How to pick a video card

I've just read the "radeon configuration" thread, but it brings up another issue for me.

My video is a bit wavy, especially for some time when I boot up. I'm worried that my card may be getting ready to go. (That would be a bigger problem than losing a hard drive--I'd still be able to boot the other platform if I lose either OS4 or Linux, but having no screen would put me out of computing.)

Each time the worry bubbles to the surface, I recheck what cards work at IntuitionBase's "Compatible Hardware" section, so I know some that work and some that may not. But I have no idea what the differences are otherwise.

What factors should be involved in choosing one? Should I take it for granted that one that "Requires Pentium 4 PC with 256MB RAM and AGP slot, and Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista" won't work in an A1? (This is in data about a Radeon 9550SE, and the 9600 is listed at IntuitionBase as one that won't allow UBoot.)

I guess I need to study up on "AGP," "DDR," and maybe etc.

I had been thinking of just going ahead and getting a 9200SE, but someone on the "configuration" thread complains that his slowed down when he went from update 4 to Final.

There doesn't seem to be a way to delete a post, but this thread should end here.

I discovered a "What's the fastest ..." thread on this site that gives me lots of hints.

There was one puzzle there, though. Someone says something about the radeon 9600 that suggests it *would* work on an A1, in contradiction of the listing at IntuitionBase.

@kilaueabart

Whether the 9600 would work or not the 3d chipset most definately is not.

@kilaueabart

Quote:
I've got a radeon 9200se 128Mb in my A1XE and I can't say that I noticed any slow down from update 4 to OS4 final.

@kilaueabart

Radeon 9600 and 9800 based cards are a little tricky on AmigaOne's as the AmigaOneXE only supports 1x and 2x AGP compatible cards. The reference cards from ATi does support 2x but many third party manufacturers have discarded the support for 2x and these cards only works with motherboards that supports 4x or 8x speeds.

I wouldn't recommend testing a card that you are not certain if it supports 2x as 2x cards run on 3.3v. 4x cards run on lower voltages and could be damaged by running on 3.3v. If you are unlucky your entire motherboard might become fried.

Most motherboards have a type of AGP bus in which only a certain type of card fits. For some reason the AmigaOne have a universal AGP bus which makes it possible to insert any AGP card no matter what voltage it supports.

edit: Grammar (better late than never).

@Arnie

Quote:

I'm glad you ignored my suggestion about ending the thread.
What Cap said about the 9600 eliminates that as a choice for me. (To tell the truth, I don't even know what 3d has to do with anything.)

There were some figures on the other thread I mentioned that showed the 9200SE as slighly slower than whatever they were comparing it with, and a few guys were making negative jokes about what "SE" might stand for, but you and some others have no complaints, so now all I need to check is how fast or slow it should be compared to the Radeon 7000 board that came in my "stock" G4-XE A1.

Thanks much.

@Niolator

What you say about 2x, 3x, etc., which I take to be speeds (I wonder what "1x" would be?). I didn't notice any "x" numbers in the technical specs of the boards I was looking at, but I'll watch for them before I order.

I remain a little worried. If I decide to buy a 9200SE as seems likely at the moment, or a 9250, are some of these 2x and some 4x or whatever?

@kilaueabart

The 1x and 2x etc. I mentioned are the speeds at which the card can transfer data to the motherboard/processor. The AGP connector on the graphics card varies depending on which speeds it supports. Radeon 9200 and 9250 works fine in any slot including the AmigaOne?s. I am using a Radeon 9250 in my AmigaOne myself. The Radeon 9000 series and 8500 and earlier Radeons also works fine. But be warned: Radeon 8500/9100 are not supported by Warp3D as there is a bug in these cards that Hyperion has not compensated for in the Warp3D drivers.

@kilaueabart

I got my 9200se as at the time it was the only 2x compatible card I could find at the time after my 7500 died on me. As I said before I never noticed any drop in speed even from the old 7500 in 2D but I have not tried 3D with much more than WarpView and the 3D face demo and these fly at a 1680 x 1050 @ 32 resolution. The Universe Two demo works nicely aswell.
Please take note with what @Niolator says as you must make sure that the card you get is compatible with AGP 2x or below for the voltage reasons, you don't want a fried A1.
Ideally it would be good if you could try before you buy, but I guess not may people would allow that.

