AMD Radeon HD 4290 On Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: AMD Radeon HD 4290 On Linux

Last week we delivered benchmarks of the AMD Athlon II X3 425 processor running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS while this week we are continuing in benchmarks from this triple-core budget processor as we try out its gaming performance when paired with an AMD 890GX motherboard boasting integrated Radeon HD 4290 graphics.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=14898

[d2kx]

How exactly are the results disappointing? There's a reason it is called 4290, of course the 3D performance is not higher. The chip is great for what it was made for. I agree however, that nVidia can be the better option if you want to use it for a HTPC and you want to use proprietary drivers, as Xv and XvBA are still issues with the Catalyst driver.

[waucka]

Question: why the hell is AMD being so secretive about XvBA? It's just an API! WTF? Not that I care about having access to it myself; I use the open-source driver.

[nanonyme]

Question: why the hell is AMD being so secretive about XvBA? It's just an API! WTF? Not that I care about having access to it myself; I use the open-source driver.

Isn't it just a good thing AMD isn't pushing their own decoding API on Linux? There are already way too many.

[TheCycoONE]

"If you're interested in video playback under Linux for an HTPC system, you're really best off buying a NVIDIA graphics card that supports VDPAU for the best Linux video experience possible using NVIDIA's binary drivers."

Is that really necessary? I'm looking to build a budget low-power HTPC (combined client/server), but I'd rather not use proprietary drivers. Having seen your disappointing benchmark of the Core i3 integrated and now this I don't know what to buy.

[Nighthog]

For desktop usage and desktop effects I would say it would still be good enough. Gaming is a rather different aspect all together.

You have Xv CPU bound playback whit the open source drivers. Though whit my own HD3200 whit fresh install of Ubuntu 10.4 the Xv isn't flawless. Though I must say I haven't checked in on tweaking playback yet which I've done over in the Windows side.
There are a few tearing artifacts now and then I noticed, then the lack of a yet found Re-clock alternative for 24p->25p real time PAL speedup. Which is a thing I really really like

Though I must say there should be more "games" in the test.

Whit a HD3200 I can manage quite well over at the Windows side even concerning gaming at 1920x1200 resolution.

I play Stepmania 3.9 & 4.0 all good. I even play Oblivion whit just there in the "playbale" fps in 1920x1200. Though I have far from maximized the settings.

There is quite a lot of power in there if you look at it right. Then there are loads of old games...

But the main thing... I think it's not completely fair to only test the integrated graphics in a full-hd resolution of 1920x1080p. If you play games I think many will use lower resolutions!

[devius]

I'm looking to build a budget low-power HTPC (combined client/server), but I'd rather not use proprietary drivers. Having seen your disappointing benchmark of the Core i3 integrated and now this I don't know what to buy.

If you want to go the nvidia way there are still some geforce8200/8300 AM3 motherboards if you look around, although AFAIK they are all DDR2 models. They can be paired with an Athlon II X3, like the one used in this review, that can easily be operated at lower than stock voltages. My Athlon II X4 is running completely stable at 1,225V although I haven't tested lower voltages yet. This would be a really low power system and very cheap.

[BlueJayofEvil]

I'm considering an 890GX-based system with the 4290 specifically for a small multimedia-centric desktop. I'm curious about Compiz/KWin performance on this chipset. Has anybody tested the 4290 chipset with desktop effects turned on?

[sylware]

Hu?
You say there is a GNU/Linux Debian Ubuntu build optimized for AMD?

[devius]

I'm considering an 890GX-based system with the 4290 specifically for a small multimedia-centric desktop. I'm curious about Compiz/KWin performance on this chipset. Has anybody tested the 4290 chipset with desktop effects turned on?

Desktop effects run just fine with 785G's HD4200 using the open source drivers, so they will probably run just as fine on 890GX.