Nvidia graphics cards are currently (Sep 2008) recommended for LinuxMCE 7.10 (also called RC2).

Here is a [http://www.techarp.com/article/Desktop_GPU_Comparison/nvidia_4_big.png handy comparison table]. And [http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/132 another one]- look at the GB/sec of memory transfer as one measure of performance. You can see that the 9400 GT is about 3x faster in memory speed and 3D performance than a 6200 Turbocache.

Simple rules:

*Pick a version of a card which has a fanless design (heatsink/heatpipe only)
*Pick a low profile design to match cases that need the smaller physical card
*Check that the card is the same type as your motherboard slot- AGP or PCI-Express (PCI-E) are usually faster options over PCI cards. PCI-E cards may specify a "1x" or "16x" slot which are different physically as well as in speed.
*Higher numbers tend to be faster (e.g. 9400 is faster than 7200)
*LE is a slow version of a particular graphics chipset
*GS is a slow version
*No suffix is medium speed
*GT is faster speed
*An LE in a higher chipset might be faster than a GT in a lower chipset
*There are other "high end" letter combinations which you don't generally need to worry about as these are 3D gaming cards whose extra performance does not help LinuxMCE
*A card with GDDR3 memory is often about 2x the speed of the same chipset without GDDR3

LinuxMCE needs medium speed 3D and high speed 2D.

The 6200 Turbocache is adequate for SD (standard definition- 576 lines or below) video playback. It is also bit sluggish for UI2 Alpha Blended interface (horribly slow until you kill the photo screen saver). Also not adequate for HD TV broadcasts (720p and above).

The 6600 'probably' has enough horsepower for HDTV and UI2. 6600GT should be fine.

The pick of the current Nvidia line up (Sep 2008) for a full height card is probably the fanless [http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=2505&l1=2&l2=6&l3=790&l4=0 9400GT], about AUD$80 (US$70). This is still to be verified, as I have one on order to replace my 6200 [indulis indulis].

File:NSK2480.jpg

2008-09-25T16:36:02Z

Indulis:

Add a page to the wiki

2008-09-16T17:14:53Z

Indulis: /* Add a new page */

{| align="right"
| __TOC__
|}

[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Introduction ==

This wiki is community driven. If you don't add information about the hardware with which you have experience, there is little chance that somebody else is going to do it (unless they happen to have the same device). Please don't be shy about adding a wiki page to this guide -- we really need your help! If a page already exists, feel free to add your experiences to the page.

== Add a new page==

To add a new page, just type in a new URL into your browser like this:

: ''<nowiki>http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Name of the page you want to add</nowiki>''

The preferred URL naming convention for hardware, for example, is:

: ''<nowiki>http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Manufacturer Model-Type-Etcetera</nowiki>''

The URL of this page is:

:''<nowiki>http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Add_a_page_to_the_wiki</nowiki>''

The wiki will replace any spaces with underscores automatically. Simply go to this URL with your browser and start editing the newly created webpage.

== Categorize your new page==
To categorize your new page, add tags like these at the top:

: <nowiki>[[Category: Hardware]]</nowiki>
: <nowiki>[[Category: Mainboards]]</nowiki>

That way the page will automatically be listed in these categories, making it easier to find.
See: [[Special:Categories]] for a list of all available categories. Also check out subcategories, such as the subcategories of the [[:Category: Hardware|Hardware category]], to find the appropriate subcategory.

== Add content==
Add anything you feel is relevant. See [[Help:Editing|Editing help]] for some tips and examples on the markup you can use.

==Add hyperlinks ('wikification')==

*For links to Categories, use the format <nowiki>[[:Category: Hardware]]</nowiki>.

*To use the actual text of a hyperlink, use this format: <nowiki>[[Actual Name of Webpage]]</nowiki>, which will be displayed as [[Actual Name of Webpage]].

*To use alternate text for the hyperlink, use this format: <nowiki>[[Actual_Name_of_webpage|What I Want It to Say]]</nowiki>, which will be displayed as
[[Actual_Name_of_webpage|What I Want It to Say]].

==Move the Table of Contents to the right==

Whenever you have more than four subdivisions in a page, a Table of Contents is automatically added. It you would like this table of contents to be moved to the right side of the screen (at the top), add the following code to the top of your web page:

<nowiki>{| align="right"
| __TOC__
|}</nowiki>

==A passage from Alice In Wonderland==

From [http://www.ebbemunk.dk/alice/alice6.html Through the Looking Glass], by Lewis Carroll:

'The horror of that moment,' the King went on, 'I shall never, never forget!'

'You will, though,' the Queen said, 'if you don't make a memorandum of it.'

Alice looked on with great interest as the King took an enormous memorandum-book out of his pocket, and began writing. A sudden thought struck her, and she took hold of the end of the pencil, which came some way over his shoulder, and began writing for him.

The poor King look puzzled and unhappy, and struggled with the pencil for some time without saying anything; but Alice was too strong for him, and at last he panted out, 'My dear! I really must get a thinner pencil. I can't manage this one a bit; it writes all manner of things that I don't intend -- '