Are you a first-time ATI card buyer? What is your opinion?

[MichaelD]

Firstly, I'm a gamer, not a CAD/CAM developer guy...keep that in mind.

I am not particularly loyal to any brands...I buy what works best for the money.

Currently, I have a 128mb GF4 4200 and it's almost exactly what I need. I get nice framerates at high resolutions, but not if I have AA enabled. AA is good. Things are beautiful w/AA activiated. I need a faster card.

The NVidia FX doesn't look too promising as compared to the 9700 Pro. I am considering the 9700 Pro. But I continue to see posts detailing lots of driver issues/incompatibilities. That worries me.

So, have you recently tried an ATI card? What is your opinion of it? Does it work "correctly" in your rig? How is it as compared to your previous NVidia card?

Thank you. :

 

[BeauJangles]

The first GFX card I bought for my new computer was a Radeon LE, which could be unlocked and overclocked to a Radeon 7500. I had an excellent experience with it. The drivers worked flawlessly (even though they never seemed to get them XP certified). The 2d was great. I recently got a GF3 Ti500 for $40 and I must say, I was happier with ATi. The Geforce has worse 2d, and many many issues with installed games. I know this isn't the general case with ATi vs Nvidia, but, if i had the cash, I would buy a Radeon 97000 instantly.

 

[RanDum72]

My very first ATI card was the Radeon 8500 128mb (retail, and full bore 275/275 speeds, not LE). What impresses me so far is the clarity, both 2d/3d, and in DVD playback. Its much easier on the eyes than any of my GF3/GF4 cards. The PC I have it with is now my official DVD playback/ long session PC.

 

[rudder]

My first card was the ATI rage fury which sucked something fierce. I then bought a voodoo and then went to a Nvidia 256 after that. Last year I snapped up a clearance 8500 from best buy for under a $100 replacing my geforce2. It was the 64 meg retail version. The card is excellent and DVD playback is exceptional. I like to play FPS as well and the 8500 has never given me any problems.

I liked the nvidia cards as well, but for the price the 8500 was a much better bargain since it came with dvi, tv-out, and dual monitor support. I was holding off on upgrading until the geforce FX came out, now I think that has firmed my decision to go with a 9500pro for now.

 

[CurtCold]

I had a GF2 before I bought my 8500LE, and overclocked to 275/275. I have to say I'm impressed with the performance of this card for the price. Also coming from 3dfx, to Nvidia, now to ATI, I personally like the features of ATI the best. The control panel, and Rage3D tweak, I think is sweet.

The 2D is good quality, and the driver's have been solid for me. The only game I have had problems with was the SeriousSam2 demo, which runs fine in safe mode. Other than that, I constantly laugh at my buddies who dropped $150 for their 4200's while I only spent $79 on my 8500.

Running the 2.5Cats I have had 0 driver problems, and I play alot of games. I think ATI and Driver issues is a thing of the past.

Alot of the people having problems haven't uninstalled previous drivers, are overclocking, etc.

 

[MichaelD]

Any driver issues, ala SBLive type probs?

*edit*
Thanks Curtcold, I posted this the same time you did.

 

[308nato]

I have 3 64meg 8500's I bought off FS/Ft over the past few months. The 2 on Intel boards purr away absolutely trouble free. The 1 on a Via KT266A board is a pia.

Based on my short experience with the other 2, I would say Via's AGP implementation is less than "outstanding" on my particular board and that the card is not the problem.

 

[apoppin]

No, not a first time ATI buyer. Perhaps they are not the best to ask.

I have mostly had ATI cards since the Rage Fury 32. That was ATI's attempt at a "real" gamers card. Driver support was weak but it worked OK (as long as you stayed with 98SE) . . . it's main features were awesome 2D and DVD player software.

I then got a Asus Nvidia GeForce SDR (32 MB SGRAM). I hated the 2D although it was "fast" for its time. Excellent driver support.

The next upgrade was a Radeon 64 DDR VIVO. Really NICE card but excellent drivers were almost a year in coming . . . once I FINALLY got it to work with my system (sharing IRQs was a real problem) . . . I kept it nearly 2 years.

My most recent upgrade was the Radeon 8500 128MB (retail by ATI) late last Fall. The drivers matured in the 10 months since it was released and it worked PERFECTLY and I am STILL completely satisfied with it (until the 9700 is "cheap" and games "need" it).

My experience with ATI has been one of initial frustration - but over the past 4 years I have seen STEADY improvement.

 

[Brian48]

Well, having been burned with the RageI, RageII (several variations), and Rage Pro, I had sworn off all ATI cards for a long time. My biggest beef has always been because of their crappy drivers, lack luster performance, and horrible support. Because of that, I've always favored 3dfx and nVidia. Although the initial Radeon and R8500 cards showed a step in the right direction, the drivers were still subpar and did nothing to convince me that ATI had changed it's ways.

