[OpenIndiana-discuss] GPU HCL - nVidia Questions & Advice

[Thorsten Heit]

Hi,

> I need a new graphics card for an older system (PCIE-1.0). I don't game,
> do graphics, rendering, etc. so don't need high end - just a good
> workstation unit that supports OpenGL, good color accuracy, and draws
> square squares :)  Occasional DVD's are probably about the most GPU
> intensive use the system sees. Noisy fans and failed fan bearings are a
> drag, so passive cooling is a plus, but not always a must as long as the
> card doesn't make the box sound like a hovercraft.
> 
> So I thought I'd consult that newly created HCL wiki and was pleased to
> note the Quadro 600 is "officially supported".  The Quadro 600's price
> point is attractive but otherwise I don't know much about it, as it's
> relatively new unit. So I've a question for Mr. Mays; is the 600 your
> daily driver, and if so, how do you like it?.
> 
> Also, the nVidia 256.44 driver's support many, many cards, yet only 4
> models are listed.  I'm curios why this might be?  Shouldn't pretty much
> any of the cards supported by those drivers work?  Or is this list just
> a sample of stuff that's actually been tested by the OI community? 
> 
> I'm not very familiar with nVidia's line and welcome suggestions. 

I have a HP ProLiant ML350 G5 with a Quadro NVS 290 (PCIe 1x). As long as 
the system was running OpenSolaris (up to build 134), there were no 
problems and no need to install special drivers from NVidia's website - 
the system already contained them, although in slightly older versions. 
Recently I installed Solaris 11 Express that worked out of the box; no 
need to install the newer drivers available at NVidia's website, but they 
also work fine.


HTH

Thorsten