Please recommend an nVidia video card

[ironcoder]

Hi guys,

Seeing as how there is a high level of geekness on the board, I was hoping some of you guys could suggest which video card I should get.

I want a reasonable card so I can run dual head (2 DVI outputs). I don't game or use CAD so I don't need a high-end card, I just need something that will drive dual 22 inch LCDs to their rated 1680x1050 without breaking a sweat. 95% of the use is reading doc and coding so I need a crisp image. I have two other boxes on MSI motherboards with onboard nVidia chipsets (nForce 7100/630i) and I am sold on nVidia from what I have seen so far. Their stuff is great and the drivers install painlessly and work on Linux and Solaris.

The box in question is an E8400 on MSI G31 motherboard (please don't ask, it was the best I could do!) with Intel's G31/33 chipset. el cheapo 450W EZCool power supply (no SLI for me!). Not sure what else to add.

I can find Zotac and Gigabyte locally, right now the shop I use has a good selection of Gigabyte, not sure how good they are. I have a PCIe slot on this mobo.

Thanks.

[ch_123]

If all you want is to drive two monitors without doing any intensive 3D work, I'd get one of the basic ones like the 9400GT or 9500GT. However, you'd probably have better luck finding a 9500GT that has two DVIs.

[huha]

I'd strongly recommend on getting a passively cooled version (i.e. without fan). Basically, you can get as cheap as it gets if you don't do CAD, gaming or gpu-accelerated computing. But do insist on passive cooling.

-huha

[erricrice]

+1 to those

Anything you get will be fine as long as you're not doing 3d stuff.  Just ask beforehand if it has two DVIs.  There are many versions of the lower end cards, some with HDMI, some with vga(all will have 1 DVI port, but the second is up for grabs) so make sure of what you're getting before you pay for it.

[cmr]

you can't go wrong with EVGA. just make sure you have enough PSU to power it up and you should be all set. i've had four EVGA cards in the past 6-7 years and every one has worked up until the day i replaced it with something faster. my 7600gs even survived a power surge that killed practically everything in my apartment... although the lightning did take out its DVI port, the VGA port continued to work until i retired it in favor of a 9800gt.

i've had less pleasant results with other manufacturers.

[erricrice]

you can't go wrong with EVGA. just make sure you have enough PSU to power it up and you should be all set. i've had four EVGA cards in the past 6-7 years and every one has worked up until the day i replaced it with something faster. my 7600gs even survived a power surge that killed practically everything in my apartment... although the lightning did take out its DVI port, the VGA port continued to work until i retired it in favor of a 9800gt.

i've had less pleasant results with other manufacturers.

Yes, EVGA is the #1 when it comes to nvidia cards.  You usually pay a little premium for it, but it is not usually much and when you weigh it against the fact that it will most likely NEVER fail, then it's totally worth it.  Plus with the lower end cards there usually isn't a price difference.

[timw4mail]

I've never had troubles with ATi's drivers in Linux...

From what you described, you might as well just buy the cheapest card you can find.

[cmr]

ATI's linux drivers are absolutely atrocious. they barely work at all.

[timw4mail]

ATI's linux drivers are absolutely atrocious. they barely work at all.

I've not had that kind of issues with ATI's drivers, especially considering that I have a 4870, latest generation card. Stop perpetuating a myth.

And to be honest, Nvidia's driver installer is a pain, especially if you try to install the self-installing driver in Ubuntu.

At any rate, from what I understand of the original poster's needs, just about any low-end video card will do.

[ch_123]

I've not had that kind of issues with ATI's drivers, especially considering that I have a 4870, latest generation card. Stop perpetuating a myth.

Sometimes when there's a problem with something, it doesn't affect everyone. I know more than one person who has had problems with recent ATI cards and recent ATI drivers (and these are the kind of people who have  scary amounts of experience and knowledge about Linux) so whether you like or not, there is an issue, and you're safer with nVidia for Linux.

And to be honest, Nvidia's driver installer is a pain, especially if you try to install the self-installing driver in Ubuntu.

What problems did you have in particular?

[cmr]

I've not had that kind of issues with ATI's drivers, especially considering that I have a 4870, latest generation card. Stop perpetuating a myth.

for several years i have tracked ATI's driver on a wide variety of cards dell ships to us at work. dual displays? disaster. 3d acceleration? disaster. play a low-resolution video without insane flickering? disaster. x crashes all the time. weird color artifacts. don't you dare switch to a VT and switch back to x.

my most recent run-in with fglrx was mindblowing. we had two boxes with identical hardware. we put an identical OS installation on both. on one box the fglrx driver worked at its usual level of half-assed performance and frustrating instability. on the other one it panicked the kernel every time.

the linux fglrx driver is junk. full stop.

