– By Jeff Field –

For hardcore gamers, there is little question as to which chipset they want their video board based on — the NVidia GeForce3. Because most of its cards deliver more than 60 frames per second at most resolutions, Nvidia says it has reached a point at which they’ll begin to focus on image quality and other features instead. Today, I’ll take a look at how the first GPU developed under that new focus holds up under Linux, by testing the GV-GF3000 from Gigabyte.
The board
Known primarily as a motherboard manufacturer, Gigabyte also has a line of video cards, based on Nvidia GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). Gigabyte seems to have a variant for every chipset NVidia has put out since the TNT, and Nvidia’s latest, the GeForce 3, is no exception. It is a reference board (that is, it is based off the reference design Nvidia provides.) The GV-GF3000 supports a variety of new features provided by this chipset; unfortunately, due to driver issues, not all of these features are supported under Linux.

Features
nfiniteFX engine — This feature of the GeForce 3 is derived from the programmable Vertex and Pixel processors. The combination of these two processors on the GeForce3 GPU allows game developers to create their own custom special effects in games.

High resolutions antialiasing (HRAA) — High resolution antialiasing (using Nvidias’ Quincunx AA technology) allows for 4x-like antialiasing with the performance of 2x antialiasing. Antialiasing is a process where the jagged edges of objects are smoothed out. This feature, at present, does not appear to be enabled in the Nvidia Linux drivers, but could be added in a future driver. The current Linux driver only supports up to 2x antialiasing.

Lightspeed memory architecture — Lightspeed memory architecture, like the nfiniteFX engine, is really several features combined under one name. The first, and biggest feature, is Nvidia’s “crossbar memory controller.” On a GeForce2, the memory controller is 128-bits, and so when, say, 32-bits of data is requested, the other 96-bits that could hold something are wasted. In order to fix this problem on the GeForce3, Nvidia split the memory controller into 4 32-bit DDR memory controllers. This means, that if 32-bits of data was needed, the GeForce3 need only use one of the four memory controllers, leaving the other three to do other things, allowing for more parallel operation, and thus being more efficient.

The other features of this memory architecture are simpler, and while having less impact, when combined affect performance quite a bit.

Z-Occlusion Culling is a process in which pixels in the Z-buffer (the place where the Z-axis values of pixels are stored, hence the name) are compared to find which ones are not going to acctually be seen, and are not sent to the framebuffer for display. In past cards, this did not happen, even though it seems so simple, and therefore overdraw occured, wasted time drawing things that you can’t even see. Next is Z-buffer compression. This loss-less compression allows you to fit four times as much data in the Z-buffer, without loss. Finally, there is a fast clearing ability for the Z-buffer, allowing the Z-buffer to quickly be flushed, speeding up this common operation.

Documentation, packaging and software
The documentation for the card was very Windows-oriented, as is true with most video cards. Thankfully Nvidia has good enough documentation with its Linux drivers, and physical installation was covered in the manual enough that most users should have no trouble getting everything up and running. The card came with drivers, game demos and other software for Windows. I can’t blame the card-makers either — the vast majority of people who’ll use this card run Windows, but it would have been nice to at least see Linux drivers on the disc.

Performance
System Specifications
Athlon Thunderbird 1400MHz
Gigabyte 7DXR
256 Megs PC2100 DDR SDRAM from Crucial.com
Western Digital 7200 RPM 10.2 Gig Hard Drive
3Com 3C905TX-C 10/100 NIC (PCI)
400 Watt Future Power ATX Power Supply
Mandrake 8.0 with Kernel 2.4.3

Quake 3 Arena Timedemos (Frames Per Second)
Board	640×480	800×600	1024×768	1200×1024	1600×1200
Default Quality
Gigabyte GV-GF3000 GeForce3	183.6	182.6	172.8	126.1	90.7
Abit Siluro GeForce2 MX400	175.4	130.2	85.5	52.9	36.8
Highest Quality
Gigabyte GV-GF3000 GeForce3	183.2	179.0	146.1	98.0	71.4
Abit Siluro GeForce2 MX400	125.7	88.2	58.9	37.7	27.2

As you can clearly see here, these boards are meant for two different things — one for budget, one for raw power. You could pick up four or five GeForce2MX boards for the price of a GeForce3, but if you are a hardcore gamer, there is little choice — the GeForce3 does 1600 * 1200 * 32-bit in high quality with a framerate that is still above 60FPS. That is amazing speed, and should quench even the mightiest thirst for frames.

Conclusions
Even though the company is closed source, it is hard to ignore the fact that Nvidia’s graphics chipsets are the fastest on the market. Even with the lack of Open Source drivers on the disk, one can hardly say that Nvidia has ignored the Linux community — the drivers available are excellent, and while they could only get better by being Open Sourced, they are on a par with Nvidia’s Windows drivers. As for the GV-GF3000 itself, the board is just like most other GeForce3 boards — an excellent performer. If you can find it for a good price, and you play a lot of 3D games, I highly recommend picking up a GeForce3 based card. The GF3000 is an excellent performer. My only issue was difficulty in finding a price for it online.

