[TriLUG] I need a mid range video card

[Joseph Tate]

Dan wrote:
> I am going to build a system for my home... I need a video card that 
> will work both with Mandrake 10 and Windows XP.  I'm looking to spend no 
> more than $200 for it yet would like it to support FPS and sport type 
> games for the next year or so.  What would you suggest?  You can assume 
> the rest of the system will be able to support the games as well <grin>.
> 
> 

I have a coworker who purchased a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 for $164 shipped. 
  It was an OEM version built by Sapphire.  You should be able to find 
last year's NVidia card (FX 5900) for a similar price.  Check anandtech 
or tom's hardware for benchmarks and whether you should get 128 or 256 
MB cards.

Both ATI and NVidia cards have third party closed source drivers.  Older 
ATI cards have open source 3D accelerated drivers, AFAIK no NVidia card 
has 3D acceleration in an open source driver.

Check out pricewatch to find model numbers, and then cross-reference 
froogle to find the best price.

Joseph