graphics boards

[glenn at aoi.ultranet.com (Glenn Burkhardt)]

> 
> 
> El Phantasmo wrote in a message to Mike Bilow:
> 
>  EP>    f) I am looking into buying a new 15" to 17" monitor and
>  EP> graphics       card to replace my unfriendly dell and STB
>  EP> combination which       re-enders (er spelling) and
>  EP> incredible 8 colors or so when running       X-windows... so
>  EP> I would like some suggestions about what companies       and
>  EP> makes you have found to be very X-Friendly. STB systems
>  EP> response       was "We dont care that it doesnt work for
>  EP> Linux, run windows        95 and it will work. Or send us
>  EP> $200 dollars and your card for        a new 3d effects
>  EP> card." Don't recommend anyone using STB products. 
> 
> I find STB's response disappointing, but they use fairly standard chipsets
> which should have X/Windows drivers available.  For example, the Powergraph
> 64V+, which is a nice card, uses an S3 86C765.  If you give some more details
> about the card, maybe we could help.
> 
> Another cheap option is to use Metro-X instead of XFree86, which comes on the
> InfoMagic Linux Developer Resource CD-ROM package.
>  
> -- Mike
> 
> 

I second the motion:  STB's response is disappointing (but keep trying - the
more manufacturers get requests about Linux, the more interested they'll get!)

However, STB uses standard chipsets, for which there are XFree86 drivers.  Yes,
you need to know a bit more about what you're buying before you buy it.  But
it's only a little bit more work.

I've been using the STB Velocity 3D with 4mb (PCI interface).  It goes for 
about $200, and the latest version of XFree86 (3.2) has a driver for the
ViRGE chip on it.  The driver is under active development in Germany, and the
3.2A release supports 16 and 24 bit color.