@kilaueabart

I've currently got an ASUS Radeon 7000 card in my A1. Haven't had any issues with it, and the Warp3D support is quite good.

I recently bought a Sapphire Radeon 9250 128-bit with 256MB RAM which I'm not using. It workes fine with 2D but has its issues with Warp3D... Basically it's way slower than the Radeon 7000 (3-10 times actually) when rendering small triangles or few at once. And colorscaling isn't working (which I need and use). Driver issues it seems...

I would go for a Radeon 7000 based card if you care about 3D currently, or a Radeon 9250 one if 3D isn't an issue...

About AGP 2x, 4x and 8x, just make sure you get a universal card. Here an image of a Sapphire Radeon 9250:



As you can see there are two "cuts" in the connector part (or whatever it's called ), this means it will fit in an AGP 2x, 4x, and 8x port. Thus works fine in the 2x AGP port of the A1...

@AmiDog

I have heard that there could be problems with such cards due to the large memory. I wonder if there is some way to limit the reported AGP memory. I am using a card with exactly the same specs as your Radeon 9250.

@Niolator

I'm using Radeon 7000 and 7500 both work fine here. anyways I have a spare 7500 with DVI,VGA and S-Video out. PM me if you need it.

@Amigo1

Thanks for the offer. But I have no great need for fast 3D on my AmigaOne at the moment. By the time I do I am counting on Hyperion to have released the Mesa/OpenGL drivers. Maybe then we will have an entirely different range of graphics cards to choose between.

@Niolator

another problem is that not only 3D doesn't work
with let's say the 9600, but also overlay doesn't work,
so you can't use this feature with mplayer and DVPlayer.

Regards,
Paolo

@pvanni

Really? I didn?t even know that overlay works with slower Radeon either. I thought that it was still being worked on.

@AmiDog

Very valuable comments, and I really appreciate the photo. Now I know what a video card should look like.

I had two reasons for not looking for a 7000:

1. I had the idea they weren't available anymore (maybe I checked manufacturers's sites)

2. I assumed the ones with higher numbers would be superior.

Now knowing that I was wrong, I'm going to go for a 7000. EBay has a variety of them--new, used, refurbished; 32MB or 64MB (is 64MB better?); DVI-only, DVI + VGA, dual VGA, DVI + VGA + RCA; some make a point of DDR, whatever that is; 99 cents to about $50 US, plus shipping. I mainly want it as a standby--every once in a while my screen changes colors, or flickers, or goes all wavy...

DVI is newer. Is it better? (My monitor goes either way.)

By the way, every time I log on to EBay, my pass word is rejected, both in IBrowse and AWeb. I go to their new password screen, set up the same old password, and they let me in, until I log out. Then the same thing next time. Anyone else have this problem?

@kilaueabart

1. Well, you can buy them new in Sweden atleast...

2. They should be, but they aren't with current drivers...

OS4 has no DVI-support so make sure the card has VGA too. And get a 64MB card.

@Niolator

overlay for radeons comes with OS4 Final.
AFAIK 3D and overlay works from RV100 through RV280.

I suggest avoiding all the SE/LE models, graphics mem
it's better al least 128M because of the multiple screens
of AmigaOS, also check the memory interface it's at 128 bit
(256 bits seems present only on RV3XX).
In general the 7000 it's the slowest model so it's better
to find a 9200/9250 unfortunately seems some 9250
doesn't work and be shure they work with AGP 2X.
Going on ebay maybe the best try it's the 9000 Pro.

You find a nice read here
http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/v ... c_id=16780&forum=2#248161
post #8 from zerec
keep in mind that if 3D doesnt work also overlay doesnt.

Regards,
Paolo

@kilaueabart

I got a Radeon 7000 64MB doing nothing here... too bad you live so far away . And yes it works very well with the a1, both AOS 4 and Linux. I would sell it for 10 euro or there about.

@AmiDog

Quote:

Egads! Something else I wouldn't have thought to worry about. I assumed the card itself took care of the "support."

pvanni provided a link to a whole lot more food for thought. Now I have to study up on what "GPU R" and "GPU RV" numbers mean.