Anyway, I am happy to say that I don't see any of these problems with their current products these days. Performance is either on par with the competition (re: 8500 series) or clearly ahead (re: 9500/9700 series). The drivers are very stable and the ATI driver development team has shown a solid commitment towards getting things done right and quickly. I would say that nVidia's driver support is still a notch a head, but ATI is not far behind and they're improving every day. In fact, I was so pleased with my 9700 Pro and the quality of the drivers that I went ahead and picked up a retail 128mb 8500 for one of my backups later.

I definitely WON'T be upgrading to a GeForceFX anytime soon.

 

[MrCraphead]

My first video card was a V3 3500TV, but then decided to upgrade to an ATi 64MB DDR VIVO and I loved it. My friends and I just got into playing CS at that point, but all had nVidia cards. Everytime I played on their computers, I was constantly comparing the image quality and liked my ATi a whole lot better. Granted, CS isn't that beautiful of a game to begin with, I could immediately tell that the textures were bland and washed out on the nVidia cards (which I believe was the GF2 generation) as compared to the ATi cards. My friends even agreed with me, saying that the ATi textures were fuller and looked better.

After the ATi, I picked up a GF3 Ti200 on the Black Friday deal in 2001. I think at that point, I didn't really pay attention to a lot of the subtle changes in quality, as I was shooting for pure FPS. At that point, I wished I could switch back to ATi so I could see some of the differences. I got that opportunity a week ago when I got my ATi 9700 Pro. I immediately noticed that my windows environment looked slightly better, and so did my games. CS was back to it's rich colors, and WC3 at 1600x1200x32 is absolutely amazing. Sim City 4 is also running great, except I need a faster proc. :\ I haven't experienced any driver issues with the 9700, hopefully my luck will continue.

I've heard that nVidia has improved a lot on the 2D, but I really can't say if that's true or not. ATi still looks like it reigns as king in the 2D area, but I'm not sure if it's just been ingrained in our minds that nVidia is naturally worse in image quality. At any rate, I would recommend upgrading to a 9700 Pro, b/c this card has re-solidified my confidence in ATi's cards and hope their driver releases continue to improve. glhf, and tell us what you decided on.

EDIT: I'm running the 3.0a catalyst drivers on an old school SB Live! 5.1 Platinum on a Soyo KT266A mobo and I haven't had any problems with any driver conflicts at all. And I agree that nVidia is slightly ahead when it comes to releasing drivers, but ATi isn't too far behind.

 

[Jeff H]

FWIW I've purchased two ATi cards recently. The first was to replace a Visiontek nVidia card that crapped out; it was a Sapphire 8500 card. Haven't had an issue with it. Second card was for a friend's machine I built. It's a Crucial 8500 128MB card, digitally connected to a Hitachi 17" LCD. Simply put a great combo.

 

[MichaelD]

Yeah, driver support is what is concerning me. Granted, NVidia releases "new and improved" drivers almost monthly, but you KNOW NVidia driver support is there, you know?

It's good to hear the negatives as well as the positives; thanks guys, keep it coming. :

 

[Wuzup101]

Haven't had any problems with my 8500... been running it for quite some time now. Oced to 290/290 right now. Running on a VIA board....

I would say the driver issues are a thing of the past... they seemed to have everything working great before the 8500's came out.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: MrCraphead
My first video card was a V3 3500TV, but then decided to upgrade to an ATi 64MB DDR VIVO and I loved it. My friends and I just got into playing CS at that point, but all had nVidia cards. Everytime I played on their computers, I was constantly comparing the image quality and liked my ATi a whole lot better. Granted, CS isn't that beautiful of a game to begin with, I could immediately tell that the textures were bland and washed out on the nVidia cards (which I believe was the GF2 generation) as compared to the ATi cards. My friends even agreed with me, saying that the ATi textures were fuller and looked better.

After the ATi, I picked up a GF3 Ti200 on the Black Friday deal in 2001. I think at that point, I didn't really pay attention to a lot of the subtle changes in quality, as I was shooting for pure FPS. At that point, I wished I could switch back to ATi so I could see some of the differences. I got that opportunity a week ago when I got my ATi 9700 Pro. I immediately noticed that my windows environment looked slightly better, and so did my games. CS was back to it's rich colors, and WC3 at 1600x1200x32 is absolutely amazing. Sim City 4 is also running great, except I need a faster proc. :\ I haven't experienced any driver issues with the 9700, hopefully my luck will continue.

I've heard that nVidia has improved a lot on the 2D, but I really can't say if that's true or not. ATi still looks like it reigns as king in the 2D area, but I'm not sure if it's just been ingrained in our minds that nVidia is naturally worse in image quality. At any rate, I would recommend upgrading to a 9700 Pro, b/c this card has re-solidified my confidence in ATi's cards and hope their driver releases continue to improve. glhf, and tell us what you decided on.

Nice post. Thank you.

 

[MrCraphead]

No problem, added an edit, gl.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Yeah, driver support is what is concerning me. Granted, NVidia releases "new and improved" drivers almost monthly, but you KNOW NVidia driver support is there, you know?

