Another Ubuntu / Graphics question

[ffutures]

I think I'll need to install a proper graphics card, the motherboard graphics are fairly slow and don't seem to have much hardware acceleration. I don't need anything super-fast, but e.g. Celestia seems to run jerkily, which isn't good.

There seem to be quite a few 128mb AGP cards on ebay around the 12 quid mark, so it won't break the bank.

Given my limited knowledge of Linux, and since Celestia is actually about the only program I've added so far, I'm wondering if it would be easier to start the Ubuntu install again from scratch, rather than trying to get a graphics card to work with the setup I've already done.

Any thoughts?

Comments

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

I'd just plug it in. You are likely to want to do a full reinstall of Ubuntu in a few weeks anyway, once you understand it better and want to change things about it, like disk sizes.

Install vlc, and try it on some video.

For graphics acceleration drivers, you may want to enable the multiverse repository in Update Manager

I can check your install when I come round for the September Thing

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'd really appreciate that.

I don't think I'll want to change the disk size though - It's a clean machine, no windows, just Linux, and the drive is 750gb.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Did you find out what the graphics CPU set was - even though it was on the motherboard? If nVidia then using the nVidia closed source drivers is best.

Generally an onboard video card is only useful for server machines which need graphics a tiny bit. Getting another one is usually a good idea.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Silicon Integrated Systems graphics chip set. I'm just about to buy a 128mb ATI Radeon anyway.