From owner-freebsd-hackers Fri Apr 18 09:27:22 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id JAA15003 for hackers-outgoing; Fri, 18 Apr 1997 09:27:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: from metronet.com (pgilley@fohnix.metronet.com [192.245.137.2]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id JAA14978 for ; Fri, 18 Apr 1997 09:27:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost by metronet.com with SMTP id AA27638 (5.67a/IDA1.5hp for ); Fri, 18 Apr 1997 11:27:52 -0500 Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 11:27:51 -0500 (CDT) From: Phil Gilley To: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Video Card Q Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-hackers@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Michael Smith wrote: > > Brian N. Handy stands accused of saying: > > > > I'm trying to put together a new zoomy P6-based system, and I want a good > > video card...and I'm at a loss for what's better than what. Since I want > > 24-bit color I'll probably be running the XiG server, so absolute solid > > XFree86 drivers aren't necessarily of great importance... > > > > Any advice on what a good card would be? Right now I'm trying to decide > > between the #9FX 772 and the #9FX 771 cards. The obvious difference seems > > to be one supports "interlaced" and the other supports "sync on green". > > One uses the S3 Virge/VX chip and the other...S3 Vision968. > > I haven't actually used the 772, but the 771 is our favoured high-end > card; we have successfully sold several systems to customers that were > looking at SGI's based on these cards' performance at 24bpp. (Price was > also a contributing factor, I must say 8) > > If you do buy one, make sure you get one with 4M, as the cards are not > upgradeable. > > > Any good advice out there? > > Hmm, the Virge is a newer part, so it may well be faster. Can you perhaps > talk your dealer into one of each for a comparison test? I have several dozen 771 cards running on FreeBSD PCs. I wasn't too happy when my dealer told me they had been discontinued and replaced by the 772. I tried a 772 but couldn't get it to work consistently with the S3V server. It would lock up the machine about 1 out of every 3 times you started X. I didn't mess around with it much after I noticed the comment that the S3V server was "pretty new, and not everything might work like you expect it to." I just swapped cards with a Windows95 box that had a 771. Hopefully someone will tell me I'm wrong and it does work. On the bright side, since the 771 has been discontinued I've been able to pick a few up at Best Buy for $169. Phil Gilley pgilley@metronet.com