I am using Ubuntu 9.10 but steps should be similar for other distributions too.

Video Tearing with Compiz

Ubuntu’s NVidia drivers are okay for this card. I tried playing 1080p video and it works well if you don’t have compiz turned on. When compiz is on, the video tearing is noticeable. This is what I did to solve it:

  1. In CompizConfig Settings Manager (installable via Ubuntu Software Cemter), go to General Options > Display Settings. Set Refresh Rate to 60 and check “Sync to VBlank.”
  2. Enable “Sync to VBlank” under nvidia-settings. To do this, go to System > Administration > NVIDIA X Server Settings. Then, choose OpenGL Settings, and check the “Sync to VBlank” box.

This stopped the tearing I guess, but the 1080p became very choppy, probably because the driver is old. Once I installed the latest drivers, the problem was no more.

Update NVidia Drivers

The drivers in the Ubuntu repositories are almost always old. To install the latest version, go to the NVidia site and download the latest version. As of Feb. 22, 2010, the latest version is 190.53. Set the .run as executable by right clicking the file > Properties > Permissions and then checking “Allowing executing file as program.”

Before installing, close X by typing into a terminal:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

Then run the installer:

sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-190.53-pkg2.run

Choose “Yes” for every dialog.

After installation, start X again:

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

And the new drivers should be loaded.