Topic: nvidia or ATI? (Read 6813 times)

Tus-XC · « **on:** December 12, 2004, 09:14:28 pm »

i personally stear clear from ATI's cards. The cards themselves are good, but with the driver issues they have been having through the years will probably keep me from buying one until i can feel confident about my purchase.

Sirgod · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2004, 09:16:34 pm »

I felt the same way you do actually. Untill I bought an 800x Pro. It's been the best card I have ever owned. Don't get me wrong, It's the Only ATI card I Give all thumbs up for, having not tried many others, and also Respecting the heck out of the Nvidia cards I use on other systems.

Stephen

Nemesis · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2004, 09:32:11 pm »

I've been an ATi user from way back. Currently I have 2 Radeon 9000 and an nVidea (I don't remember the model). I am toying with the idea of getting an ATi All in Wonder for myself over the holidays.

I've never had trouble with the drivers but then again I don't tend to push the edges of gaming software.

Elvis · « **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2004, 10:24:06 pm »

The question rated "most sure to cause a flamewar among geeks". My answer: it depends. Going with the latest greatest, one acronym "SLI", and ATI isn't anywhere to be found, so as far as enthusiasts are concerned there are a lot of people looking Nvidia's way.

Javora · « **Reply #4 on:** December 13, 2004, 07:17:03 am »

I must say back when I bought my ATI 7500 the drivers for ATI sucked. But ATI has come a very long way since then. The ATI drivers are super easy to install and work great. I really like the ATI 9800 Pro I am using now. I think nVidia has the top card now with the 6800, but these ATI cards are just as stable as anything I have seen. The ATI cards sure play any game I want to play. BTW I don't really support either card, competition is good, especially with video cards. Can you imagine how much more bloated the prices would be if just one company dominated the market??!? Let these two companies beat each other over the head, we end up with speedy video cards and it is a little easier on our pocket book.

Redshift the Kook · « **Reply #5 on:** December 13, 2004, 09:14:51 am »

I couldn't vote. I've always used Nvidia and their drivers are very good, (I don't know if ATI do this but Nvidia leaks experimental drivers to overclocking sites which I'm sure helps test them), but the power and cooling requirements of the latest Nvidia cards are really putting me of buying their latest range. $:-\$

Commander Maxillius · « **Reply #6 on:** December 14, 2004, 02:05:02 pm »

so you don't want a computer that can double as a toaster oven when you're playing Doom 3?

Where did the customer surveys go wrong?

FPF-SCM_TraceyG_XC · « **Reply #7 on:** December 14, 2004, 07:26:48 pm »

My first 3D graphics card I used about 6 years was a nVidia Riva 128 chip in a Diamond Viper 330 card. The drivers and updates were excellent, and a few years later nVidia were the leading brand in graphics chips, having squashed Voodoo chips (which I think got bought out by someone).
Since then ATI has come onto the market and have been playing catchup. In reviews I have read though, ATI has more than caught up, and has at times surpassed nVidia in its latest offerings (I saw a lot of reviews rating the Radeon 9800 as a better chip for performance).
Personally though, I still prefer nVidia, but consider ATI as a very very close second. nVidia driver support tips the balance in my opinion.

Redshift the Kook · « **Reply #8 on:** December 15, 2004, 06:36:59 am »

I believe 3DFX who made voodoo cards were bought out by Nvidia. And I would agree that the 9800 XT was a very good card that outperformed Nvidia's cousin the 5950 Ultra, (my chosen card). I think this card truly stamped ATI's authority on the video card market.

I'm pretty concerned with Nvidia's power requirements going by some problems I've read about on other gaming forums, I can accept one power connected being needed for the next generation cards but two connectors, (separate, not from the same branched cable), seems a bit extravegant, although SATA hard drives use different power connectors so that might help. The latest Nvidia cards are still very powerful though!

Bonk · « **Reply #9 on:** December 15, 2004, 03:57:26 pm »

Matrox.

Dallas · « **Reply #10 on:** December 15, 2004, 04:03:20 pm »

Got a Radeon 8500 in the kids computer and I have a 9800 XT in mine. Only
problem I've had is some heat issues with mine while playing Doom 3.

E_Look · « **Reply #11 on:** December 15, 2004, 11:26:51 pm »

Hey Bonk!

I always thought that in recent years, Matrox cards were really meant for professional art markets, not for home gamers. That is, I thought they were designed more for heavy image processing rather than fast processing.

Bonk · « **Reply #12 on:** December 17, 2004, 09:02:18 am »

2D is their forte - truest color I've seen any video card produce.

Plenty of good home products though. My G450 has served me well for gaming and work over the last few years and I intend to upgrade to the Parhelia eventually.

http://www.matrox.com/mga/3d_gaming/home.cfm

F9th0mega · « **Reply #13 on:** January 20, 2005, 04:04:03 pm »

i like ati because they are canadian but nvidia is got better deals right now...

GE-Raven · « **Reply #14 on:** January 21, 2005, 11:09:44 am »

I guess I am an NVidia man. ATI still have driver problems. My X600 crashes about once every 2-3 hours when I am playing Warcraft 3 (Not exactly a "Cutting edge 3d game") Gotten the newest drivers... even some of the "hacked" ones that claim better stability. End of story... still crashes the VPU. (BTW the VPU recover hasn't worked yet LOL)

GE-Raven

Iceman · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2005, 05:08:17 pm »

I have no troubles with the new 5.1 Cat drivers on my 9600XT. Very stable, I find.

Capt. Mike · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2005, 10:17:54 pm »

Quote from: Bonk on December 15, 2004, 03:57:26 pm

Matrox.

