[mythtv-users] ATI vs NVidia card conclusion

[Bill Omer]

On 7/2/07, Michelle Dupuis <support at ocg.ca> wrote:
>
>
> After all of the help I received, I thought I would update the list on how I
> made out.  For those considering a video card purchase for use in Myth (or
> Linux in general)...read on
>
> Background: I bought a $200+ ATI video card to use with my Myth system.  The
> various ATI press releases dating back to 2001 claiming Linux support made
> me feel pretty secure that it would work great (I've used ATI cards with
> Windows for years and was pleased with the results).
>
> Although the card booted up great under Linux, it was little more than a
> dumb vesa card.  After lots of struggles to get the video driver in, I
> finally got acceleration going.  Still, there is no ATI knowledge base (with
> Linux related data), no ATI tel/email support for Linux, and performance of
> the card was still poor (jittery, etc).  I wasted lots of time looking for
> files, replacing files the ATI driver missed, etc.  (The ATi config also
> crashes making xorg.conf setup difficult).  In the end the card was still
> unusable for video playback - despite all diagnostics reporting the ATI was
> installed and working great.
>
> I then bought a $150 NVidia video card, and it was completely up and running
> in 10 minutes.  It removed all ATI driver references (basic, acceleration,
> GL), loaded all drivers correctly. etc.  (even in light of the fact that I
> had a custom compiled kernel).  All video acceleration worked great, and
> Myth playback was smooth.  Even motion compensation was working.  The nvidia
> config program is very good at modifying xorg.conf while preserving custom
> settings (even commenting out old stuff).
>
> Wow...what a difference.  In the remote chance that anyone from ATI/AMD is
> on this list..please forward this internally!


Nvidia has the best Linux support, hands down.  Their driver is rock
solid and the installation is a real blessing.  I'll never use ATI in
Linux if I can help it, especially on a Myth system.

The old FX5200 is the best card for a frontend imo.   Fanless, has DVI
and s-video, supports XvMC... just doesn't get any better.

-Bill