[arch-general] New 64 bit computer

[Baho Utot]

On Mon, 2009-06-15 at 23:21 -0500, David C. Rankin wrote:
> Baho Utot wrote:
> > I am gathering info on this new system
> > 
> > I just bought a new computer ($550USD complete) as I wanted to go 64 bit
> > 
> > Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P motherboard
> > AMD Phenom II X4 810 AM3 socket 2.6G
> > 8GB High performance DDR3 ram
> > Radeon HD 4670
> > 
> > Will arch 64 install and run on this?
> > With little trouble? :)
> > 
> > I am concerned with the ATI video card, 
> > Any problems with this card?
> > 
> > What can I expect running Arch 64 on the system?
> > 
> > Now I can make many more errors only twice as fast :)
> > 
> > 
> 
> Baho,
> 
> 	Arch will run quite nicely with the box (very quickly I might add). Your
> problem, as you have already identified, may be the ATI card. To get optimal
> performance out of your graphics subsystem, you will need to run ATI's
> proprietary fglrx driver. The proprietary driver is not only better from a
> performance standpoint, but also has cooling advantages as well. (selective
> powerdown of unused portions of the graphics chipset) On a desktop, the cooling
> issues are not as acute as with a laptop, but it is still something to consider.
> 
> 	Here is the rub. Currently while your new graphics card is a card supported by
> the ATI Linux driver -- Arch isn't. (ATI should support Arch -- but nobody has
> kissed ATI in the right place yet) The ATI Linux driver supports the following
> distros:
> 
> Debian
> Fedora
> Mandriva
> RedFlag  (where the heck did this come from??)
> RedHat
> Slackware
> SuSE
> Ubuntu
> 
> 	Unless you run one of the above, the chances are very slim that you can make
> use of the ATI driver :-(
> 
> 	** However, from your posts, you do seem quite gifted working with packages,
> you just might want to download the ATI Linux driver (released today):
> 
> https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-9-6-x86.x86_64.run
> 
> 	You can extract the contents of the package with:
> 
> sh ati-driver-installer-9-6-x86.x86_64.run --extract
> 
> and then take a look to see what changes would be required to make it work with
> Arch. (That's just a bit beyond my cup of tea).
> 
> 	Your alternative is to use the radeonhd driver. I'm not 100% sure, but I
> believe your card is supported. The radeonhd driver is really making progress
> and is a very good open-Source driver. I use it with laptop running Arch. Heat
> is a bit of a problem on my laptop, but for a desktop you won't notice any
> difference aside from a degree or two on case temperature rise. In the tiny
> space inside a laptop -- the difference is about 20 degrees F.
> 
> 	With the horsepower your new box has, your performance will be fine. Just make
> sure if you use the radeonhd driver, you read up on using EXA acceleration
> instead of XAA acceleration. For my laptop, it really helped.
> 
> 	I have a standard solution I now employ with all ATI desktop graphics cards
> that really works well. Open the case, remove the retaining screw for the card,
> remove the card, and then put an NVidia card in its place just a fast as you
> can. You can use the ATI card for target practice or a paper weight thereafter.
> With that done, you no longer run the risk of getting screwed over by ATI
> dropping Linux support for your card just like the millions of other ATI users
> that just got screwed in March ;-)

No thanks on the nvidia... I like AMD and ATI.  I'll see what I can do
to make it work

Thanks for the info