Bonk, I've always enjoyed the dual video output of the Matrox..it migrated to my wife's machine since she likes to have to full sized screens open (while she plays Neopets and does her home office work)...My machine is currently using a Radeon 9200..once the taxes are done, maybe an upgrade...

Mike

E_Look · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2005, 04:11:43 pm »

Ugh. Neopets. Gee thanks, Mike.

If my kids hear you, I'll really get upset. They haven't thought of it yet today, I think, but I slept in, so who knows!

TheJudge · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2005, 05:51:19 pm »

Nvidia shows all my pornos without a problem...

Iceman · « **Reply #19 on:** January 23, 2005, 01:40:47 am »

Quote from: TheJudge on January 22, 2005, 05:51:19 pm

Nvidia shows all my pornos without a problem...

*smacks forehead* I didn't need to hear that right before I went to sleep. Thanks.

Monty · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2005, 05:15:01 am »

I've got an nVidia Ti4200 for about 2 years now. Totally Rock solid.

Had an nvidia (I think) riva TNT2 before that... and going some years back now I had a Matrox millenium card - 8 mb of VRAM!!

Saying that I'm finding these days the Ti4200 is a bit lacking for the newer games... so with a budget of about 100- 130 pounds to spend on a graphics card I find that ATI's 9800 PRO looks very good value for money as opposed to the nVidia FX "Leaf blower" range in the same price bracket.

I would really like to upgrade the graphics card now, but will be building a new system in the summer so I think it might be best to wait until then - when I will possibily have the choice of the aTI X800 range or the nVidia GF6 range.

A couple of years ago I wouldn't have considered ATI at all... these days I think they have (largely) cleaned up their image regarding driver support and recent improvements in their OpenGL support is encouraging. I'm also concerned about the power requirements of the top nvidia cards too... SLI sounds good but could be rather expensive on the electricity bill

GotAFarmYet? · « **Reply #21 on:** January 23, 2005, 06:21:07 am »

nVidia for me personally.

I have used both in different systems plus ones I support. Yes 3DFX was bought by nVidia and they are just now starting to introduce some of that technology they got from them, 3dfx was way ahead of the rest. The ATI cards have come along way and yes they still can have support issues, that you tend not to see in nVidia. On the other hand ATI usually is more moderatily priced between the two. Both are solid performers for games, and windows usage. The winner in the more Graphics market is nVidia, and this will be for some time to come because of the infusion of the 3dfx technology they bought.

Now if you are just talking about graphics there are better cards than both these guys out there, especially for CAD, CGI and other very high graphic programs, most of these cards start in the 1000 dollar range and go up from there.

For gaming either will work, as ATI works better for some games and nVidia for other games. Look for the best preformance for the game you play verse price and one of these guys will stand out better than the other. It really comes down to what games you are spending time playing on-line, and cost to decide what card to get. As for SFC either will work just fine, and in the lower end card as well.

Capt. Mike · « **Reply #22 on:** January 23, 2005, 06:22:16 am »

Bonk...just read the spec's on the Parhelia..triple screen output...sounds cool..I will definately look into it..Matrox is pretty solid on thier support too...

Mike

Iceman · « **Reply #23 on:** January 23, 2005, 11:56:43 am »

Quote from: Monty on January 23, 2005, 05:15:01 am

I've got an nVidia Ti4200 for about 2 years now. Totally Rock solid.

Had an nvidia (I think) riva TNT2 before that... and going some years back now I had a Matrox millenium card - 8 mb of VRAM!!

Saying that I'm finding these days the Ti4200 is a bit lacking for the newer games... so with a budget of about 100- 130 pounds to spend on a graphics card I find that ATI's 9800 PRO looks very good value for money as opposed to the nVidia FX "Leaf blower" range in the same price bracket.

I would really like to upgrade the graphics card now, but will be building a new system in the summer so I think it might be best to wait until then - when I will possibily have the choice of the aTI X800 range or the nVidia GF6 range.

A couple of years ago I wouldn't have considered ATI at all... these days I think they have (largely) cleaned up their image regarding driver support and recent improvements in their OpenGL support is encouraging. I'm also concerned about the power requirements of the top nvidia cards too... SLI sounds good but could be rather expensive on the electricity bill

For my money I'd get a 9600 XT with 256mb RAM over a 9800Pro.

Pestalence_XC · « **Reply #24 on:** January 25, 2005, 03:33:36 pm »

NVidia 6800 Ultra is the top end card on the market.. out performs any ATI card by at least 20%.. it also revolutionizes Open GL with new hardware and code instruction and rendering of games and Movies is superb... the only drawback to the 6800 card is the power supply requirements.. you have to make sure you have 2 open power points in your system and that your Power supply has at lease 100 wats available to power the card.. however 200watts is more than sufficient..

You can look up performance specifications with different system spec companies... PC Magazine tested NVidia against the Radeon 800x and the Geforce 6800 Ultra with 256 MB mem out performed the 800x by 20% in overall looks, graphics, rendering, DirectX, and Open GL, this doesnot count other performance specs which were at least 20% better than ATI Radeon 800x.

However, best suggestion would be to go to Comp USA and test the cards out on their floor model systems so you can find the best one for your needs... they have several systems with Geforce 6800 Ultra and the Radeon 800x.. Just make sure to ask them if you can use the same monitor for your comparrison as different monitors may give different results.

Capt. Mike · « **Reply #25 on:** January 25, 2005, 03:48:56 pm »

Good advice...the local Comp USA is very cooperative

Mike

Tus-XC · « **Reply #26 on:** January 26, 2005, 09:02:06 pm »

Actually i just recently purchased a 6800 gt, its basically an ultra with a slower clock speed (and 150 bucks cheaper

). comes in tommorrow and then it'll be time to OC the bloody thing

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Topic: nvidia or ATI? (Read 6813 times)