Need Help Selecting Video Card for Linux

[oceanfirehawk]

Hello everyone,

I am getting a new Dell Studio Desktop shipped to me on Thursday and I want to order a video card that will work with most Linux distros...especially Ubuntu/Linux Mint.

I have read all over that Nvidia cards are the way to go for out-of-the-box support. I am looking for 512MB-1GB (probably leaning more toward 1GB...I would like to play fallout 3 on my Windows partition). I am planning on playing 3-D first person shooters on the Linux side (Alien Arena, etc.)

Any links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are more than welcome. Thanks!!!

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

I've been using nvidia cards for the last 9 years under Linux and have never considered switching. You should be fine with just about any model that's available. You can check the nvidia website to see if a model that you like has Linux drivers. The latest drivers cover these cards:

NVIDIA DRIVERS 190.42 Certified

Check the Supported Products tab.

[oceanfirehawk]

Welcome to the forums!

I've been using nvidia cards for the last 9 years under Linux and have never considered switching. You should be fine with just about any model that's available. You can check the nvidia website to see if a model that you like has Linux drivers.

Thanks for the help. I will do just that. However, I noticed that different companies make Nvidia cards. Do all the cards have the same drivers?

[oz]

Thanks for the help. I will do just that. However, I noticed that different companies make Nvidia cards. Do all the cards have the same drivers?

The cards themselves are pretty much the same other than the manufacturer name and artwork on them, but of course some card makers will do higher quality work than others. The drivers should work on any brand that the driver was intended for.

[oceanfirehawk]

The cards themselves are pretty much the same other than the manufacturer name and artwork on them, but of course some card makers will do higher quality work than others. The drivers should work on any brand that the driver was intended for.

Ozar,

I have to be honest. I am completely lost. LOL! Can someone give me some recommendations. I am new to Video Cards in general. I need some buying suggestions. Thanks for any help!

[oz]

I personally like the EVGA brand. They often cost a little more, but I think they are worth it. Sometimes, NewEgg will have some recertified models for great prices. There's nothing wrong with them, and they are generally new cards, but for much better prices.

The following are the higher end cards:

GeForce 200 series:
GTX 260, GTX 275, GTX 285, G210, GTX 280, GT 220, GTX 295, GTS 250

...but the following are very good cards as well, and at a much better price:

GeForce 9 series:
9500 GS, 9400 GT, 9100, 9300, 9500 GT, 9300 GE, 9800 GT, 9300 SE, 9600 GT, 9800 GTX/GTX+, 9800 GX2, 9400, 9300 GS, 9600 GSO, 9600 GSO 512, 9200, 9600 GS

One thing you have to do is make sure your motherboard has the correct socket for the video card that you want to install, and that a socket is available, and that there is room for the card to be installed into that socket.

You can find some EVGA cards here, and they are a good representation of the cards available even if you should decide to go with some other brand and/or retailer:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,EVGA