Hi! I want to get a notebook, I am thinking in a Compaq R4000 with an athlon 64 3800+ or 4000+, 1GB de Ram, and 80 GB of HD, the problem is the video card, I would prefer a NVIDIA video card, because these card works fine on linux; the problem is the new notebooks come with an Ati RADEON XPRESS 200M with 128MB of dedicated memory.

Do you know if this card is well supported in linux? It seems to work fine with Xorg. I will use debian or ubuntu.

Have somebody executed glxgear in this card? How many fps do you get?


Thank you.

I would avoid any ati card if you intend to run linux on it Although ATI's driver has improved, it is still LIGHTYEARS behind the nvidia drivers. You will be unable to get the nifty compositing effects using ATI's drivers, and if you want to run any windows games with cedega, very few of them will work properly. Until ATI really gets their act together with their Linux drivers, I would say, stay away from them as much as possible!

I really prefer a NVIDIA card, but I don´t have option, I need a notebook, and there are not any notebook with amd 64 and a NVIDIA card, I have found only ATI´s cards. But I want to know, Does work the XPRESS 200M 128MB in linux? and How much it works?

Could I play doom3, and work with 3d objects?

http://www.ati.com/products/radeonxpress200m/specs.html

down at the botton it says:
Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP, Windows® 2000, and Linux

So in theory it should work with ATI's Radeon linux drivers (available on their website).

In the ati's web I read it about the Radeon XPRESS 200M "Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP, Windows® 2000, and Linux", also I read about the drivers: "Display drivers and multimedia applications for notebooks with ATI graphics solutions are available for download from your Notebook manufacturer."

I questioned hp for the linux driver they wrote me: "I regret to mention that Linux drivers for your video card is not is not available for download from HP as Presario product line was developed for home users utilizing Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and Windows XP Home operating systems."

That's amazing as I don't use Winbugs I will not can use a zv6000 or R4000, I dislike ati and hp, I will go to gamepc.com or sager are more expensive than hp but well supported in linux, it's a tragedy that the acer's models with amd64 and nvidia are not available in USA.

I have heard and read this many times that ati radeon xpress 200m chipset has this 128mb on board and can also accomodate additional GPu .many reviews are doing the rounds too. IS this possible on this notebook.I will definitely buy R4000 the next instant and after that I will order the nvidia 6800 256mb GPu .nothing will beat this .Can some1 confirm this please.

if you want to play doom 3 or 3d modeling, i wouldnt be worried about your driver as much as your video card that you chose. the 200m is a pretty weak card, i believe it shares system memory, a big no-no for gaming and 3d work. if you look around, you should be able to find computers with amd 64's and ati 9700's, but you have the ati problem again. in a month or two there will be computers coming out with turion's and good gpu's, like the acer ferarri 4000, but i forget if it comes with a ati x700 or an nVidia 6600.

why do you need 64 bit, just out of curiosity?

please read my post again. I am not gonna play doom3 on full settings or use 3d modelling .BUt I am gonna use win 64 bit .secondly I am not talking about the xpress 200m as the gpu but xpress 200m as the chipset.I have read reviews where they have had Gpus inserted on the mobo.

devarshi, you can't do that with a notebook board. that applies to a version of the Xpress 200 board for desktops.

hey there,

thanks for the reply.That helped.

I believed what you said but go to the amdboard.com to the ferrari 4000 link.This notebook also has the same chipset but has x700 128mb.please help

I take it they are offering the board with or without the GPU (like Intel does).
Though on the mobile platform I suspect there is no combo-board.

The Ferrari is, as you state, equipped with the MRx700.

btw. It is not normally recommendable upgrading the graphics chip on a notebook, as there might very well be heating problems. One should at least consult with proper technical expertise.
The new slots are primarily a convenience for the notebook manufactorers, as they can build several variants on the same platform.

btw it is normally not POSSIBLE to upgrade the graphics card on most notebooks as it is usually part of the board itself.

that being said...the ATI 200M gpu is an integrated shared memory type graphics card. if you do anything graphic related at all, these will serve you very poorly. if you want to play doom 3 or do intense 3D work (like the person who posted this thread) you need a pretty good dedicated GPU. if you just need photoshop, light 3D work, or dont mind playing today's games at low settings, then one of the lesser dedicated cards will work fine, but you need the dedicated card