Miscellaneous Operating Systems/Hardware

Greetings fellow nekochaners

I'm building a new setup based on a o2 case (the hardware was removed before I got my hands on it :/ ) But I want to make it look as authentic as possible, with correct keyboard/mouse/screen etc.
Basically I'm going to use a modern m-atx mobo with a PCI slot where I plan to use the Number Nine Revolution IV-FP card to hook up my 1600sw panel.

I'm going to run debian/win7 on the machine - will the card work with those os's, and if so how much can you push the card in terms of 3D etc?


Or will I just be better of with the multilink? I would prefer not using an external converter

Cheers
Michael

I have no idea about Windows (any version), but Debian should work. (And any other Linux distro will have pretty much the same support since it's X.org and DRI that matter.)

http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/i128
http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/NumberNine

As for 3D performance, don't expect much. Remember, the card you're using is nearly 15 years old now! Even if Linux does fully support it, its performance won't be great. And I gather that support is only partial, so far.

Get an MLA and any graphic card with DVI output. You can hide away the MLA under your desk or anywhere else, and it will be supported by almost everything.

There is also a card that converts DVI to 1600sw output, but it requires an extra PCI slot (for power only). A place local to me used to refurbish 1600sw displays to have a built-in DVI card but IDK if they are still around.

OS/2 has good drivers for the No. 9 ...

Niktec (IIRC) makes a PCI card to convert DVI to OpenLDI, and will also retrofit it into your 1600SW, or sell you one with that job already done. Or they did as recently as two years ago, at least...

It's impossible to find accurate performance comparisons between the 15 year old Number Nine card and modern graphics, but I'd strongly suspect that either of the solutions smj mentioned coupled with even the lowliest of current integrated graphics solutions would far, far outperform the old Number Nine card for 3D stuff while still using (at most) only one PCI slot.

Plus, Windows 7 drivers for modern graphics will likely be easier to find than for a 15 year old card from a now-defunct manufacturer.