So I tried a re-install of Windows on a spare drive today and I get the same hard lock-up problem in older games. Since I've been having loads of fun with my Indie game collection lately this is a real deal-breaker for me.
Anyway, I'm afraid to say that I caved, put the R9 290 up for sale, and ordered a GTX 780.
I hope I won't regret it once Mantle hits, but thinking logically I believe it'll be a few years before the impact of Mantle is really felt. I'll keep my trusty 7950 around so I can play with Mantle if it really does live up to the hype.
unless things have changed the best combo for Linux has always been AMD CPUs and Nvidia gpus.
Well Intel is still king of the hill in Linux too, although AMD is far more competitive than in Windows. The FX-8350 gives the Core i7-3770k a real run for its money in Linux for instance, however in Windows it's around the level of the Core i5-3570k level more often than not.
But yeah when it comes to the GPU, for Linux Nvidia is the only one to go to really. AMD can be okay if you use the open source drivers, but Nvidia's proprietary drivers are so much better because you get pretty much the same performance as in Windows.
