overclock the video card after the initial clock is set at POST. Its a PITA. hahaha. But its getting better, as they already have experimental overclocking support in the newest releases of the graphics stack/Nouveau drivers.

Yes. If you are a purist, and you buy an AMD card, and want to run the open-source drivers, go for it. They really dont work too bad.

But, not matter what, if you pay for the cards and drivers, but dont use the drivers, performance WILL suffer, no matter what card you get. The exception being Intel, but their drivers are all open-source.

You mean the *one* document they released back in September for DCB?

No. I dont mean "one"...

If you notice, I said:

are releasing (albeit slowly) open-source docs

Stow the attitude. I dont need a history lesson. lol :D

Edited by RoninDusette

Here is the link to one of the docs, but their FTP server is no longer viewable without having the direct link. This is another simple document that they released. I know there is more. Ill post the link if/when I find it.

gk104-disable-underflow-reporting.txt

Edit : fixed link

Edited by GNU_Raziel

Try newwegg.com for your new video card. that is where I but all my computer upgrades. they ship pretty much everywhere and their prices are way better than retail. I have never had a problem with support on the very few times I have needed it. Best of luck with your new comp.