What low-end GPU would be enought for Manjaro?

[Cyberspirit]

TL;DR: I need a cheap GPU that can handle Manjaro and basic tasks so I can pass my 1070 through to a Windows VM. What would be a good choice?

 

Here's why:

I've been thinking about jumping back into Linux but, my CPU doesn't have an iGPU and, I can't fit another GPU into my PC so, I came up with the idea of using a 1x to 16x PCI-E adapter that connects via USB.

The idea is that I'll just connect the card via the USB cable and jerry-rig it somewhere in the back enclosure of my Corsair 280x.

 

I don't think I'll need anything too powerful just to run Manjaro and do normal tasks on it so, I'm hoping that I can get this done for cheap.

[SenKa]

HD5450, GT710, GT1030. Any cheap CPU made in the last 5-8 years will do, really

[Bananasplit_00]

GT 1030 worked very well for me with Manjaro

[Cyberspirit]

I might go for a GT1030 if I have some extra money next month but otherwise, it'll be a 710. Thanks for the help.

[Ashleyyyy]

keep in mind that AMD cards are better for linux. less driver hassle. if you can find a cheap AMD card i would use that. 

[elsandosgrande]

Considering you will be providing that card a mere 16^th of the PCI bandwidth, I'd say a better investment would be to get an APU (I'm partial to AMD, but Intel is good enough) to ensure you do not get any weird results in the future (try finding that video Linus made where he tried to run a GPU benchmark while the GPU was in another room, connected to its slot by PCI extension cables to see what jank setups can really do).

 

Either way, good luck with the plan!

[2FA]

5 hours ago, elsandosgrande said:

Considering you will be providing that card a mere 16^th of the PCI bandwidth, I'd say a better investment would be to get an APU (I'm partial to AMD, but Intel is good enough) to ensure you do not get any weird results in the future (try finding that video Linus made where he tried to run a GPU benchmark while the GPU was in another room, connected to its slot by PCI extension cables to see what jank setups can really do).

 

Either way, good luck with the plan!

Some iGPU/APUs don't really support more than 60 fps output though which can be problem for users with high refresh rate displays.

[elsandosgrande]

1 minute ago, 2FA said:

Some iGPU/APUs don't really support more than 60 fps output though which can be problem for users with high refresh rate displays.

That's still better than a 1030 on a single PCI lane.

[elsandosgrande]

@Cyberspirit I'd suggest you go for a quad-core APU from AMD. You don't have to mess with any adapters and you'll have assured stability thanks to not using a setup less stable than running Arch with all of the testing repositories enabled (it was technically Antergos for me, but it still applies, not to mention running Gentoo with the same level of beta-ness; I'm impatient, all right!?).

[Cyberspirit]

7 hours ago, firelighter487 said:

keep in mind that AMD cards are better for linux. less driver hassle. if you can find a cheap AMD card i would use that. 

Would an R7 240 2GB DDR3 be suitable?

 

1 hour ago, elsandosgrande said:

@Cyberspirit I'd suggest you go for a quad-core APU from AMD. You don't have to mess with any adapters and you'll have assured stability thanks to not using a setup less stable than running Arch with all of the testing repositories enabled (it was technically Antergos for me, but it still applies, not to mention running Gentoo with the same level of beta-ness; I'm impatient, all right!?).

 

My current CPU is an R7 2700x so, getting a new CPU with integrated graphics isn't an option. That's why I came up with this semi janky idea.

[elsandosgrande]

I did not realize you had a Ryzen. My first thought after that was: "There are Ryzen APUs.", but then I remembered that you wanted things on the cheap.

 

Anyway, Wikipedia has the specifications table here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_Rx_200_series, however it seems that the GPU in question is weaker than my dGPU (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_400_series, mobile section, R7 M440), so I'd probably look for something at least slightly more powerful (or, at least, newer), assuming that the VM is not the primary function of that computer. If it is, well, you're good.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Post Scriptum

I just remembered that you're basically going to run it off of one PCI lane, so it doesn't even really matter at that point. If you're not gonna run it from a full fat PCIe slot, then even that is probably overkill.

[Ashleyyyy]

7 hours ago, Cyberspirit said:

Would an R7 240 2GB DDR3 be suitable?

sure. you can go lower end than that though. much lower end. but if you have that card spare go for it. 

[Cyberspirit]

15 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

sure. you can go lower end than that though. much lower end. but if you have that card spare go for it. 

That's the cheapest card I could find that's new. I might look around the used market to see if I can find something cheap.

[Ashleyyyy]

1 hour ago, Cyberspirit said:

That's the cheapest card I could find that's new. I might look around the used market to see if I can find something cheap.

sure. this page details what drivers you will get for old cards. we're interested in the open source drivers here. 

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg#AMD

the reason this is important is for running games with DXVK and stuff on Linux you'd want a card that supports AMDGPU but since you will be gaming on a Windows VM this isn't important. you can basically use anything you'd like since you won't need the AMDGPU driver. 

 

also keep that site saved somewhere. it contains pretty much all documentation available for Arch Linux which Manjaro is based on. if you have an issue with something consult the Arch Wiki and you'll pretty much always find an answer. do keep in mind that it's made for people who know what they're doing and pretty much documents everything with terminal commands.