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PHIL S.

PHIL S.

Joined on 11/01/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
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Most Critical Review

Worthless for Linux

ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 512MB DDR3 PCI Low Profile Ready Graphics Card ZT-60604-10L
ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 512MB DDR3 PCI Low Profile Ready Graphics Card ZT-60604-10L

Pros: Works if you are using Windows. Tech Support responded quickly.

Cons: I bought this card because I needed something to use in a Mythbuntu install so that I could do HD offloading. I had a Dell Optiplex GX520 workstation that I started with and that only has PCI slot so I needed this PCI video card. Plugged the card in and started the install and it would get to the part of the installer where it would bring up the video and it would reboot the computer. Take the card out of the computer and it works fine. Thinking something is wrong with the card I drop a Windows XP disk and it installs without and issue. Pull down the latest drives and the box runs all night long without an issue. Try to install Mythbuntu again and it fails. Download Fedora Core 19 and can't even get to the install screens. Pull the video card out and both install. Put the card in after the install and they start to boot and then reset and go into an endless loop. The two Linux distros were 64bit and they didn't work and the 32bit Windows XP did. So I pull down the 32bit version of Mythbuntu. Nope still resets. Pull the card out of the Optiplex GX520 and put in a Optilex 755 workstation. The exact same issue happen with the card in or out no matter the distribution I use. Also found this post in their forums (http://www.zotacusa.com/forum/topic/6159-win-7-wont-start-with-610-pci-slot-drivers-loaded/ ) in which a Zotac employee writes “There are numerous issues with pre-built computers and ZOTAC's PCI graphics cards”. Wow that is rotten. Fine, so I grab an old Asus P4-P800E Deluxe motherboard and a Pent 4 3.2Ghz proc and try to install on that platform. Only 32bit only PCI slots and not OEM equipment. Nope same bad fail every time. At this point I open trouble ticket (KDK-396-77031 ) and get a response back that states: “We do not have support for Linux products.“ Wow, that sucks. Considering I was looking at the Zbox devices from Zotac for MythTV, I am glad to know they have no desire for Linux before I bought three of those things. At this point I have wasted 2 weeks working on this and will have to pay to ship this thing back and pay restocking because of this horrible card. As computer people, we all have those vendors we swear by and those vendors we swear at, Zotac falls squarely in the later.

Overall Review: Avoid like the plague if you care to every use Linux.

10/19/2013