Graphics card around £120

[Stuk]

Hi all,

the lovely people on this forum spec'd me a PC about 2 years ago, and it's done me proud. However ATi have just moved my X1950 Pro card into legacy mode, and so I think it's time to upgrade it.

I'm looking to spend around £120 (max upper limit is £130), and I'm tempted by the ATi 4870, and I probably would have bought it, but.... I use Ubuntu Linux as my main operating system, and this thread says its performance is pretty shocking there.

I will be playing all my games under Windows, but I use Compiz and watch quite a lot of video under Ubuntu, and would really just appreciate the performance. Some of the games I've been playing recently are TF2, L4D, Mirror's Edge, and this week some ArmA 2 (where my frame rates were appalling).

So the big question is: should I get the better bang/buck ATi card, and deal with its shoddiness under Linux, or should I pay a bit more/get a worse nVidia card (260 possibly, although pushing the budget)? Any ideas?

My complete specs are:

Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 XTC 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Series

Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU

Thanks very much guys!

 

[=VTA=MANFACE]

Here: Asus ATI Radeon HD 4870 Dark Knight 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119 !

OcUK Review http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-192-AS&tool=3&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939

 

[Fenris]

I would save myself a few bob and grab this Powercolour 4870 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-091-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939

However you say you use Linux and I'm realy not sure whats what with that, I've read about that ATI's Linux drivers arn't realt tip top but someone with more experience with that would be good.

The 260 is a great card and is as good and better in some games than the 4870 and I "think" Nvidia's Linux drivers are decent, but of course it's got a bigger price tag.

 

[vidda]

Here's the thing with me.

I spend every day at work working on Linux and am pretty sure I have a good grip with it At home I like to play games (TF2, looking at Aion etc), browse the web and talk to friends/family over VoIP (msn/steam/ventrilo).

I've often thought about installing Linux because I love using it but the pros of just having Windows outweigh dual booting in my opinion. I'm looking at upgrading my graphics card too and will probably go for an ATi card as they really are the best bang for buck at the moment. I don't even have to consider if it will work with Linux.

I really can't be bothered dealing with some of the downfalls of Linux in the home environment. If I was just browsing the web or something I would definitely use Linux - but playing games, nah just not worth the hassle.

So, any reason as to why you need to use linux if you play so many games?

 

[Stuk]

Thanks Manface, that was one of the cards I'm considering, it's just ATi's Linux support I'm worried about

And cheers for that other card Fenris, I hadn't noticed that before. The only lower spec on it is the 5.1 to 7.1 which I don't really care about. Thanks very much! And nice to know that the 260 ain't too bad

You're right, I really need some expert on the state of ATI/nVidia linux drivers

 

[Stuk]

So, any reason as to why you need to use linux if you play so many games?

To be honest vidda I'm more of a casual (in the non "casual-games" sense of the word) gamer. So really only a bit in the evenings.

I'm studying Computer Science at the moment, so most of the day I'm coding or doing other geeky things, which of course Linux is great for

 

[vidda]

Ok, in that case I would sway towards nVidia, their graphics drivers really are superior for 3D, movies and such.

I'm not 100% sure if this will be the case with Ubuntu, but I remember Fedora users had a lot of issues when they decided to upgrade from 9 to 10 if they had ATi cards as there were no supported drivers released quite enough. nVidia users were running fine after the upgrade however.

That being said, I'm sure ATi's driver support on Linux will get much better in due course... it's just if you are prepared to wait for that...

 

[Sasso]

i would vote the new asus GTX 260 they have in the OCUK shop only about 126.99£ if i remember correctly my mate picked up the gainward one and he is more than happy with it, was upgrading from 8600gt sli. and he said it blew his socks off

 

[Stuk]

Okay, I think I've been convinced to go for nVidia. Thanks for all your help guys.