$200-range ATI video card

[Boot Weasel]

Well, thanks to the helpful benchmarks here at Anandtech, I think I'm gonna betray my roots and go with an ATI card. I would foresee more developers using the Source engine (where the ATIs pwn) than Doom 3 (where they're only a bit behind). Now that I've made up my mind about that, I've come to the realization that ATI's card lineup is friggin wack. I'm looking for something in the $200-250 range, and was looking at the X700s, but I heard that they're getting replaced by the X800s?? I need the best bang for my buck, and plan on using PCIe and SLI in the future. Can I get some clarification and opinions on this? Thanks.

 

[HappyNic]

when do you need the card,, will you be going PCi-E or AGP?

 

[minus1972]

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking to get the card around christmas or in early january and will be going the AGP route. Any suggestions?

 

[IAteYourMother]

9800 Pro 256 bit is good. If you want SLI, it's only nVidia, in which case I would advise the 6600GT, and its' good PCI-e

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Boot Weasel
Well, thanks to the helpful benchmarks here at Anandtech, I think I'm gonna betray my roots and go with an ATI card. I would foresee more developers using the Source engine (where the ATIs pwn) than Doom 3 (where they're only a bit behind). Now that I've made up my mind about that, I've come to the realization that ATI's card lineup is friggin wack. I'm looking for something in the $200-250 range, and was looking at the X700s, but I heard that they're getting replaced by the X800s?? I need the best bang for my buck, and plan on using PCIe and SLI in the future. Can I get some clarification and opinions on this? Thanks.

What makes you think ATIs "pwn" in Source? And what makes you think they're only a little behind in Doom 3? You've got it backwards. Nvidia "pwns" in Doom 3 and is only slightly behind in Source. Get a 6600GT. It's a better deal for the money than the X700 series, and it's slightly more future proof.


Here, educate thyself:


Anand's Half-Life 2 Benchmarks
Anand's Doom 3 Benchmarks

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother
9800 Pro 256 bit is good. If you want SLI, it's only nVidia, in which case I would advise the 6600GT, and its' good PCI-e

ATI is currently developing a type of SLI as well called Multi Rendering.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19449

 

[MDE]

6600GT

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Originally posted by: Boot Weasel
Well, thanks to the helpful benchmarks here at Anandtech, I think I'm gonna betray my roots and go with an ATI card. I would foresee more developers using the Source engine (where the ATIs pwn) than Doom 3 (where they're only a bit behind). Now that I've made up my mind about that, I've come to the realization that ATI's card lineup is friggin wack. I'm looking for something in the $200-250 range, and was looking at the X700s, but I heard that they're getting replaced by the X800s?? I need the best bang for my buck, and plan on using PCIe and SLI in the future. Can I get some clarification and opinions on this? Thanks.

What makes you think ATIs "pwn" in Source? And what makes you think they're only a little behind in Doom 3? You've got it backwards. Nvidia "pwns" in Doom 3 and is only slightly behind in Source. Get a 6600GT. It's a better deal for the money than the X700 series, and it's slightly more future proof.


Here, educate thyself:


Anand's Half-Life 2 Benchmarks
Anand's Doom 3 Benchmarks

With HL2 it all depends on which card and at what resolution & eye candy level. At extremely high resolutions with AA enabled ATI does own in Source. The X800XT is 20% faster than the 6800 Ultra at 1600x1200 4xAA. Nvidia has a bigger advantage in Doom3 than ATI in HL2 but after seeing both games I have to think developers would line up at the Source window first.

My BFG 6800GT does pretty good in HL2 but it's not a $200 video card either...

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: BW86

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother
9800 Pro 256 bit is good. If you want SLI, it's only nVidia, in which case I would advise the 6600GT, and its' good PCI-e

ATI is currently developing a type of SLI as well called Multi Rendering.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19449

Well, yeah. but I dont think the current mid-level ATi cards support it, or any current ATi cards for that matter.

I would also get the nVidia cards, since at mid-level, you won't be able to turn on all the eye candy where there are actual differences between GPUs of nVidia and ATi. nVidia 6600GT is better in all other aspects (especially OpenGL and has a functional video processor.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Originally posted by: Boot Weasel
Well, thanks to the helpful benchmarks here at Anandtech, I think I'm gonna betray my roots and go with an ATI card. I would foresee more developers using the Source engine (where the ATIs pwn) than Doom 3 (where they're only a bit behind). Now that I've made up my mind about that, I've come to the realization that ATI's card lineup is friggin wack. I'm looking for something in the $200-250 range, and was looking at the X700s, but I heard that they're getting replaced by the X800s?? I need the best bang for my buck, and plan on using PCIe and SLI in the future. Can I get some clarification and opinions on this? Thanks.

What makes you think ATIs "pwn" in Source? And what makes you think they're only a little behind in Doom 3? You've got it backwards. Nvidia "pwns" in Doom 3 and is only slightly behind in Source. Get a 6600GT. It's a better deal for the money than the X700 series, and it's slightly more future proof.


Here, educate thyself:


Anand's Half-Life 2 Benchmarks
Anand's Doom 3 Benchmarks

With HL2 it all depends on which card and at what resolution & eye candy level. At extremely high resolutions with AA enabled ATI does own in Source. The X800XT is 20% faster than the 6800 Ultra at 1600x1200 4xAA. Nvidia has a bigger advantage in Doom3 than ATI in HL2 but after seeing both games I have to think developers would line up at the Source window first.

My BFG 6800GT does pretty good in HL2 but it's not a $200 video card either...

The only times ATi can claim a double digit percentage lead over Nvidia in source it at 1280x1024 High AA, High AF, or 1600x1200 High AA, High AF. Nvidia has a double digit percentage lead over ATi in Doom 3 regardless of resolution and quality settings. In fact, at hi res, ultra quality, high AA the 6800 Ultra is still ~20% ahead of the X800XT PE.


Now don't get me wrong - ATi makes great cards. But when it comes to engines, Nvidia blows ATi away in Doom 3 whereas Nvidia and ATi are for all intents and purposes tied in Source unless you go up to maximum eye-candy, where ATi does take an impressive lead.

To me, that says Nvidia's architecture is little more versatile. Say that the Doom 3 and HL2 benchmarks combined were a season of games. Nvidia's record would be something like 10 win, 6 ties, 4 losses, whereas ATi's record would be something like 10 losses, 6 ties, 4 wins.

Bear in mind this is using only Doom 3 and Source. If you talked about the broad benchmark suite most testers use today it would be something like 2 wins, 15 ties, 3 losses for Nvidia and 3 wins, 15 ties, and 2 losses for ATi. For all intents and purposes, pretty much even.

But, if we're looking at Doom 3 vs. Source, I think the NV40 technology has the clear advantage there. Just not in the overall gaming field, where things are even.