Video Card Question

[MeCurious]

Happy April Fools Day.
It's my favorite day of the year.
The trickster archetype is one of my favorite characters in all it's manifestations.
We ain't discussin' philosophy or psychology here, we are discussin' video cards.

I can draw most anything that is in my head. I suppose the next step is to learn Computer Graphics. I learned Bryce, I learned 3dstudioMax.
My parents kicked me out immediately for sitting on front of my computer.
So did my cousin.

1.5 years later I am off the software and on to hardware. My own rig. I am finally paying off my student loan.
I suppose I'd spend anywhere between $100 and $500 on a video card.
So far I have a Biostar M7NCD MB that goes up to 400mhz
and an AMD athlon 3000 400mhz. It has an Nvidia NfORCE 2 chipset.

What I want to do is learn Maya. I might play video games but had to stay away since the N64 because, well, they are addictive and a potential waste of time. I got into programming instead.
And I want to make movies, maybe a mixture of 3d and digital video(most likely)
Planning on a 160 gig HD.

The thing that probably matters most is that this system willbe running on Linux and a 42 inch rear projection LCD. I will be the ultimate couch potato.

I know about the Radeon 9800 all in one, would that be good on an nVidia Chipset? or the GeForce 5900, is that good for TV viewing?
Do any of these cards have a TV/Cable IN(for recording cable tv to DVD) as well as a DVI out.
I just discovered the Quadros are the workstation, as in pro, Video cards, but they're a bit expensive. Would it be worth it?


It may sound like I need to do more studying, but well, my computer i use now is at work as far as net searching. And well, as far as book and magazine studies go, this technology is so complicated i cold probably study into infinity. I've done plenty of studying but have just narrowed it down to a bunch of "maybes".

So I just hope someone here who knows more computers than art and storytelling can help me get closer to a definite.
Please.
Thank you.

[tony_j15]

I wouldnt drop money on a Quadro unless you will be doing Maya and CAD full time. For the ultimate couch potato experience, get an ATI All in wonder. Either the 9700 or 9800 model. I believe the 9700 can be had for aroun 250ish. There are no problems whatsoever running ATI hardware on the nVidia chipset. They have dual DVI-out and cable in.

[MeCurious]

I'm hearing that ATI has serious problems making drivers for Linux.
Anyone know if this is true?
And is it possible to get the correct ones easily?
My original choice was an All in Wonder, but its got all those extra gadgets I don't need.
I only need POWER to do some detailed rendering in big scenes with long animation. not an auto recorder, 125 channel tuner bahzay blah.I'm still considering it.

It appears as if nVidia has put forth more effort to fix this driver and Linux problem that others are having.

is there another better choice?

Like everyone knows photoshop, but then photo-paint was pretty adequate as well.
what about graphics cards?
help!

[tony_j15]

True, nVidia still seems to have the better linux drivers (ati has been working hard to perfect theirs, but I would still rate them as slightly behind). You can buy a FX5900, an ATI 97-9800, or an AIW. Up to you. Each has their own good/bad points that only you can decide will work for ya. If driver stability is a big issue, get an FX. Personally, I haven't seen problems with ATI drivers on Linux, but I have never done anything as indepth as Maya or that shiz.

[CMP 2003]

If youre learning 3d, like maya and 3ds, I would definitely go with a Nvidia Quadro, or ATI FIRE GL, those cards are made for video editing and 3d graphics, becuase of their superior opengl support. I use lightwave 3d, but i only have a 5600XT (sucks)

So go with a workstation card, not a gaming card, pc games are definitely addictive lol

[tony_j15]

CMP, I look at it this way. Will you be designing nukes, buildings, bridges, planes, or starships? If not, there is no reason to drop the extra money on a workstation card.

[MeCurious]

ya, those workstation cards are pretty expensive.

I'm wondering now if there is one powerful enough for under $500. I'll have to do some peronal searching there.

I'll probably end up designing a virtual 3d environment. Like something where people could log in and chat. One of the places in your town which people recognize, they log-in and go "Wow that looks just like "___________"(whatever place).
Then they can (in virtual world) walk up to the statue in front of the building and say "Man that looks exactly like that statue even though it's a 3d digital replica".
And be able to zoom in on building ornaments and bushes and stuff and still see all the detail. squirrels and stuff running by.

I suppose I'll have to look into all the cards that support this "openGL" you speak of. I suppose nVidia and ATI ARE the only choices here. I just gotta look into workstation or gaming.
I'm assuming workstation cards are ok for TV viewing and recording now. . . .

[tony_j15]

OpenGL is a video language, the only other major one being Direct 3D (which is owned my MS) OGL is open source, so it can be much more flexible than D3D. nVidia and ATI are not your only options. There is also Matrox and Creative.

"I'm assuming workstation cards are ok for TV viewing and recording now. . . ."

To the best of my knowledge, they do decent on the former and poorly on the latter.

[CMP 2003]

tony, i agree with you mostly, but even in smaller less detailed models, good opengl can go a long way.

I've made models that dont have much detail, but for a better look, i used many more polys, and that slowed everything down

If you can find a workstation card for under 500, i dont know that i'd buy it, just because its cheap, doesnt mean its a good card at a good price.

USe your DisCernMEnt

[MeCurious]

Ok, I've done a bit more research and have a few more questions. not sure if I should make a new thread about this or not.

The RAMDAC and DVI outputs. I would have no need for a RAMDAC at all. I'd imagine a card without it would be cheaper.
A few hours of looking into it, I cannot find a high end Video Card without this.
Upon further investigation I just read on some site that the FCC put a Low-Pass filter on the cards?
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1577
And it filters out specific information whether you need it or not. Kinda like the Digital to analog conversion, using power and stuff I really wouldn't need.
I am looking for a DVI-D ONLY card now.
Like a barebones system.

Would I need Direct X? How much do they pay microsoft to produce these gadgets that are compliant with it?

Any suggestions? I wouldn't think it safe to clip off components and capacitors and filters physically off a Graphics card I bought with it on.
But just find a card that was built without it is a different story.

Any comments would be helpful.