upvote

points

by userbinator10 hours ago |
comments
upvoteby wtallis9 hours ago|
next
[-]
It doesn't really do much in the way of processing (https://www.siliconmotion.com/download/3PS/a/SM750_PB_EN_201...); it's pretty much just a dumb framebuffer. You can wire it up to output over an HDMI connector, but with the features it supports you're really just getting a single-link DVI signal.
reply
upvoteby SillyUsername9 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
It is just an old school 2D style card, with some (shape) primitives acceleration (unused), two logical controllers (no idea why), but has DMA (used) and a hardware cursor (also used). There's no onboard audio either. It's pretty much a GPU for rack mount servers that require occasional log in. It's exactly what I was looking for desktop work, it runs cinnamon fairly well, and won't clash with my Nvidia setup :)
reply
upvoteby userbinator9 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
two logical controllers (no idea why)

For dual-monitor versions?

reply
upvoteby SillyUsername8 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
Yes. Stupid comment of mine tbh, I saw it as pointless for this card, but they wouldn't make a separate version of the controller just for this

One avenue I looked at for a real 2560px width was that the second controller was physically independent and could have different hardware limits of the first controller by virtue of supporting DVI directly (but not being physically connected to another port).

Unfortunately other controller is logical so that was a bust.

reply
upvoteby SillyUsername9 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
I agree but these things are only about $25 USD. Arguably an older Nvidia GPU is a better investment at this price if you just want basic desktop use. Unfortunately if I did that, the old Nvidia drivers wouldn't support my newer Nvidia Blackwell hardware.
reply
upvoteby theokrueger9 hours ago|
parent|
next
[-]
old nvidia cards are pretty terrible actually on linux due to the proprietary drivers not working on mainline kernel after ~6.6
reply
upvoteby userbinator9 hours ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
Maybe an LLM can also assist with modifying the Nvidia driver appropriately.
reply
upvoteby pdpi8 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
16 * 1024 * 1024 / 1920 / 1080 = 8.0909, so you have enough VRAM for double-buffered 24-bit 1080p, with a bit to spare. For pure software rendering, that's good enough!
reply
upvoteby userbinator8 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
It's the HDMI output that's the oddity; mid-90s cards with that much (little?) VRAM could already do 2048x1536x32, but usually had a VGA connector.
reply
upvoteby pdpi7 hours ago|
parent|
next
[-]
Yeah, I could've been clearer.

VGA displays are something of a dying breed, and HDMI is the single likeliest interface you might find on a random newish display, so there is a market for absolute cheapest, most basic HDMI output device you can make. If you're going to build that interface, 1080p is the resolution you need to target. My point was simply that 16MB is just barely enough to build that interface, and barely enough is still enough.

reply
upvoteby numpad06 hours ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
datacenter guys didn't like digitals. they embrace blurry SVGA pictures coming through excessively long cables and sometimes mechanical switches, and to them DVI/HDMI felt to be an all-or-nothing risk factor
reply
upvoteby numpad09 hours ago|
prev|
[-]
3840 x 2160[px] x 24[bit/px] / 8[bit/byte] = 24883200[bytes]

^ / 1024^2[bytes/MB] = 23.73[MB]

reply