From owner-freebsd-x11@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Nov 24 21:59:40 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-x11@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9F02216A41B for ; Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:59:40 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from adamk@voicenet.com) Received: from b.mx.visualtech.com (smtp.visualtech.com [208.16.19.9]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 65AA813C4EE for ; Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:59:40 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from adamk@voicenet.com) Received: from [192.168.0.99] (c-68-45-180-45.hsd1.nj.comcast.net [68.45.180.45]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by b.mx.visualtech.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5001848B86; Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:57:42 -0500 (EST) From: Adam K Kirchhoff To: freebsd-x11@freebsd.org Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:55:02 -0500 User-Agent: KMail/1.9.6 (enterprise 20070904.708012) References: <47d0403c0711231919j121258c9xcb549fac17b7308c@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <47d0403c0711231919j121258c9xcb549fac17b7308c@mail.gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Disposition: inline X-Length: 1807 X-UID: 119 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <200711241655.04553.adamk@voicenet.com> Cc: Ben Kaduk Subject: Re: recommended new graphics card for amd64 X-BeenThere: freebsd-x11@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: X11 on FreeBSD -- maintaining and support List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:59:40 -0000 On Friday 23 November 2007 22:19:44 Ben Kaduk wrote: > Hi all, > > Sorry if this is a FAQ, but I didn't see anything in the archives > for the past few months, and google wasn't helpful either. > > I'm looking to build a new machine from parts, and I want > to have a reasonably modern graphics card in it that supports > dual-headed output (preferably DVI, but doesn't really matter). > > I want to run freebsd-amd64 on the machine, so nvidia's > binary blob is out. The motherboard will probably only > have PCI-E slots (so no AGP cards). > > What cards are people getting good results from, these days? The Radeon x850 is the fastest card that has open source 3D drivers. They are PCI-E and support dual DVI (at least mine meets both qualifications). I've only tried freebsd-i386 for an extended time on this machine, but the DRI drivers work just fine (including AIGLX, if you patch the driver before building the kernel). On freebsd-amd64, Xorg comes up with direct rendering and a quick test shows the mesa demos working just as well as they do on i386. The downside to using this card on amd64 is that the linux_dri port is i386 only, which means I can't run any 3D linux games. Which means that if you want to use any linux opengl applications under FreeBSD, you will have to stick with i386. If amd64 is a requirement, the x850 seems to be a good choice. Adam