What's a good AMD video card for Unix users?

[uOpt]

Fed up with NVidia. I run Linux and FreeBSD.

What is the current situation with AMD, both open source and closed source drivers? I mean as in what are you guys actually using successfully? I want to upgrade the card in my current gaming machine (boots all of win7, linux and freebsd and others) which currently is a 460 ti.

Let's say a $300 budget, what would I be looking at to make a step up in performance in windows over the 460ti, would play nicely in wine under Linux (for games that currently work in wine under the NVidia binary drivers) either with the binary and open source drivers and run at least enough 3D for Google earth in the open source drivers in FreeBSD?

 

[jbltecnicspro]

Last time I ran AMD on Linux was Linux Mint 14 with a Radeon HD-7750. For gaming, it wasn't as good as my current GTX-560 (talking drivers not performance). With Nvidia, I could just download and install the driver and that was that. With AMD, certain Catalyst 13.(something? I forget which one now) betas wouldn't run certain games, like Trine 2. Trine 2, when it ran on the HD-7750, ran as well as one could expect for the card. But depending on which beta driver I downloaded, it would either run or crash at startup. Also, if you're using the Beta drivers for AMD, you have a stupid BETA watermark at the bottom-right screen that you can't get rid of without inserting a string.

When it worked, it worked well. But Nvidia has proven to be a LOT better in terms of hassle-free on Linux.

 

[InternationalHat]

Last time I ran AMD on Linux was Linux Mint 14 with a Radeon HD-7750. For gaming, it wasn't as good as my current GTX-560 (talking drivers not performance). With Nvidia, I could just download and install the driver and that was that. With AMD, certain Catalyst 13.(something? I forget which one now) betas wouldn't run certain games, like Trine 2. Trine 2, when it ran on the HD-7750, ran as well as one could expect for the card. But depending on which beta driver I downloaded, it would either run or crash at startup. Also, if you're using the Beta drivers for AMD, you have a stupid BETA watermark at the bottom-right screen that you can't get rid of without inserting a string.

When it worked, it worked well. But Nvidia has proven to be a LOT better in terms of hassle-free on Linux.

This was correct, HOWEVER the opposite of this is true regarding multi-monitor support and the open source drivers.

If you have a Korean 1440p monitor or any monitor that behaves a little strangely, both sets of Nvidia drivers are a nightmare to get working properly - especially with mixed landscape/portrait setups.

The ATI open source drivers are the best "just works" drivers for me, but I don't know how they game.

I don't know where the ATI linux binaries are now, but yeah they weren't great around 13.x.

Also, Mint 14-era linux and 7750 are a really bad combination. With most video cards and linux you typically want something from the last generation or before as the drivers take some time to catch up, so a 6000 series or 5000 series would've been a better choice.

 

[jbltecnicspro]

This was correct, HOWEVER the opposite of this is true regarding multi-monitor support and the open source drivers.

If you have a Korean 1440p monitor or any monitor that behaves a little strangely, both sets of Nvidia drivers are a nightmare to get working properly - especially with mixed landscape/portrait setups.

The ATI open source drivers are the best "just works" drivers for me, but I don't know how they game.

I don't know where the ATI linux binaries are now, but yeah they weren't great around 13.x.

Also, Mint 14-era linux and 7750 are a really bad combination. With most video cards and linux you typically want something from the last generation or before as the drivers take some time to catch up, so a 6000 series or 5000 series would've been a better choice.

Interesting. You're not the first person to tell me to go a generation older with a newer OS, with regards to Linux. Guess next time (if there is a next time, I think I'll just stick with running bare CPU - as I hardly do any gaming on Linux to begin with), I'll go a generation back.

Edit: And at the time, I was just scrapping parts from another build when I decided to throw the Radeon HD-7750 in the Linux rig. CPU was a Celeron G540 - which was a mighty fine CPU for a cheap Linux box. Paired with a Samsung SSD and 4GB of RAM - that thing flew on Linux. I may build another one for the living room. Plus - it never hurts to have your Linux chops up-to-snuff. Alright - enough off-topic. Thanks man!

 

[uOpt]

What's the current limit of what Radeon cards are supported by the open source drivers at all?

Willing to gamble, NVidia just rubs me the wrong way and I will jump the fence to the greener looking side.

If I get a 7950 I know that I don't get quite the price/performance of the 280, but would it improve the Unix situation?

 

[jbltecnicspro]

According to the page it supports everything from ye olde Radeon 7000 to the Radeon HD-7000.

 

[reb00tin]

Trinity /Piledriver A8 quad APU in my laptop is very well supported in Mint13, there's even a utility to manage GPU power and color temp. Apart from that I'd go with Nvidia.

 

[NoOther]

This was correct, HOWEVER the opposite of this is true regarding multi-monitor support and the open source drivers.

Interesting, I have not found that to be true. Been doing multi-monitor linux for a long time and always had better success with Nvidia than AMD. But then again, perhaps that is because I have been doing it since the days of writing your own configs and drivers. I am curious now, I might do some more tests when I get my next VM server going without using my usual tricks.

But, since this post was a question, I would probably direct you to Phronix which tests cards for linux regularly. Here is one of their latest:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=27way_linux_gpus&num=1

EDIT: Also, they did an interesting article on multi-monitor use: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=quad_monitor_linux&num=8.