ATI on Linux

Looks like ATI still can't support OpenGL correctly, either on Windows or Linux:

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38589

 

That's very very disappointing - especially since most of the new special window managers in Linux are using openGL in some form or fashion.

 

yeah, well, ATI's always had problems with OpenGL, either on Linux or Windows:

http://www.3dnature.com/ati.html

 

What sucks is that most of business class notebooks use ATI.

 

Indeed. Even the Thinkpads have traditionally used ATi chips, and they have been the playground of notebook Linux for years. At least Dell went with nVidia GPUs in their Latitude and Precision line.

 

What does ATI's poor OpenGL support mean to Beryl and Windows users such as myself? You can see from my signature that I'm not exactly running on the latest hardware.

 

Overall, probably not very much.

Beryl, for all it's eye-candy doesn't really tax modern GPUs that hard and you'll only use OpenGL under Windows if you're into 3D modelling/design or animation... In which case you're doubly screwed, since DX10 also borks OpenGL performance.

Let's hope AMD realise that full OpenGL support, alongside their proven track record with the Opteron in the workstation market, would allow them to dominate the linux 3D workstation market.

 

I've been praying that would happen since the AMD/ATI merger!

 

Well, AMD has just released a version (albeit basic) of the AMD Catalyst Control Center Linux Edition. It replaces the fireglcontrol panel, and finally has an option to preserve aspect ratio. You'll find it in the latest AMD drivers.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come from AMD. Linux users have always supported AMD, it's time they gave something back.

 

My issue with it is that ATI just isn't OpenGL friendly, Linux, Windows or anything. Their drivers are continually next to the worst in the industry (Goooo Intel!). They're a DirectX shop, and that's about it. Hence, why I stay away from them. I had decent performance under Linux and Windows with my Radeon 9600, but I was bit by that bug that I mentioned in the 3DNature press release above, and haven't really wanted to deal with them since.

 

ATI sucks. I had to do all the Eye-candy on my HP desktop instead. Using Nvidia. I will never buy a laptop again that uses ATI.

 

Yeah, they are pretty rubbishy, BUT, they are getting better. I think AMD have got the message from users that if they aren't open sourcing their drivers, they'd better pick up their game. I'm expecting that sometime in the next 24 months, the AMD cards will do better on Linux.

 

Hopefully. Until then, I'm still recommending NVIDIA cards for Linux users