Dual monitors in Linux?

[Adcadet]

Hey all - I have a Radeon 8500 which runs my two 19" monitors in Windows. Is it possible to get two monitors working off of this card in Linux (preferably Mandrake)? Any idea how?

Thanks!
Adcadet

 

[SteveC]

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question, but I have my own. How good are the Radeon drivers for Linux? Is there full 3d support? I want to replace my POS Savage 4 video card with something that can actually run games and has accelerated OpenGL support.

Steve

 

[CougTek]

UT2003 is supposed to be available for Linux. Maybe Adcadet could give you an idea of the frame rates to expect under Linux when running the demo?

 

[Mercutio]

The radeon drivers under linux are acceptable for 2D work. AFAIK, the Radeon xfree server works with everything up to the 7500. The 8500+ still need work.

For 3D, I understand that the drivers just aren't very good at all (not because of ATI, but because not enough work has been done by the community). UT2003 will only work under Linux with an nvidia card.

 

[Adcadet]

I've never actually run Linux on my Radeon card. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Mercutio]

If it helps, AD, I know that some of the lesser Radeons do have dualhead support. I also know that the 8500 has only really worked under X for about 6 months, and a quick googling doesn't show anything more promising than this.

 

[SteveC]

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just stick with an Nvidia card.

Steve

 

[Mercutio]

Friends don't let friends use nvidia!

Have you considered one of the many fine options from Matrox?

 

[Adcadet]

If it helps, AD, I know that some of the lesser Radeons do have dualhead support. I also know that the 8500 has only really worked under X for about 6 months, and a quick googling doesn't show anything more promising than this.

Thanks Merc, that's about the best I've found so far Googling.

 

[SteveC]

Friends don't let friends use nvidia!

What's wrong with Nvidia?

Have you considered one of the many fine options from Matrox?

Honestly, no I haven't. The only one that has decent 3d speed in the Parhelia, which is way out of my budget. I'm not sure what I want to do now. Right now, I have a GF2 Pro in my Windows PC, and a Savage 4 (which must die a horrible death) in my Linux PC. My budget is about US$100-125. 2D image quality isn't terribly important because I'll be using it with a 6-year old 17" monitor that I'm not getting rid of until it dies. I could:
1. Get a Radeon 8500 or 9000 and put it in my Windows PC, and put the GF2 into my Linux PC
2. Get a GF3 TI 500 or GF4 4200, and put it in either PC.
3. Get a G550 for my Linux PC, and hope the 3d is fast enough.

Any thoughts?

Steve

 

[Mercutio]

Either I've had fantastically poor luck with nvidia products or there's a serious problem with their hardware and/or drivers. I choose to believe the latter until I find some evidence of the former. Since I can install Radeon 7500s all day long without having any problems (OK, I had *one* come back, but it had a short in its VGA input), I'm in the anything but nvidia camp.

Adding to insult, nvidia won't release an open source xfree driver for their hardware, which is grounds to consider them suspect in the first place.

My opinion: Leave the gaming on Windows.

 

[SteveC]

My opinion: Leave the gaming on Windows.

Ok, that's probably what I'll do. I still have to replace the Savage 4 as it locks up my computer hard whenever I try to access my TV Card in Linux. I switched video cards to confirm that it was the Savage 4, and sure enough it was.

Steve