# Video card recommendation



## mefizto (Feb 16, 2019)

Greetings all,

after having success with installing FreeBSD with X11 on laptop, I am now contemplating a workstation build.  Since I tend to use server-orientated motherboard with non-existent or low performing video chips, I have been looking at video cards.  From my research, NVIDIA appears to be currently the best supported one, thugh I wonder about commitment by NVIDA for such a small market.

Thus, I was wondering is a video card by any other chip manufacturer would not be a better future proof investment.  I do not play or plan to play games, but do watch high-resolution, high data rate trans-coded movies. 

Any advice in this regards, including a specific card recommendation would be appreciated.

Kindest regards,

M


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## Phishfry (Feb 17, 2019)

Most server boards use the Aspeed AST2300/AST2400 for BMC and VGA.
There is in fact a usable Xorg driver for it. I would try it first before spending any money. It should fulfill your needs.
x11-drivers/xf86-video-ast



> VGA​PCIe VGA/2D Controller
> 1920x1200@60Hz 32bpp​


https://www.aspeedtech.com/products.php?fPath=20&rId=376


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## shkhln (Feb 17, 2019)

mefizto said:


> I do not play or plan to play games, but do watch high-resolution, high data rate trans-coded movies.



The cheapest Nvidia/AMD card with required output resolution and number of ports should suffice. If you have one lying around then just use that. Anything manufactured within the last 10 years, really.


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## shepper (Feb 17, 2019)

On product release, both Intel and AMD provide hardware specs to the opensource community.  Both pay programmers to contribute driver code to the linux kernel under the Linux GPL.  This linux code base is subsequently imported into FreeBSD.  NVidia  does not release code.

One way to break down the decision is if an APU (CPU+GPU) would work on what the OP considers a "Server Oriented Motherboard".  APU's are more efficient and can provide 3D acceleration.  At this point in time Intel has delayed 10nm processors with release forecast for the end of the year.  There are some 14nm Ryzen APU available now and AMD is touting that its 10nm/7nm processors, to be introduced mid-year, will be backwards compatible with AM4 sockets.

https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-athlon-240ge

The last consideration would be Video output: VGA vs DVi vs HDMI.


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## olli@ (Feb 17, 2019)

mefizto said:


> I do not play or plan to play games, but do watch high-resolution, high data rate trans-coded movies.


In that case I would recommend an Nvidia  GeForce GT 1030.

I was in the same boat, not too long ago. My old mainboard had onboard AMD graphics which worked fine. But then I upgraded my old monitor (full HD) to a new one with curved UWQHD display. The AMD chipset didn't support the resolution, so I looked for a new graphics card. After some searching and reading I settled for the above-mentioned GT 1030. Works perfectly fine (using the “nvidia-modeset” kernel module), and is fairly cheap.

I'm also using it for normal desktop work (web browser, Gimp etc.) and for watching movies. I don't play games, except for a few minutes of “crack-attack” (port games/crack-attack) once in a while. Note that the GT 1030 is available in two variants : with and without fans. First I considered buying the fanless variant because I wanted it to be as silent as possible, but then I read that the fans are off during normal operation anyway – they only start spinning under high load. So I went for the variant with the fans. By the way, mine is from MSI, but 1030-based cards are available from several vendors; basically they are all the same.


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## shkhln (Feb 17, 2019)

Wozzeck.Live said:


> If further you decide to change and put an AMD card, or run the embedded chip, you will have to recompile all your system and reset the ports options to void any nivida options



It is enough to remove _nvidia-driver_ package, _that is what packages are for_.



olli@ said:


> 1030-based cards are available from several vendors; basically they are all the same.



There seem to be 2 variants with different types of memory (GDDR5 vs DDR4) and slightly different base frequency. It hardly ever matters though.


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## shepper (Feb 17, 2019)

Another consideration, Nvidia released it's quarterly earnings report last week.  They have alot of inventory plus their cards that were used in bitcoin mining are hitting the used market.  You should be able to get a supported card at better than usual prices.  Be aware that some cards were specifically built for bitcoin and have no video ports.
Youtube video on hacking an NVidia bitcoin mining card


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## mefizto (Feb 17, 2019)

Greetings all,

thank you for your replies.

Phishfry - my current (headless server) has a BMC integrated G200 and VGA output connector, which is not compatible with my current monitor.

Wozzeck.Live - as mentioned, the computer will not be a "pure server" but a workstation with X11.   Also, I am not quite understanding the argument of mixing "nvidia proprietary driver and amd or any others", why would I do that if I get a specific card?

shepper - the closed nature of the drivers is my worry in that NVIDIA will cease to develop the drivers for FreeBSD.  Interesting about the quarterly report; I think it may be e-bay time.

olli@, shkhln - the GT 1030 is on my list.  I have no card "lying around", so perhaps I take the chance with the GT 1030 based on your specific recommendation.

Kindest regards,

M


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## free-and-bsd (Feb 18, 2019)

I keep hearing positive thoughts (the openness of the code etc.) about AMD cards here, but it doesn't seem so smooth with USING these cards. Whilst NVIDIA cards work fine, the driver continually being updated.

I wonder, is it all more "political"? Like "oh those guys contribute to the community so we love them!" and "those other guys keep things closed so we don't trust them!"? Because honestly, I don't hear so many positive things about AMD cards APART from the idea of their "supporting community". On Windows machines we keep having problems with their drivers (which we do not with NVIDIA), so then what can I expect on Linux/FreeBSD machines?

Per my (limited, I admit) experience, the openness of code with AMD is somewhat compensated, in the negative sense, with the bugginess of drivers. Oh, and did they not drop support for older cards some time ago? So correct me, please, if this AMD bias is not more political than facts-based.

EDIT: I mean, in case it IS political, based on their present (!) readiness to open their code, this may change overnight. As we've seen with Solaris. On the other hand, NVIDIA keeps releasing Linux and FreeBSD drivers although not opening their code. If they have kept bothering, what reasons are there to expect they would stop it? No more than for AMD to stop supplying code to the community, it seems.


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## Phishfry (Feb 18, 2019)

You might want to take a look at your power supply and see what leads are free.
Depending on the video card you choose it might take a 6 pin(2X3) power connector or a pair of them.
Low and mid range cards usually need none. Sometimes you see a 4 pin molex on them.
Unless you also plan on upgrading your power supply you might want to see what you can run.


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## shkhln (Feb 18, 2019)

free-and-bsd said:


> I wonder, is it all more "political"? Like "oh those guys contribute to the community so we love them!" and "those other guys keep things closed so we don't trust them!"?



Yes, Linux fanboys routinely overstate Nvidia's "evilness", which also influences opinions in other communities to some extent. This is nothing new. It's not about open source either, you can also see the same kind of FUD thrown against ZoL (ZFS on Linux). If something is not directly, without any compatibility layers, programmed against Linux kernel interfaces and maintained in (Linux) kernel, then it's "evil".

Now, please, let's keep this thread civil. It's not a fun topic to discuss.


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## free-and-bsd (Feb 18, 2019)

shkhln said:


> Now, please, let's keep this thread civil. It's not a fun topic to discuss.


Right, I was just about to say that NVIDIA card has been the best solution per my experience.


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## tedbell (Feb 18, 2019)

Make sure the Open GL version is new enough.


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