[sf-lug] Just installed new AMD/ATI Radeon video driver, with good results

[Adrien Lamothe]

I went ahead and installed the new AMD/ATI video driver for Linux, on an Ubuntu 7.10 laptop, using Alberto Milone's Envy installer (a Python program that manages installation/removal of ATI and Nvidia video drivers, see http://albertomilone.com/.) The program installed driver version 8.42.3. Besides slightly sharper fonts, the big difference is the CPU does much less work than before. You can run a System Monitor and see the difference. I have experienced a couple of minor video artifacts, but not bad enough to bail out. The average glxgears frame rate is ~ 2050 FPS, but some periods it climbs to ~ 2650 FPS. You can also grab the glxgears window and move it quickly all over the desktop, without any visual hiccups. The driver I installed isn't the ATI Catalyst package, which is an AMD/ATI project still in the beta phase (see http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/linux.html, they are looking for beta testers.)
 
The new drivers use AIGLX, the need for XGL goes away. I've read there are still some holes in what cards are supported, but they are working on it. I imagine Ubuntu will integrate the new drivers into their repositories sometime soon.

Finally!




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