AMD applies make-up to the face of its Linux Control Centre (the Inquirer)
Posted Jul 3, 2007 8:29 UTC (Tue) by
drag (subscriber, #31333)
In reply to:
AMD applies make-up to the face of its Linux Control Centre (the Inquirer) by Los__D
Parent article:
AMD applies make-up to the face of its Linux Control Centre (the Inquirer)
How the hell is Nvidia NOT using AIGLX?
If your talking about using the now-fairly-old-fasioned XGL stuff then that blows and sucks. If your saying that is somehow better then using AIGLX then I know your insane.
But there is no 'extra layer' that the Intel stuff has to go through or any silly BS like that.
AIGLX is built into the X Server. It's aviable to you on any recent release of X.org's X server. There is no extra layer or anything like that besides the fact that your getting the 3D acceleration from the X server and not from direct rendering. AIGLX provides indirect 3D hardware acceleration. In order to do this your video drivers need to support "texture_from_pixmap" OpenGL extension.
This is one of the updates that Nvidia provided with their 9xxx drivers. Without it it would require you to use XGL, which pretty much sucks in comparision to the built-in AIGLX support.
The reason why Nvidia's stuff would perform better is because:
* Their video cards are just plain faster then the integrated Intel stuff with more features. Stuff like being able to use hardware texture and lighting acceleration or being able to use shader languages.
Even Nvidia's integrated hardware is faster then Intel's.
It's not until the release of the G965 hardware, which is desktop-only, were Intel has come close to Nvidia's feature set and performance.
* Their proprietary OpenGL stack is better then the open source Mesa OpenGL stack. Both form the basis for their respective drivers.
If you care about having a composited desktop with special effects then any Intel video card from the 8xx chipset series and newer is capable enough to deliver it to you.
The rule of thumb goes like this:
If you want a modern desktop with the BEST stability and BEST ease of use in Linux then you want Intel. It will 'just work' on any modern distribution.
If you need high performance 3D graphics for whatever reason, for professional or newer games, then your stuck using Nvidia's proprietary drivers. They are the only ones that have the compatability and performance to run more demanding applications.
Avoid anything with the ATI label. Motherboards or video cards.
(
Log in to post comments)