PCI-E graphics with good (open-source) drivers?

[Rumo]

Hi,

I'm looking for a PCI-E graphics card for a desktop machine. I had a lot of problems with ATI and NVIDIA in the past that's why I really like the Intel integrated graphics (very good open-source drivers). However, I'm now looking for a PCI-E card so Intel is not an option.

I know that there are the radeon and radeonhd projects for ATI but understand that they only support older cards!? How are the proprietary drivers for ATI nowadays?

My knowledge of nvidia drivers is even more rusty. I know that there are the open-source 2D-only nv-drivers and the proprietary nvidia 3D-drivers. However, I've heard a lot about nvidia problems with KDE4?

Any suggestions and comments are appreciated!

Btw, I'm not looking for a fancy card - decent 3D support is more than enough (somewhere in the 20-60€ pricerange).

[ssam]

ATI cards up to the r500 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_Graphics_Processing_Units#Radeon _R500_.28X1xxx.29_series) series have acceleration in the open source drivers.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_r500_mesa_catalyst&num=1 compares performance with the closed source driver

r600/r700 acceleration in the opensource driver is currently held up waiting for legal clearance. but it may only be a few months away http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Njg2Mw

this explains all the opensource ATI drivers
http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7032

[Rumo]

Thanks a lot! That really helped. I'll probably go with the R500 or R600/700 series (and hope for os-drivers) since I really don't need fast 3D anyway.

[MorphiusFaydal]

The nvidia official drivers are excellent. Totally on par with the Windows drivers.

ATi is also excellent. Didn't used to be that way, but they've really picked up their game and now they're just as good on the Linux front.

You could pick up any ATi/nVidia card out there and it should run just fine.