Pierre04 Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 (edited) Greetings to All from a total NOOB... Running on a Shuttle SN45G2 and an AMD Athlon. Looking to upgrade the entire system to the Athlon 64 939 CPU - Got a couple of questions... 1) - Looks like the ATI Video cards are the way to go - Currently running an AIW9600, looking to upgrade to the AIW9800 - Mandrake 10 installed no sweat on th3 AIW9600, so I reckon I should stick to what is working - expecially since I see NVidia reference in the FAQ, but didn't see ATI in there... Seems that ATI is the better platform at this time. Is this also true in the AMD 64 version of Mandrake as well? 2) I see that as a Silver Member I get a discount on any purchases... but can you get Mandrake 10 for AMD 64 in the "free open source" market? Yes, I do squeek when I walk, but I thought Linux was supposed to be *free* (grin) Any leads on this? Any other thoughts that might help me out are appreciated. {Edit} Oh yah - I will be getting the Shuttle SN95G5, AMD 64 3500+ 939S, 1 GB OCZ PC3200EL ram, IDE drives, Pioneer DVR 108 DVD Writer, ATI AIW9800. Any tune ups or suggestions here are also appreciated... Now you know why I am looking for the *FREE* version! TIA! Edited September 3, 2004 by Pierre04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiedra Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 1. Nvidia IMHO is the way to go. ATI's support in Linux is terrible. Just see the many posts about ATI's and how they are pain to get working. Nvidia's have excellent support and easily configured (If you're not running the latest 2.6.x series kernel). Usually, you just have to install the driver and you're off. 2. Linux is free (As in "Free Speech"), not as in ("Free of Charge"). Being a "Silver Member" of Mandrake Club is really about supporting Mandrake. Mandrake depends on the success of it's distro and donations users make to it. It was only recently Mandrake came out of bankrupy thanks to the Mandrake Club scheme, Software purchases, and donations from generous users. So you are welcome to get it Free of Charge and if you like it, use it, play with it, and make a small donation if you wish to show your appreciation. Personally, I donate by buying the cd's, rather then download them and I recommend it to as many people as possible. After all, it's the users that help keep it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre04 Posted September 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Hello spiedra, 1) Interesting - I did see several "how do I get this Nvidia working" in the hardware area... and my ATI AIW 9600 installed and was recognized during install by the Mandrake 10 software... Hmmm.. I will do some more searching and perhaps change my plans... haven't ordered the video just yet so now would be a good time to put in the research. I appreciate the advice! 2) Yah, well I had to ask... I did point out that I squeek when I walk (LOL). 20% off the boxed AMD 64 version will help me for sure. I like your point of supporting the Linux cause (I did pony up for the Silver Membership) so it would be no stretch to go for the box WITH A MANUAL! That manual thing helps at times (grin). The competition has been good for MS, and I bet it won't be only $129 for Longhorn if it ever gets out!!! Thanks for the guidance. I appreciate it, and the spirit with which it is given ! Any other thoughts?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chin808 Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 The hype around the ati card (x800) vs the 6800 seems to always favor nvidia in windows games, there are some opengl/directx variances. I have been researching this for a while and I have decided on the 6800 gt. I hate the lame ati control panel... compared to nvidias it is pure poo. if your going 64 do yourself a favor and go nvidia. Also there are 16 rendering pipelines vs ati's 12. also get a nice powersupply like the enermax... more is better ;) Peep my sig for my system specs. One more note, I have tried suse's 64bit edition and it is a huge headache... all 32bit os's for me till they are not so buggy... the xp pro64 was a compatibility nightmare as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiedra Posted September 5, 2004 Report Share Posted September 5, 2004 Well, one last thought: Linux is a different animal. You might find it a little hard at first because you'll be new to it and you'll find you'll have to totally change your way of thinking to using your pc, but you'll get nothing but positive results and a rewarding experience. I encourage you to stick with it and will all come into place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted September 5, 2004 Report Share Posted September 5, 2004 Pierre Both ATI and NVidia cards are usually recognized during install. The thing is, the default drivers for those two cards have