For discussion of this review and any other hardware-related topics, please join #Hardware on OpenProjects.net.

Loic Dachary writes: “Have you ever been depressed, possibly more than once, to
discover that a so called Free
Software project was financed despite the fact that
it had nothing to do with Free Software? Europe will soon
be financing new projects and you could help prevent
similar travesties by becoming External
Experts. Your skills are required to
validate the candidate projects.”

The Fifth
Framework Programme (FP5) of the European Commission
needs
experts. Of the candidates who proposed themselves
thru the online
application form, only a few have any real
understanding of what Free Software is and how it
works. While all experts will be eligible, only a few will
be solicited for any particular evaluation. In each case
the experts will speak only for themselves, not for their
employer nor for organizations they belong to. Early in
October 2001 a number of projects will be sent for
evaluation in the Creating a
user-friendly information society framework.

Who will then be able, technical concerns aside, to judge
that a so called Free Software project is not in fact
simply a marketing attempt, using the latest buzzword? The
candidates for funding know that the European Commission wishes
to encourage Free Software projects because of their
intrinsic qualities of freedom, independence and sharing.
The temptation will be great for them to say they have the
technical and human resources necessary to create and
maintain a Free Software project even if they don’t have the
slightest idea of what it really means. If no expert has a
real knowledge of Free Software project development, how
will the European Commission be able to sort that out?

An example demonstrates this situation. Let’s pretend that
the GnuPKI
project and the campware project submit
proposals that are equally good technically speaking
(regardless of the fact that they deal with different
subjects). Let’s further pretend that the commission has to
choose between these two, without the benefit of advice from
any Free Software experts. They will probably favor
GnuPKI since they do a better job of marketing themselves.

It turns out that people familiar with Free Software would
notice some anomalies about GnuPKI. First of all it is
not a package of the GNU
project, despite their name.
Given that the GNU project provides core components to the most
widely used Free Software operating systems (Debian, RedHat, Mandrake etc.),
this mistake demonstrates a disturbing ignorance. Free Software is
a matter of communicating with heterogeneous development groups,
this is therefore a point that plays against GnuPKI. In addition,
the GnuPKI security expert, Mr
Eduard Tric, has never
participated in Free Software development and no
package of the developed software is available as yet.
This shows a lack of understanding for the development model.
Taking these facts into account, we would now expect GnuPKI’s
chances of being successful to be much lower than those of
campware.

One cannot expect all cases to be as clear cut as this
example. Evaluating a project, for the European Commission
or for your own company, often requires a more subtle study.
When dealing with Free Software it is essential to carefully
evaluate the legal status of a project with particular
regard to copyright, because various licenses
are used and many companies are involved. The ability of the
candidates to cooperate with development teams on the
network, their ability to establish a dialog and their
current involvement in the Free Software community is also
of great importance. These points are not technical, they
don’t have an equivalent in non-free software projects and
can only be evaluated by people actively involved in Free
Software.

“

PCWeek: “With the economy still slowing and corporate spending tightening,
many Linux backers believe they have a significant weapon in the
battle for IT dollars: low cost and adaptability.

But that tells just part of the story for Linux hardware and software
developers, who are confident that Linux offers a solid server and
client alternative to Windows at a time when XP, its latest version,
which shipped to PC makers last week, is meeting some resistance
from IT managers.”

An Anonymous Reader sent us this link to a press release from Intel: http://cipherwar.com/news/01/intel_linux_compilers .htm“

LinuxSecurity: “This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include “DDoS effort ill-placed,” “NIST Special: Intrusion Detection Systems,” and “Researchers develop
SSH cracker.” Also this week, good news for security vendors and professionals in “Internet Security Revenue To Exceed $14 Billion by 2005,” and “Every
job requires commitment to network security.”

To celebrate the 10th anniversary, the BBC has opened it up for comments about Linux and the phenomenon behind it.

Slashdotters talk about people spending too much money on computers that can do too much.

“DevX recently
launched the Web’s largest free code library through a deal that adds 27,000
code samples from Sourcebank, a developer-focused search engine, to DevX’s
existing library.”

 PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- DevX, a leading provider of
information and services for the corporate IT development community, recently
launched the Web's largest free code library through a deal that adds 27,000
code samples from Sourcebank, a developer-focused search engine, to DevX's
existing library.  Visitors to DevX's category-leading resource site devx.com
now have access to more than 38,000 free code samples to speed the completion
of development projects.
    "The library demonstrates our continued commitment to providing developers
with the resources they need to keep projects moving," said Peter Horan, CEO
of DevX.  "The reuse of code is playing an increasingly important role in
development, but without order and categorization, it will create a new glut
of information for developers.  Our library, the largest of its kind, gives
developers working in all programming languages a quick and easy way to find
thousands of organized, downloadable code samples that they can put to use
immediately."
    Under the terms of the agreement, Sourcebank's site was incorporated into
the DevX network of sites as part of the DevX Code Library
(http://www.devx.com/free/codelib/).
    As a whole, the library now contains over 38,000 downloadable code
sequences and features more than 3,500 pieces of Java code and thousands of
other source code files for C++ and Web scripting languages, such as Perl and
JavaScript.  Users can also access code samples from the archives of magazines
such as Visual Basic Programmer's Journal, Visual C++ Developers Journal,
Exchange & Outlook, and Java Pro.
    Other recent site enhancements include the redesign of the TechTips
Library, which provides thousands of concise programming tips for developers.
Users are now able to browse tips by categories that mirror the zones on the
site, which range from Web development to XML, making it easier to find
valuable instructions and information quickly.
    Accessible through devx.com, the DevX network of sites consists of leaders
in their respective vertical markets, such as Windows, Web and Database
development, as well as Java, XML, C/C++, Visual Basic and SQL.  The network
features independent technical content, expert advice, community resources,
product information, and targeted, contextual e-commerce for development
professionals.

