[Discuss] Gnome 3 Compatible Video Card

[cra at WPI.EDU (Chuck Anderson)]

On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 10:04:47PM -0400, Chris O'Connell wrote:
> I'm at the point now where I'm willing to invest a small
> amount of money in getting Gone 3 to work correctly.
> 
> Can anyone recommend a specific graphics card that can be used to properly
> run Gnome 3?

All the integrated Intel graphics I've tried work fine with Gnome
3--even the one in my slow Toshiba Netbook.  As a general rule, Intel
& ATI/AMD graphics are more open-source friendly and have the best
chance of working on the newest Linux distributions without needing to
jump through hoops, get third-party graphics drivers, etc.

Nouveau drivers for Nvidia cards were developed using reverse
engineering techniques and are often behind the others in terms of
stability and features--suspend/resume has been a sticking point for
nouveau and it might still not work yet--I've not followed recent
development news.

Nvidia's binary drivers (and indeed ATI/AMD's as well) are a pain to
deal with and are of questionable "purity" w.r.t. GPL and Linux, but
if you can get those to work, they generally offer the best
performance.  Again, these are often lagging behind with the newest
developments in Xorg, and it is harder to install the newer distros in
graphical mode if binary graphics drivers are required to use them at
all (e.g. Nvidia Quadro NVS series, Displayport connectors).

I've recently stuck with Intel where possible.  I wish they made
discreet graphics cards, because they've given me the least trouble
over the years along with respectible 2D & 3D performance (especially
the Sandy Bridge HD3000 integrated graphics).  Unless you do heavy 3D
work or mainly play the latest 3D games, I'd recommend sticking with
Intel.

If you can't use your integrated Intel or it is too old/slow, then my
next choice would be ATI.  Sorry I don't have any specific
recommendations for ATI since I've not needed to go this route in
several years.