slack 12: video card for composite

moob8 · 12-11-2007, 09:30 AM

I am currently running slackware 12 with one of the kernels that came with it. I am thinking about buying a new video card. Events on the windos side (I duel boot) plus a windfall have opened the possibility of replacing my radeon 8500 gfx card. I would like this card to work with xcompmgr/composite/compiz/wotever in slackware 12 using one of the pre-compiled kernels that came with slack12. The goal here is to get compiz, or at least transparent windows, in such a way that the CPU is not running at 100% all of the time just to redraw the screen. I have been told that this problem of 100% cpu usage only occurs with Radeon cards and that by some unexplained linux-ness, nvidea cards work much better.

Enough background: let's get specific.

The two specific cards I am looking at are the EVGA geforce 8600 GT (256 meg, pci 16x) and the BFG tech geforce 8500 GT (356 meg, pci 16x). These are both nvidia cards and are both in my price range and are both for sale (new) now at at least one online seller.

1) Will I be able to use xcompmgr & the composite extension to get transparent windows in blackbox in slackware 12 using the existing pre-compiled kernel?

2) As above, but for compiz instead of blackbox?

3) Are those two gfx cards faster than a radeon 8500?

Thank you in advance.

agentc0re · 12-12-2007, 08:00 AM

can't say i have any experience using any of those cards or those programs but i think i can point you in the right direction.

First thing i would do is check out tomshardware and view the VGA reviews. these cards are more than likely to be listed. so you'd be able to see which one preformed better.

Remember, newer isn't always better. there are some old cards (not too old) that preform almost as well as the new 8800's.

Another thing to consider is clock speed. are any of these cards OC versions? whats their clockspeed? higher is obviously better.

i did a quick google and typed in, 8600 GT vs 8500 gt
http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/msi_ge...oc/index.shtml
and
http://nvnews.net/reviews/inno3d_860...gt/index.shtml

hope this helps.

owenjh · 12-14-2007, 04:32 PM

I havn't tried compiz yet but composite works perfectly on xfce with my NVIDIA 5200fx series cards.

I get about 2000 fps with glxgears on my go series on my desktop before my video card failed I was getting little better. If you play games make sure you turn compositing off because some games will do strange transparent stuff. For example in quake3 I could see the terminal running behind the game. This dropped my frames per sec down to about 40 from 90.

You have to install the driver from NVIDIA to get the accelerated video which means you will also need to install the kernel source.

Hope this helps,

Owen.

moob8 · 12-27-2007, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owenjh

I havn't tried compiz yet but composite works perfectly on xfce with my NVIDIA 5200fx series cards.

This is good to know. I tried xcmpmgr & transset on my current gfx card and the CPU usage went nuts ... which is a shame, as the transparent windows were very cool. Compiz refused to run at all.

Quote:

If you play games make sure you turn compositing off because some games will do strange transparent stuff. For example in quake3 I could see the terminal running behind the game. This dropped my frames per sec down to about 40 from 90.

My 3d gaming I do on the windows side (dual boot) so this is not a concern.

Quote:

You have to install the driver from NVIDIA to get the accelerated video which means you will also need to install the kernel source.

So ... using the pre-made kernel that comes with slack 12 and using the version of compiz that comes with slack 12, can i get compiz to run with that card?

the3dfxdude · 12-27-2007, 02:26 PM

I have a Radeon 9200, which is in the same class of cards as your 8500. I don't normally use compiz, because I don't like the effects. But I have used compiz here and it works fine for me. I use mesa/dri. You can use the same driver. This comes stock on a slackware install. Whatever you do, don't use fglrx. The latest versions don't support the 8500, and the old versions don't support compiz!

moob8 · 12-30-2007, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the3dfxdude

I have a Radeon 9200, which is in the same class of cards as your 8500. I don't normally use compiz, because I don't like the effects. But I have used compiz here and it works fine for me. I use mesa/dri. You can use the same driver. This comes stock on a slackware install. Whatever you do, don't use fglrx. The latest versions don't support the 8500, and the old versions don't support compiz!

No way! Cool!!!!!! Could you post your xorg.conf? Or maybe it woudl be better to PM it?

owenjh · 01-01-2008, 09:51 AM

Quote:

So ... using the pre-made kernel that comes with slack 12 and using the version of compiz that comes with slack 12, can i get compiz to run with that card?

yes.

This is the driver page for 32bit: http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d...32_169.07.html

the3dfxdude · 01-04-2008, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moob8

No way! Cool!!!!!! Could you post your xorg.conf? Or maybe it woudl be better to PM it?

This is a diff from the vesa config showing my set up. The only things I think might be necessary are loading dri, maybe setting the "DRI" mode, and enabling composite. "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" might help with running compiz.

Code:

--- /etc/X11/xorg.conf-vesa     2007-02-12 14:14:19.000000000 -0700
+++ /etc/X11/xorg.conf  2007-08-28 15:13:37.076728211 -0600
@@ -72,6 +72,12 @@
 # This loads the GLX module
     Load       "glx"
 
+    Load       "dri"
+
+EndSection
+
+Section "DRI"
+    Mode 0666
 EndSection
 
 # **********************************************************************
@@ -281,7 +287,7 @@
 #    Logitech Microsoft MMHitTab MMSeries Mouseman MouseManPlusPS/2
 #    MouseSystems NetMousePS/2 NetScrollPS/2 OSMouse PS/2 SysMouse
 #    ThinkingMouse ThinkingMousePS/2 Xqueue
-    Option "Protocol"    "PS/2"
+    Option "Protocol"    "IMPS/2"
 
 # The mouse device.  The device is normally set to /dev/mouse,
 # which is usually a symbolic link to the real device.
@@ -312,6 +318,8 @@
 
 #    Option "ChordMiddle"
 
+    Option "ZAxisMapping"  "4 5"
+
 EndSection
 
 # Some examples of extended input devices
@@ -373,7 +381,7 @@
 # NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
 # USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
 
-    HorizSync   31.5 - 50.0
+#    HorizSync   31.5 - 50.0
 
 #    HorizSync 30-64         # multisync
 #    HorizSync 31.5, 35.2    # multiple fixed sync frequencies
@@ -385,7 +393,7 @@
 # NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
 # USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
 
-    VertRefresh 40-90
+#    VertRefresh 40-90
 
 EndSection
 
@@ -398,9 +406,12 @@
 
 Section "Device"
     Identifier  "VESA Framebuffer"
-    Driver      "vesa"
-    #VideoRam    4096
-    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
+    Driver      "radeon"
+    #ChipId      0x4966
+    #ChipId      0x514D
-
+    Option      "AGPMode"               "8"
+    #Option      "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"
+    #Option      "EnablePageFlip"        "true"
 EndSection
 
 # **********************************************************************
@@ -439,7 +450,8 @@
     EndSubsection
     Subsection "Display"
         Depth       24
-        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
+        #Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
+        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
     EndSubsection
     Subsection "Display"
         Depth       32
@@ -482,3 +494,6 @@
 
 EndSection
 
+#Section "Extensions"
+#    Option "Composite" "Enable"
+#EndSection