# Does your nvidia video card work well?

## abracadaver

In a couple days I am going to buy a new video card, I don't have a ton of money and I'm looking at the  eVGA.com e-GeForce4 MX 440 SE 

natrually in the support forums all I hear are horror stories, so this is your chance to let me know if you have an nvidia card that actaully works well

the main reason i want this card is for the tv-out, i'm not a big gamer...though zsnes in 1280x960 via OpenGL  would be pretty darn sweet, that's about the extend of my gaming usage for now.  

i've never really cared much about video cards before, i've always just accepted onboard graphics on past computers, that's why I need you guys to reassure me that I'm making a good decision going with nvidia. i don't dual boot or anything so this card really needs to be 110% linux compatible.  i'm assuming nivida is nvidia is nvidia,  am I wrong, are they all different?

and finally,  am I going to run into problems because I currently have onboard graphics? will the kernel get confused and try to load them both?  should i just recompile and exclude any support for my current onboard graphics, or is it something i can simply disable via bios settings and forget about? its intel 810e onboard graphics.

thanks for your help  :Smile: 

----------

## BonezTheGoon

I have been using two different nVidia cards (Geforce 2 GTS 32MB and a Quadro 4 700 XGL 64MB) with Linux and specifically Gentoo for quite a while.  I am very happy and very impressed with nvidia support.  I have had no issues at all.

I can't say about TV-out don't use it on either card.

Yes nvidia is nvidia is nvidia for the most part.  Some reviews touch on the differences of the card manufacturers cutting corners resulting in slightly degraded image quality (mostly noticable in 2D graphics) -- however you'd be hard pressed to spot the difference.  That's my opinion on the details I have read on the web.

You shouldn't run into any trouble with your kernel relating to video.  You should be able to install your new card, disable your onboard card and then boot into your Linux system.  Once booted your X will likely fail to load successfully and you will then need to emerge your nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx ebuilds.  Once you have emerged those change your X config (update your driver to nvidia from whatever it is and any other changes that apply.)

Good luck and have fun!

Regards,

BonezTheGoon

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## Drewgrange

Also, I think most TVs max out at 1024x768.. At least I know mine won't work at any higher res.

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## TenPin

I couldn't recommend any other card than a nVidia card. The cards and drivers have always performed flawlessly for me.

I think in about a years time the ATI drivers will be as good as nVidia's are now.

I woudn't recommend getting a GF4 MX though because all that is is a GeForce 2 with faster memory.

Go for a GF4 Ti4200 if you're into gaming because the Ti cards have pixel shaders.

----------

## squanto

I've had my GeForce3 Ti200 for a year and a half now, cost me $170 when I got it, haven't had any problems to date.  Been running Gentoo on it for over  a year now.

I would avoid the MX series though, for a few more bucks you can get a Ti card with lots more power.  My brother has a Ti4200, and hasn't had any problems either  :Wink: 

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## mb4guns

Right, if someone asks what videocard for linux ? I quickly anser "any nvidia" without doubt.

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## Esben

Note the 440's (mine included) have a problem with long startup times/switching times/refresh problems. You may not be hit, though. Disabling the TVOUT in XF86Config seems to remove the problem.

----------

## abracadaver

well so far this thread has been pretty helpfull, thank you to all that have responded.  i am not a gamer, so I'm definetly not going to shell out $170 for a video card, and i'm not too bothered by the misleading label of the e-GeForce4 card and that it's really only a GeForce2 and whatnot

but this bothered me...

 *Quote:*   

> Note the 440's (mine included) have a problem with long startup times/switching times/refresh problems. You may not be hit, though. Disabling the TVOUT in XF86Config seems to remove the problem.

 

that's pretty much the sole reason I want a new video card; i want to use tv-out.  is there a workaround for this,  is it possible to still use tv-out even if it's not set up in my config?

thanks

----------

## kylef

I just received an ECS Sis 315-based card that has both composite and s-video NTSC output.  If I can get it to boot in my k7s5a motherboard's agp slot (currently a problem), I will update this thread to let you know how the video output works.  If so, it would be a cheap solution... around $40 shipped.

