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R9 290 (Linux Friendly) Replacement

Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2013
Posts
868
So,


Now with no solid Vega news on availability i'm really needing to find a replacement for my old R9 290, the cooler has started to fail (fan makes horrible noises under load) ... throttling worse than ever as well.

I cant go nVidia as 80%+ of my PC usage is linux and nVidia have been bad at supporting the OSS drivers as of late. The other 20% of the time is windows gaming @ 1440p, mainly Fallout 4, KSP, Elite Dangerous and some Battlefield.

So my options (as far as i can see are) :

  1. RX 480 4/8GB as a "stop gap" to see me until navi (would have to skip vega)
  2. A 2nd hand R9 Nano (tho these seem to be hard to find / expensive)
  3. A 2nd hand (non reference) 290/390(x)

My favourite choice is 2, mainly as my rig is a Micro ATX build (what are nanos going for now ?) .... however choice 3 is gonna be the most affordable.

FWIW my PC specs :

CPU : i7-5820k
RAM : 16GB DDR4
MOBO : ASRock X99M Killer
SSD : sm961 256GB (Polaris)
Monitor : ASUS MG279 (Freesync)

Any input would be appreciated :D
 
Associate
Joined
14 Oct 2007
Posts
357
Any reason for not using the proprietary drivers?

I run Linux on a 1060 (Solus and occasionally Fedora) and it works perfectly.

Obviously you need to keep on top of rebuilding kernel modules whenever a new kernel comes out, but that is literally running 2 commands every time you need to do that.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
8 Oct 2013
Posts
868
Any reason for not using the proprietary drivers?

I run Linux on a 1060 (Solus and occasionally Fedora) and it works perfectly.

Obviously you need to keep on top of rebuilding kernel modules whenever a new kernel comes out, but that is literally running 2 commands every time you need to do that.

Proprietary drivers are an option, however I tend to avoid them as in the passed both Nvidia and AMD have been slow to support new Xorg versions, meaning you are stuck pinning a specific version (mainly an issue as I use Arch).

So I try and stick with cards that have proper OSS support (the RX 480 was running OSS the day after it was available)
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Oct 2013
Posts
3,602
I'd say the 480 if your not wanting to wait to see what vaga brings.
Speaking as someone that jumped to a 1080 from a 290x with the oss driver, I can't say am impressed with the supposed halo NV drivers.

3 have been completely broken
 
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OP
Joined
8 Oct 2013
Posts
868
I'd say the 480 if your not wanting to wait to see what vaga brings.
Speaking as someone that jumped to a 1080 from a 290x with the oss driver, I can't say am impressed with the supposed halo NV drivers.

3 have been completely broken

I was hoping that AMD would have at least given a more definitive time-frame for vega (or at the VERY least confirmed it would be H1 2017). But as this didn't happen ill need something that wont die on me any day now.

I should have got an R9 Nano when they where cheap >.<

Also iv never had an issue with the radeon OSS Linux drivers. The nvidia OSS has been a mess on maxwell and pascal for ages due to the lack of compatible firmware (i think maxwell only got the firmware released in Sept 2016 and pascal is still waiting)
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Oct 2013
Posts
3,602
I was hoping that AMD would have at least given a more definitive time-frame for vega (or at the VERY least confirmed it would be H1 2017). But as this didn't happen ill need something that wont die on me any day now.

I should have got an R9 Nano when they where cheap >.<

Also iv never had an issue with the radeon OSS Linux drivers. The nvidia OSS has been a mess on maxwell and pascal for ages due to the lack of compatible firmware (i think maxwell only got the firmware released in Sept 2016 and pascal is still waiting)

Pretty sure it will be first half but like you say, A window of a week or 2 when would be nice.

Regards oss driver, dont even bother on NV, What gets me though is it's the prop driver thats also crap :eek: :( For me anyway Though to be fair Maxwell seems fine.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
8 Oct 2013
Posts
868
Regards oss driver, dont even bother on NV, What gets me though is it's the prop driver thats also crap :eek: :( For me anyway Though to be fair Maxwell seems fine.

Dam, ill 100% avoid the GTX 10x0 series for sure then, cheers for the heads up.

Ill keep an eye out for a fair priced 2nd hand R9 Nano or Fury X for a few weeks.
 
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