[ale] Advice on Video Cards

[Michael B Golden]

After having seen Tuxracer on a friend's computer that I installed and
watching OpenUniverse creep along at .7-1.2 fps on my computer, I went
looking at prices on video cards and was a bit surprised to see some in
the <$50 range that seem decent. One that caught my eye is the ATI XPert
2000 card which includes hardware DVD decryption, 32MB video RAM, and
OpenGL support. I got screwed over with some stuff on my video card last
time that I didn't realize until well after I bought it and _if_ I decide
to get another, I want it to work right. So, my questions are:
 
Is this card as good as advertised? (My current card "has" *MB video RAM,
but the chipset can't access above 4, so it is just an advertising
gimmick)
 
Does this card work with linux? (XFree86.org says the Rage 128 chipset is
supported in XFree86 4.1.0, but you never know)
 
Does the DVD decryption work with linux? (I don't currently have a DVD
drive, but if I choose to get this card, I may also consider that.)
 
Would I get the performance needed to run things like tuxracer and
openuniverse out of this card?
 
Would this card last a while such that I wouldn't need to replace it
within at least 1.5-2 years and still be able to run the basic 3D games
you can find free for linux floating around on the net?
 
And last of all, if this card will not do what I need or if there is a
better deal available at similar prices, does anyone have advice on other
cards I should consider?
 
If any system stats are needed, here they are:
 
Linux Mandrake 8.0 with 2.4.3 kernel and XFree86 4.0.3 (with possible
upgrade to Mandrake Freq2 with 2.4.5 kernel and XFree86 4.1.0)
Asus P5A Motherboard (ALi Aladdin V chipset)
AMD K6-II 450MHz
128MB RAM (Thanks to this list. :)  )
Current video card is SiS 6326 AGP
 
Michael Golden
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