----------

## rbonthond

here is a working setup for a GeForce Ti4600 with tv-out

```

 # **********************************************************************

# Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details about the format of

# this file.

# **********************************************************************

# **********************************************************************

# Files section

# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

        # The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the

        # file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally

        # no need to change the default.

        RgbPath         "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

        # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together

),

        # as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath

        # command (or a combination of both methods)

        # If you don't have a floating point coprocessor and emacs, Mosaic or ot

her

        # programs take long to start up, try moving the Type1 and Speedo direct

ory

        # to the end of this list (or comment them out).

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"

        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"

        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/ilb/X11/fonts/TTF"

        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/freefont"

        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/sharefont"

        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/truetype"

        # The module search path.  The default path is shown here.

        ModulePath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Server flags section

# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

        # Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is

        # received.  This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may

        # provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging

        #Option     "NoTrapSignals"

        # Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence

        # (where n is 1 through 12).  This allows clients to receive these key

        # events.

        #Option     "DontVTSwitch"

        # Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence

        # This allows clients to receive this key event.

        #Option     "DontZap"

        # Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching

        # sequences.  This allows clients to receive these key events.

        #Option     "DontZoom"

        # Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With

        # it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,

        # but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will

        # receive a protocol error.

        #Option     "DisableVidModeExtension"

        # Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client.

        #Option     "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"

        # Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device

        # (mouse and keyboard) settings.

        #Option     "DisableModInDev"

        # Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to

        # change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).

        #Option     "AllowNonLocalModInDev"

        # Set the basic blanking screen saver timeout.

        Option      "blank time"    "10"    # 10 minutes

        # Set the DPMS timeouts.  These are set here because they are global

        # rather than screen-specific.  These settings alone don't enable DPMS.

        # It is enabled per-screen (or per-monitor), and even then only when

        # the driver supports it.

        Option      "standby time"  "20"

        Option      "suspend time"  "30"

        Option      "off time"      "60"

        # On some platform the server needs to estimate the sizes of PCI

        # memory and pio ranges. This is done by assuming that PCI ranges

        # don't overlap. Some broken BIOSes tend to set ranges of inactive

        # devices wrong. Here one can adjust how aggressive the assumptions

        # should be. Default is 0.

        # Option   "EstimateSizesAggresively" "0"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Keyboard section

# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

        Identifier      "Keyboard1"

        Driver          "Keyboard"

        # For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").

        # When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris), comment

        # out the above line, and uncomment the following line.

        #Option     "Protocol"      "Xqueue"

        # Set the keyboard auto repeat parameters.  Not all platforms implement

        # this.

        Option      "AutoRepeat"    "250 30"

        # Specifiy which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))

.

        #Option     "Xleds" "1 2 3"

        # To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.

        #Option     "XkbDisable"

        # To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the

        # lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a European

        # keyboard, you will probably want to use one of:

        #Option     "XkbModel"      "pc102"

        Option     "XkbModel"      "pc105"

        # If you have a Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:

        #Option     "XkbModel"      "microsoft"

        # If you have a US "windows" keyboard you will want:

        #Option     "XkbModel"      "pc104"

        # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.

        # For example, a german layout can be obtained with:

        #Option     "XkbLayout"     "de"

        #Option     "XkbVariant"    "nodeadkeys"

        # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and

        # control keys, use:

        #Option     "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:swapcaps"

        # These are the default XKB settings for XFree86

        #Option     "XkbRules"      "xfree86"

        #Option     "XkbModel"      "pc101"

        #Option     "XkbLayout"     "us"

        #Option     "XkbVariant"    ""

        #Option     "XkbOptions"    ""

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Pointer section

# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

        Identifier      "Mouse1"

        Driver          "mouse"

        # The mouse protocol and device.  The device is normally set to /dev/mou

se,

        # which is usually a symbolic link to the real device.

        Option          "Protocol" "IMPS/2"

        Option          "Device" "/dev/input/mouse0"

        # On platforms where PnP mouse detection is supported the following

        # protocol setting can be used when using a newer PnP mouse:

        #Option     "Protocol"      "Auto"

        # When using mouse connected to a PS/2 port (aka "MousePort), set the

        # the protocol as follows.  On some platforms some other settings may

        # be available.

        #Option "Protocol"  "PS/2"

        # When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris), use

        # the following instead of any of the lines above.  The Device line

        # is not required in this case.

        #Option     "Protocol"      "Xqueue"

        # Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some older Logitech mice.  In

        # almost every case these lines should be omitted.

        #Option     "BaudRate"      "9600"

        #Option     "SampleRate"    "150"

        # Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button mice

        # Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)

        #Option     "Emulate3Buttons"

        #Option     "Emulate3Timeout"       "50"

        # ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice, or any