horrible 3d support (we are talking seconds per frame here, not frames per second). That's why people install ATI/NVidia's proprietary drivers to get 3d support. Now, the thing is (and other posters will support me) that NVidia driver is a heck lot easier to install, no matter what distro, no matter what kernel, no matter what NVidia hardware you have (although I have been hearing bad news about the latest NVidia driver (version 6111) that's why I still keep the 6106 version). ATI on the other hand, is terrible. Hard to install, no support for older radeons, and no AMD64 support AFAIK. So if you want an easier Linux experience, I suggest you use NVidia. Anyway, keep us posted in your experience with Linux on AMD64. I am dying to buy one :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre04 Posted September 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 Thanks to All - Just ordered up the eVGA nVidia 6800 from ZipZoomFly... Labor Day price was $278 no shipping! Chose eVGA due to the upgrade program - One time upgrade for the first 90 days - Just pay the diff in cost between the 2 cards. Guess that puts me about halfway to the 6800 Ultra! Check the eVGA site for particulars if you are interested... It will be just a little bit until I get the AMD 64 system... but at least I can use the new card in the existing Mandrake 10 system. Should be a pretty fun exercise to change out the card and drivers... (grin) I will do some searching for this exercise before I do it... (LOL) Too bad this isn't like OS2... Hey, maybe it's time to setup a triple boot system... bet OS2 would scream! I did see that ATI had no drivers for the Linux 2.6 kernal. nVidia does, so it was pretty much a lay down at that point. Thanks again for all the advice. Bet my screen savers will start to fly with the new drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenton Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 I just don't know you guys. I don't have the latest 3D drivers for my Radeon installed, I believe I'm using Mesa OGL drivers, but they work fine. I've only played TuxRacer, ZSNES and the original Unreal Tournament, but I jacked UT up to 1600x1200 with full details enabled and I ran it FINE. Smooth as silk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre04 Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Hey Kenton, I am having a heck of a time with these drivers... Want's kernel source and all... I get the 2D version, but not the full 3D accelerated ATI 9600 drivers... {sigh} But help is on the way with the nVidia drivers! Any tips, pass em on... looks like a couple of ATI driver threads going on right now... L8ter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre04 Posted September 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 Update - Received the eVGA nVidia 6800 / 128M card today. Dropped it in the Shuttle SN45G around 6:00pm... and struggled with *stuff* for a couple hours. Right about 9:00pm I nailed it after reading up on the Mandrake Forums. Considering that I spend LAST WEEKEND working on the ATI installation, they are easier! Learned lots too! Gee, Mandrake runs so *FAST* now... I see what you mean by seconds per frame vs frames per second!!! Little box really *RIPS* it up now, GLX gears just FLY by... Thanks for the recommendation. I will pass it on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiedra Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fissy Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 (edited) the ati 9800 AIW will use about 100W more power than your old card... I've just bought a similar geforce fx card for my shuttle - it won't boot. If you want to build a performace computer like an amd socket 939 based pc, i'd really advise not getting a shuttle, as cute as they are. EDIT: *read the whole thread* oh, yours works.. lucky you! Edited September 11, 2004 by fissy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre04 Posted September 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2004 Hey Fissy, Well sort of... the Mandrake AMD 64 is on order, but not here yet. I will be pulling the eVGA nVidia 6800 out this weekend and setting it into the SN95G5 that was dropped off this afternoon at work... Setup the windows (sorry, it's what I work with) and then be ready when the Mdk AMD64 shows up. Now I just need to prep the SN45G for SALE to pay for the new rig! That means setting up the ATI AIW 9000 in the new box... which probably won't have Linux on it, unless the buyer wants to pay me to set it up (shich would be a BIG mistake on their part!(grin)) Thanks for the reply though... Shuttles have been little *STUDS* for me so far. Testing a SB75G2 w/ 200Gb SATA Raid in it at work as a file server. It cooks for me, and I don't mean temperature wise. L8ter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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