Best-card-for and practicality-of r600g on a Debian desktop?

[utrrrongeeb]

In any case, another option you may want to consider is running testing with the unstable repository enabled, using pinning to avoid updating packages you don't want to update.

If you build your system and testing isn't up-to-date enough, unstable should hold everything worth having. Use apt pinning and live in Wheezy, or move up to unstable.

Sounds like a good idea....

Wheezy is hopefully going to be up-to-date in the next month - mesa 7.10 and linux 2.6.38 are both staged in unstable. The libdrm update seems to be causing trouble #1, with luck the maintainers are only waiting for the kernel to be upgraded.

Gallium will be enabled once mesa 7.10 enters testing (as of Debian version 7.10-3 #2).

You're making a very good case for compiling mesa and libdrm.

I've been using the xfce compositor with r600g for a while (maybe 6 months?), and haven't had issues (YMMV).

Okay, that's good.


A neighbouring thread suggests problems with r600g in Wheezy, though.

By the way, I was hoping to run x86_64 -- are there any problems with that?

[DanL]

I don't know about that other thread. If it is happening in multiple OS's, sounds like a hardware issue..
I've no problems running OpenArena or zsnes, and yes, I use x8_64.

[Welsh Dwarf]

By the way, I was hoping to run x86_64 -- are there any problems with that?

For performance, I'm using a 5870 (evergreen), KDE is smooth, but Starcraft 2 in wine is choppy, but I'm running arch with mesa compiled from git so YMMV.


Regarding x86_64: everything that is compiled x64 will work no problems, but you have to remember to keep your 32bit mesa in sync with the 64bit one for anything closed source (aka games and stuff run through wine).

[utrrrongeeb]

Sorry for the double post.

and yes, I use x8_64

everything that is compiled x64 will work no problems, but you have to remember to keep your 32bit mesa in sync with the 64bit one for anything closed source

Okay then....
DanL, I suppose your script could be modified to make 32-bit libraries too?

Thanks to everyone! I have a rough idea what I'll need to do now; I'll post back once I build it (especially if there are problems ).

[DanL]

DanL, I suppose your script could be modified to make 32-bit libraries too?

It could, or you could just use schroot for 32-bit stuff..

[utrrrongeeb]

I'm getting closer to buying, but am reconsidering which card is best.

Primary candidates (from Newegg Canada) are
Sapphire Vapor-X 5770,
Sapphire 5770 version 3,
MSi R5770 Hawk, and
Sapphire 5830.

The criteria are quality and quietness.

I'd been leaning toward the Vapor-X, but heard that the Sapphire 5770 version-2, with the oval cooler, was comparably quiet. However, that one is unavailable, having been replaced by the -version 3, which has a very different cooler. Everyone praises the Hawk, so long as the fans aren't above 60% or so. The 5830 is oddly the cheapest, despite the 320 extra stream processors, but draws more power (which probably means more noise).


It will be going in a budget case in a bedroom, and may be used with (non-noise-isolating) earbuds. Given that r600g doesn't have exact fan-speed control yet (last I heard), fan noise at higher speeds should probably be taken into account.


Does anyone have experience with any of these cards, and which is quietest with r600g?

aside -- RadeonProgram lists Trine as Platinum for R700. Might it be the same for Evergreen yet?

[pingufunkybeat]

There's no way to know.

In the majority of cases, if something works fine with r600g on r700, it should work just fine with r600g on Evergreen, but you can't be completely sure.

I can confirm it working perfectly on r700, though. You'll need the latest update to Trine and a recent git mesa build.