        # 3-button mouse where the middle button generates left+right button

        # events.

        #Option     "ChordMiddle"

       Option      "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Modules section.

# **********************************************************************

Section "Module"

        # This loads the GLX extension modules.

        Load            "glx"

        # This loads the DBE extension module.

        Load            "dbe"

        Load            "fbdevhw"

        Load            "record"

        # This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables

        # initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.

        #SubSection     "extmod"

        #       Option  "omit xfree86-dga"

        #EndSubSection

        Load            "extmod"

        # This loads the Type1 and FreeType font modules

        Load            "type1"

        Load            "freetype"

        Load            "speedo"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Monitor section

# **********************************************************************

# Any number of monitor sections may be present

Section "Monitor"

        Identifier      "Iiyama A901HT, VisionMaster Pro 450"

        VendorName      "Iiyama"

        ModelName       "VisionMaster Pro 450"

        # HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.

        # HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a

        # comma separated list of ranges of values.

        HorizSync       27.0 - 115.0

        # VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.

        # VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a

        # comma separated list of ranges of values.

        VertRefresh     50.0 - 160.0

        # If a monitor has DPMS support, that can be indicated here.  This will

        # enable DPMS when the monitor is used with drivers that support it.

        #Option     "dpms"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Graphics device section

# **********************************************************************

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

Section "Device"

        # got me a spiffy card !

        Identifier      "NVidia GeForce4 Ti 4600"

        VendorName      "NVidia"

        BoardName       "ASUS"

        # The Driver line must be present.  When using run-time loadable driver

        # modules, this line instructs the server to load the specified driver

        # module.  Even when not using loadable driver modules, this line

        # indicates which driver should interpret the information in this sectio

n.

        Driver          "nvidia"

        # The chipset line is optional in most cases.  It can be used to overrid

e

        # the driver's chipset detection, and should not normally be specified.

        #ChipSet        "GeForce4 Ti 4600"

        # Various other lines can be specified to override the driver's automati

c

        # detection code.  In most cases they are not needed.

        #VideoRam   256

        #Clocks     25.2 28.3

        # The BusID line is used to specify which of possibly multiple devices

        # this section is intended for.  When this line isn't present, a device

        # section can only match up with the primary video device.  For PCI

        # devices a line like the following could be used.  This line should not

        # normally be included unless there is more than one video device

        # intalled.

        #BusID      "PCI:0:10:0"

        # Various option lines can be added here as required.  Some options

        # are more appropriate in Screen sections, Display subsections or even

        # Monitor sections.

        # Uncomment following option if you see a

        # big white block instead of the cursor!

        #Option         "sw_cursor"

        # general options

        Option          "NvAgp" "1"

        #Option         "DPMS" "on"

        Option          "NoLogo" "on"

        # nice cursor

        # not needed anymore with xfree-4.3.0

        #Option         "CursorShadow" "true"

        #Option         "CursorShadowAlpha" "64"

        #Option         "CursorShadowXOffset" "2"

        #Option         "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"

        # new nvidia driver requires to turn

        # on 2d accelaration

        #nvidia 3123 syntax

        #Option "NoRenderAccel"

        #nvidia 4191 syntac

        #Option "RenderAccel" "true"

        # setup twinview with tv-out

        # only enable 1024x768 for tv, ti4600 can handle that

        # for movies: switch to fullscreen and display is

        # on both monitor and tv !

        # for desktop: switch to 1024x768 and desktop is same

        # on both screens

        # todo: i have a 100hz tv...

        # if only i would know the hsync...

        Option "TwinView"

        Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "33-50"

        Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"

        Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"

        Option "MetaModes" "1600x1200,NULL;1280x1024,NULL;1024x768,1024x768"

        Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"

        Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Screen sections

# **********************************************************************

# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes

# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section

# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"

# option.

Section "Screen"

        # The Identifier, Device and Monitor lines must be present

        Identifier      "Screen1"

        Device          "NVidia GeForce4 Ti 4600"

        Monitor         "Iiyama A901HT, VisionMaster Pro 450"

        # The default Depth and/or Bpp may be specified here

        DefaultColorDepth 24

        Subsection "Display"

                Depth   8

                Modes   "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

                ViewPort 0 0

       EndSubsection

        Subsection "Display"

                Depth   16

                Modes   "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

                ViewPort 0 0

        EndSubsection

        Subsection "Display"

                Depth   24

                Modes   "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

                ViewPort 0 0

        EndSubsection

EndSection

# **********************************************************************

# Server Layout

# **********************************************************************

# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes

# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout

# section may be specified from the X server command line with the

# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.

# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section

# is used alone.

Section "ServerLayout"

        Identifier      "Layout1"

        # Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally

        # the relative position of other screens.  The four names after

        # primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right

        # of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the

        # right of screen 1.

        Screen          "Screen1"

        # Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and

        # optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be

        # used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and

        # "SendCoreEvents".  In this example, "Mouse1" is the core pointer,

        # and "Mouse2" is an extended input device that also generates core

        # pointer events (i.e., both mice will move the standard pointer).

        InputDevice     "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

        InputDevice     "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection

```

----------

## magnet

I have a geforce 4 Go ( mx ) 32 mb in my laptop , it works just fine.

----------

## squanto

 *abracadaver wrote:*   

> I'm definetly not going to shell out $170 for a video card

 

that was over a year ago, and a good Ti4200 card is around $100 now.

----------

## abracadaver

that's not so bad actually, but i think my budget and availability will limit me to this 440 MX.  it can't possibly be worse, or even equal to my current onboard graphics though,  and the tv-out alone will be worth it for me

----------

## hook

my little geforce 2 mx works quite fine ...when i buy my own pc (in two years or so) there'll probably be a geforce fx * in it ...hopefully nvidia and 3dfx will take the best they can out of each other

----------

## kylef

Well, that's a big fat "no go" on getting my Sis card to boot in the k7s5a.  Ironic, given that both of them are manufactured by ECS and use Sis chipsets.

Back to the drawing board for me...

----------

## leonov

I wanted to get a Radion 9500 PRO, for the new machine I built last month, because of the closed NVidia drivers, but there was no stock.  I got a Ti4200 (Leadtek), and it's been pretty damn sweet, 2D (1600x1200), and 3D (same res.)...

----------

## Esben

 *abracadaver wrote:*   

> 
> 
> [...]
> 
> but this bothered me...
> ...

 

Try to search these forums for "IgnoreDisplayDevices" (about 10 hits --- well, 11 now, I suppose   :Twisted Evil:  ) That's where I got the info from. Many people suffering from the "long X startup" times have the 440 GeForce card, but do read the originals   :Cool: 

----------

## abracadaver

well i picked up my video card today and so far so good! installed without a hitch,  now i just need to tweak a bit to get the tv-out working properly,   thanks a ton for the XF86Config file, i was able to get tv-out working but i think im at too high of a resolution,  the screen is black and white and scrolls up and down.  it might be that your tv is PAL and mine is NTSC,  i tried changing just that line to no avail though,  it said no screens were found.  im off to scour the forums now,  any help is greatly appreciated.   and thanks again to those who've helped so far :]

edit:::  after rtfm'ing for about  10 seconds i found the NTSC-M switch and im good to go  :Smile: 

----------

## BonezTheGoon

Boy I really love happy endings!  Thanks so much for posting your good results and how you got them!

Regards,

BonezTheGoon

----------

## razamatan

what kinda fps do you get in glxgears w/ the gf2mx... i have a gainward gf2 mx, and i get like 250... crappage...

i run my screen at 1280x1024 24bpp...

glxgears runs in the default windowsize it starts up in... if i ran it maximized, i get like 50fps.

i feel like it's underperforming....

 *hook wrote:*   

> my little geforce 2 mx works quite fine ...when i buy my own pc (in two years or so) there'll probably be a geforce fx * in it ...hopefully nvidia and 3dfx will take the best they can out of each other

 

----------

## jimbo

I've owned the following cards and run them  with no problems on all sorts of Linux distros:

Geforce 2 MX

Geforce 2 GTS

Geforce 3 Ti200

Just make sure you're getting AGP support (either by loading the kernel agpgart module or the NvAGP one), and you'll be fine.

----------

## Malakin

I have Nvidia cards ranging from a tnt 1 all the way up to a gf 4ti and they all work well in Linux.

For someone not gaming the 440mx-se is a good card considering how cheap it is. It's about as fast a geforce 2 gts in 3d but if you're not playing games it doesn't matter and the 440mx-se has additional 2d features that the gf2's don't have like x-video support, it will also be supported with driver updates for longer since it's a newer product.

----------

## razamatan

umm... the driver argument falls flat, since nvidia is a firm believer in UDA (unifed driver architecture), so that everything from the lowly TNT will be supported to their latest-and-greatest with every driver release...

 *Malakin wrote:*   

> I have Nvidia cards ranging from a tnt 1 all the way up to a gf 4ti and they all work well in Linux.
> 
> For someone not gaming the 440mx-se is a good card considering how cheap it is. It's about as fast a geforce 2 gts in 3d but if you're not playing games it doesn't matter and the 440mx-se has additional 2d features that the gf2's don't have like x-video support, it will also be supported with driver updates for longer since it's a newer product.

 

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