Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 10:25:25 +0100 (BST) From: Dr Andrew C Aitchison <A.C.Aitchison@dpmms.cam.ac.uk> To: Andreas Klemm <andreas@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: joeo@cracktown.com, freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG, xpert@xfree86.org Subject: Re: [Xpert]Re: which pci 3d accelerator card to choose for XFree86-4 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1010408095600.31315B-100000@harrier.dpmms.cam.ac.uk> In-Reply-To: <20010408103240.B65525@titan.klemm.gtn.com>
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On Sun, 8 Apr 2001, Andreas Klemm wrote: > Thanks for that useful information. > > But what applications use dri under X-Windows ... > X-Windows itself, gnome, ??? I'm usually not the typical > Quake gamer under FreeBSD ;-)) DRI is the way that most[1] XFree86 drivers implement OpenGL and hence 3D acceleration[2]. Applications shouldn' care whether 3D acceleration uses DRI or something else; they should just link with libGL.so [3]. [1] nVidia's closed XFree86 drivers use their own kernel drivers instead of DRI. I don't know what other closed drivers do. [2] XFree86 also supports PEX5, the Phigs-based 3D protocol, but I'm not aware of any hardware acceleration, so 3D on XFree86 essentially means OpenGL. [3] I don't play games, so don't know whether this is the reality, but at least on Linux http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/ABI/ suggests that it is the correct way to use OpenGL. > Unix is not a gaming platform for me. There I would prefer driver > stability and that opaque Window movements are quick without lagging. You shouldn't need 3D acceleration for opaque Window movements. If you want a decent, stable driver under FreeBSD, and only need 3D under windows, I don't think that you will have much problem with any supported cards. The most likely problem is code rot. As AGP domination completes, PCI support will begin to break and bugs will take longer to spot and to fix. -- Dr. Andrew C. Aitchison Computer Officer, DPMMS, Cambridge A.C.Aitchison@dpmms.cam.ac.uk http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~werdna To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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