    About DevX
    DevX is a leading provider of technical information and services that
enable corporate IT development teams to efficiently conquer development
challenges and keep projects moving.  DevX resources are available through
three main channels: the category-leading public Website, http://www.devx.com;
custom-built DevX Corporate Development Portals for corporate IT departments;
and DevX Vendor Development Portals, which enable leading IT vendors to reach
a large, influential audience seeking product and vendor-specific technical
information. Each Portal offering is comprised of a tailored mix of "just in
time" e-Learning, expert tips, code libraries, collaboration tools, and
premium content and services.
    DevX (http://www.devx.com) is based in Palo Alto, California and raised
initial investment equity in January 2000 from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
(http://www.humwin.com), a San Francisco venture capital firm.

    About Sourcebank
    Sourcebank is a collection of source code and other resources gathered
from hundreds of technical sites around the Web and brought together in one
searchable, browsable repository. SourceBank specializes in Java programming,
C++, and Web scripting languages such as Perl and JavaScript

cenobyte writes: “www.linux-box.org is the first ‘free’ email provider who gives the users everything he needs.
The Email services provider is not for newbies who wants a lookalike hotmail account.
linux-box is more for the advanced users who know what they want.

Currently www.linux-box.org supports:

– POP3 and POP3 Secured
– Webmail
– Webadmin
– Anonymous email (NO IP in the Message-Headers)

Linux-box will only create 200 private email accounts.
So hurry 😉

Cheers,”

– By Grant Gross –

It’s hard to ignore the news this week of NewsForge parent company VA Linux’s quarterly earnings announcement and its follow-up plan to sell “proprietary” software. VA reported a $290 million quarterly loss, but the bulk of that loss came from write-offs as the company gets out of the hardware business.

As for the announcement VA would sell proprietary pieces of its newly named SourceForge Enterprise Edition, that’s not quite what it seems on its face, either, at least according to VA board member and Open Source evangelist Eric S. Raymond. ESR writes that VA’s apparent change of philosophy is really just a change in tactics, with the company hanging some “proprietary tinsel” on SourceForge in order to sell it to enterprise customers, who had questioned paying for something that had been free.

Layoffs in the Linux world

Layoffs are hardly news in the Open Source business sector these days, but NeTraverse, the maker of Win4Lin emulator, said it was the victim of a overly pessimistic post at the rumor site F***edCompany.com this week. NeTraverse’s CTO told NewsForge’s Tina Gasperson that the company had indeed laid off some people, but not the 90 percent first rumored. He also promised that the company would continue its course. Stayed tuned to see what happens with the company, but remember, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

Yes, your honor

There are times when it seems NewsForge should do a weekly court roundup. This is one of those weeks.

The California DeCSS case returned to court this week, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation arguing that the California trade secrets law used to halt Internet publication of the DVD-playing code at dozens of Web sites
violated those site owners’ First Amendment rights. We’ll keep watching to see the outcome of this appeal.

Also, Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, arrested in the United States for allegedly violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, was supposed to go to court this week, but the hearing was delayed. There’s some speculation that a plea bargain is in the works. Sklyarov sent a note out this week thanking the many people who have supported his cause since he was arrested in July.

Microsoft sees dead people

Or, at least, dead people like Microsoft. Well, Open Source people have been arguing for years Windows is a dead operating system. Apparently, dead people are writing letters of support to the attorneys general suing Microsoft for antitrust violations. Oops.

Free taking over Glibc?

A weird controversy broke out this week, with the author of Glibc accusing the Free Software Foundation Richard M. Stallman of trying to take over the project.

Ten candles

Look for more news this week about Linux’s 10th birthday. Several news sites have done stories, but one interesting story is from the The Bangalore Linux User Group Web site, which explains why August 25 is considered Linux’s birthday, instead of a couple of other fairly legitimate dates.

New in NewsForge

Stories that first appeared in NewsForge this week:

Hardware reviewer Jeff Field got one of the first looks at AMD’s 1GHz Duron CPU, saying the Morgan chip is more of an incremental step than a huge leap for the company.

Business columnist Jack Bryar writes that analyst conflicts of interest during the tech stock boom are now fueling dozens of lawsuits, including some against your favorite Open Source companies.

News editor Tina Gasperson noted that one enterprising Linux fan was selling a Linux-like license plate on eBay and there are several others who could cash in.