# Will FreeBSD work well with ATI graphics?



## walterbyrd (Nov 21, 2015)

I have read that FreeBSD does not have much ATI support.

I am thinking about install FreeBSD on a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Socket AM3+ mATX 760G AMD Motherboard. I think the graphics are ATI Hybrid CrossFireX.

Any idea if FreeBSD will work well with this?


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## wblock@ (Nov 21, 2015)

walterbyrd said:


> I have read that FreeBSD does not have much ATI support.


I have heard that vague generalizations are often wrong in the details.   Some of us only use ATI/AMD video cards because of their open drivers.

FreeBSD supports whatever is supported by the radeon driver that comes with Xorg.  At present, that is Radeon HD chipsets up to the HD6000 series, and some support for the HD7000 series.



walterbyrd said:


> ATI Hybrid CrossFireX.


The web suggests that board has a Radeon HD3000.  This should be supported by the radeon driver.


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## walterbyrd (Nov 22, 2015)

Thanks for replies. Will probably give it a try. Will post my results.


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## walterbyrd (Dec 5, 2015)

I am now attempting to use FreeBSD as my main desktop.

Graphics work fine, sound also. 

Still having trouble reading an NTFS formatted USB drive, and having some trouble printing.


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## Deleted member 9563 (Dec 5, 2015)

Good to see someone willing to use FreeBSD on the desktop. It's excellent.

I imagine the HD3000 will give minimal desktop performance. I ran a 3450 for several years and it was fine, but noticed a huge improvement in speed for things like KDE directory listings when I changed to even a lowly 6450.

Check out Warren Block's printing info here. He helped me a couple of years ago and I've been joyfully printing with lpd ever since.


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## Monti (Dec 17, 2015)

OJ said:


> Good to see someone willing to use FreeBSD on the desktop. It's excellent.
> 
> ....



Excellent it truly is OJ . Besides the worst I have tried several Linux distributions, but it was not until I set up a desktop with FreeBSD and MATE that I finally got content. Really content that is. I have never experienced anything this smooth and solid. It's bliss, and both fun and addictive learning some serious computer stuff too 

Thank you for starting this thread walterbyrd . I was wondering about Radeon myself.


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## PacketMan (Dec 17, 2015)

I have x11/gnome3, x11-wm/xfce4, and x11/kde4 running on 3 machines. While I still haven't decided which is my favorite, I can say I believe I will be using FreeBSD for desktop for as long as it is available. I will never again use Microsoft Windows. The amount of "IT helpdesk" support I have to do in my household to keep my family happy is now 'near zero'. No more "daddy (or hubby) the computer is not working right".   XFCE4 is starting to win a sweet spot with me, and I think I will start looking at layering in some customization some day. My family seem to really like GNOME3.


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## blackmamba (Dec 26, 2015)

I also switched from Windows to FreeBSD and I use it on my HP laptop with incredible success. Full SSD 4K encrypted  & compressed with ZFS with the huge help of PC-BSD. Everything works including my ral(4) wi-fi. I'm also able to print via LAN to my Brother MFC printer. I'm so happy with PC-BSD.


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