[Tfug] Looking for PCIe Video, Audio cards & an internal FAST disk drive recommendations

[Jim March]

I'd run some type of ATI card, now that the open-source driver support has
stabilized some.

According to:

http://www.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/poweredge-t110/pd.aspx?refid=poweredge-t110&cs=555&s=biz

...you have PCIe "G2" slots, which everybody else calls "2.0".  Looking at
NewEgg's list of PCIe 2.0 cards, there's a ton...here's a good starting
point:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125251

The full list is at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007855&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

I'd go with any ATI-based card in the 34xx or 4xxx series, as they're fast
enough for your needs and have been around long enough for the open-source
support to stabilize.

On open-source support: you're going to be happiest if you run a late-model
kernel such as 2.6.36 or even .37, and the latest Xorg parts as found in
Ubuntu Maverick.  I suspect you can update Debian to that point, via testing
or unstable?

These cards are still recent enough that you can run the ATI Catalyst
drivers if you need to for now, while waiting for Debian's open-source
ATI/Xorg status to update to where you need to be, if you're not interested
in going bleeding-edge with the kernel and Xorg stuff.

The other option if you want is to go with a cheap (sub-$50) NVidia-based
card, run their binary blob for a while, switch to ATI once the open-source
support has stabilized.  Some of these cards are in the $30 range; at that
point it actually makes sense to get something you only intend to keep a
year or so until your choices broaden out.

Jim

On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 1:20 PM, Louis Taber <ltaber at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Time has come to upgrade my Dell 400SC 2.4Ghz system which I bought August
> 2003.
>
> Are there any recommendations for a PCIe video card and/or Audio card for
> Debian?  The new system is a Dell T110 with a Xenon X3440 processor with 4
> PCIe slots.  The Dell T110 system comes with an 8Mbyte built in video, no
> audio and currently no RS232 serial ports.  It does have 8 USB ports (2
> internal) and an external SATA.
>
> My usage is primarily:
> a) GIMP,
> b) An occasional video / podcast,
> c) Some listing to music.
>
> In other words, nothing that is going to stress either card.  I doubt I
> will be doing any video editing, gaming (except robots 2-5 times a year) or
> 3D modeling.
>
> My current screen is 1280x1024 which I have no immediate plans to upgrade.
> Low cost would be a plus.
>
> I am also looking for recommendations related to a FAST read mostly "hard
> drive" mostly  /usr/bin (and system boot).  64GByte is probably sufficient.
>
>   - Louis
>
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