[timw4mail]

ATI's driver on a wide variety of cards dell ships to us at work.
the linux fglrx driver is junk. full stop.

No, you miss the key point there.

In all seriousness, I'd buy from S3 before Nvidia.

[ch_123]

No, you miss the key point there.

Which is?

nVidia definitely aren't perfect, but at the moment, they're the lesser of two evils when it comes to getting a g-card up and running under Linux. I've had very few problems so far.

[ironcoder]

Thanks guys. Couple of questions.

Why passive cooling? It gets pretty hot here half the year so I like all the cooling I can get.

I don't know if I can find the EVGA brand locally, I'll look for it. The store I use used to have a good selection of Zotac now they are down to one Zotac and all the rest Gigabyte. Are the Gigabytes any good?

They also have a couple of new brands I never heard of, Gainward and Sparkle. Anybody know anything about those? We usually get the el cheapo stuff here so I always ask before I get taken to the cleaners.

As far as nVidia vs. anything else, like I said nVidia is my choice, their drivers installed and worked flawlessly on 2 Linux boxes and a Solaris box. I think that's pretty impressive.

[Hak Foo]

I've got passively cooled HD3650 (Arctic Cooling Accelero S2) in Arizona.  The card hits 50C under video-decoding load (primary use) in ambient 25.

The stock cooler idled at like 50C and had fan noise + a fan to fail.

[Mr.6502]

I've put cheap-o Sparkle cards in a couple computers for co-workers.  I believe they were GeForce 7200s for about $30 a piece.  They held up fine but thats a pretty small sample.  They were both used in two monitors setups but they didn't have dual DVI.  They were DE-15 + DVI + S-Video.

I would agree that EVGA is what to look for.  I've used Sapphire for ATI based cards recently as well.  I have a 4870 from them that is very quiet and still stays cool.  But it would be overkill for what you're looking for.

[ironcoder]

Thanks, afaik there are no EVGA cards around here. I'll have to check more but my normal places don't have any

[erricrice]

Thanks guys. Couple of questions.

Why passive cooling? It gets pretty hot here half the year so I like all the cooling I can get.

I don't know if I can find the EVGA brand locally, I'll look for it. The store I use used to have a good selection of Zotac now they are down to one Zotac and all the rest Gigabyte. Are the Gigabytes any good?

They also have a couple of new brands I never heard of, Gainward and Sparkle. Anybody know anything about those? We usually get the el cheapo stuff here so I always ask before I get taken to the cleaners.

As far as nVidia vs. anything else, like I said nVidia is my choice, their drivers installed and worked flawlessly on 2 Linux boxes and a Solaris box. I think that's pretty impressive.

Gigabyte is the best of the manufacturers that you mentioned.  Zotac would be the next one down then Gainward and then Sparkle.  Really Gigabyte is the only 'good' manufacturer of the bunch.  The rest of them haven't been around as long or really haven't proven their reliability.

[ironcoder]

Thanks. I was wondering because the nVidia site is linking to Zotac boards big time. I was wondering if they were a preferred partner of some kind. (yeah, probably the money making kind!)

They have plenty of Gigabytes, I'll go over the selections again. I may have to go to a 9800 to get dual DVI though.

[ch_123]

My 9600GT has two DVIs (along with HDMI and DP) and I'm pretty sure I've seen 9500GTs with dual DVI out. If you find one with HDMI, that's just as good as HDMI is electrically compatible with DVI, so all you need is a simple adapter cable.

[ironcoder]

Thanks for the info. The problem for me is also cables. I haven't found any extension cables locally. I'm going to rearrange my office, in a few weeks I'll know how long the runs are going to be and then I can start converting to dual head.

[ch_123]

Is ordering off the net an option? Newegg has just what you need.

[ironcoder]

Yes and not from Newegg, they don't ship out of the country. I could easily find anything I want in America, but I don't live there.

Thanks for the link though, I'll use it to compare over here.

[InSanCen]

whereabouts are you from? I can link you up to many UK tech site's that sell what you want. A lot will ship to the EU too, if you are located there.

[cmr]

No, you miss the key point there.

In all seriousness, I'd buy from S3 before Nvidia.

what point? that the fglrx driver only works for a very carefully manicured sample of ATI chips? believe me, i didn't miss that. that's the very charge i level at ATI: that their drivers are a mere proof-of-concept, not something i can actually deploy and support. we're not talking about dell OEM cards here. we're talking about AMD factory cards that have been inserted unmodified into the PCI-E slot.

i'm glad to hear that you have the driver working for one card on one box at home, but honestly, that's no justification to be recommending this stuff to other people. nvidia's drivers on linux are so SO much better than ATI's that unless you're being paid by AMD to shill for their junk i can't even begin to grasp why you'd recommend someone go and buy one when you know he intends to use it on linux.