It's good to hear the negatives as well as the positives; thanks guys, keep it coming. :

Then don't worry. ATI knew all along that driver support was their weakness . . . it takes (a long) TIME to fix something as critical and "major" as this. However, their driver support is almost as good as Nvidia's (maybe better, now). New Catalysts are out REGULARLY.

I'd say BUY the RADEON at a place where you can RETURN it if you are still uncertain. Then post YOUR own experiences for the rest of us.

 

[Electric Amish]

I am a lifelong Matrox user. When the Parhelia flopped, I fould comfort in my Radeon Pro 9700.

Not only is this the first ATI card I've purchased, it's the first non-Matrox card I've purchased since I bought my first video card (Trident w/ 512mb).

I DO NOT regret it in the least. I heard all the hype about ATI's bad drivers. I have had Z-E-R-O problems for the ~6 months I've had the card. I'm on a VIA chipset motherboard.

Seeing this review of the FX just makes me smile!!

amish

 

[MichaelD]

*dreaming* Mmmmm, 4x AA.....70FPS @ 1152x864....mmmmmmm!

Thanks guys.

 

[Bovinicus]

My first ATi card is the one I have now, an Radeon 8500 Retail. It is an excellent card. I have had no problems with it. I have had problems with games, but they were not because of the card, as I have fixed all of them over time. I have also had a problem with DVD playback, but again, it was because of something else. I just had to change one option in my BIOS, and the problem dissapeared. So, as of now, I have 0 problems. The games I have played are Starcraft, NFS Porsche, Counter-Strike, Quake3, Serious Sam, Neverwinter Nights, Diablo II:LOD, and Simcity 3000 Unlimited. I might be forgetting one or two, but they all run flawlessly on my system.

People who continue to bash ATi cards just cannot get the notion out of their head that ATi has improved their software department by leaps and bounds. The latest Catalyst WHQL drivers are stupendous in every way possible. In addition, I don't know why people just forgive and forget when NVIDIA makes mistakes with their drivers. What about the infinte loop bug many were experiencing several months ago? ATi makes mistakes, just like NVIDIA. However, both of their drivers are high quality in my opinion. I wouldn't hesitate to buy the GeForce FX if NVIDIA can tweak their drivers quite a bit before it becomes available in retail channels. However, things don't look good for the card in terms of performance or IQ.

One more note: I never used to care about 2D quality at all. However, I didn't know what I was missing out on. My eyes can handle long forum posting sessions and homework reading a lot better with ATi's superior 2D output. Bottom line, I have been very pleased with my ATi card, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again or recommend them to friends.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
*dreaming* Mmmmm, 4x AA.....70FPS @ 1152x864....mmmmmmm!

Thanks guys.

Screw that! Use the 6x w/ the Radeon 9700 Pro. Looks better and not much more of a performance hit.

amish

 

[paperfist]

...steps up to the mic...

I just bought my 1st ATI card last month, the 9500Pro. I've owned all Nvidia cards before that (TNT2, GeForce2). And here's how it went (condensed): I opend the box, removed my old GeForce card and slapped in the new ATI card and downloaded the new ATI drivers. I rebooted and haven't looked back since. No probs at all, everything works as advertised from my 2D aps to all my games (MOH:AA, BF'42, UT'03, SC4).

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I am a lifelong Matrox user. When the Parhelia flopped, I fould comfort in my Radeon Pro 9700.

Not only is this the first ATI card I've purchased, it's the first non-Matrox card I've purchased since I bought my first video card (Trident w/ 512mb).

I DO NOT regret it in the least. I heard all the hype about ATI's bad drivers. I have had Z-E-R-O problems for the ~6 months I've had the card. I'm on a VIA chipset motherboard.

Seeing this review of the FX just makes me smile!!

amish

I'm in the exact same position as you, just bought Matrox cards before (skipped G200), and their drivers have always been amazing and after tha Parhelia flopped I bought a Radeon 9700 Pro. I'v had few minor problems with it that have always been fixed in the next driver released. Only problem that I'm having over and over again (probably because I havent reported it) is that sometimes the theater mode gets a bit fuct. Still I would definetly buy an ATI card again.
(if the reviews are favoriable)

 

[GTaudiophile]

I switched from an nVidia TNT2-Ultra to a Radeon 32DDR back in Fall 2000. I've been buying ATi since (another Radeon 32DDR for my dad's machine and a Radeon 7500 for my current machine). I went with ATi mainly because of their hardware DVD decoding support. After upgrading from the TNT, I immediately noticed the improved 2D. Once I got my Radeon 7500, I started using FSAA and AF and haven't turned it off since. In the mean time, I've played games on multiple friends' GeForce cards (GeForce2 GTS and GeForce4 Ti4200) and the image and color are simply dull by comparison (we use Sony monitors). There's something extra vivid and crisp about the image and color Radeons produce. As for driver or hardware problems, I really haven't had any. My Radeons have played everything I've thrown at them.

Next upgrade will be either to a Radeon 9500 PRO, Radeon 9700 PRO, or RV350. Just depends on when and what they all cost at the time.

 

[Gand1]

I've been running Nvidia cards ever since the 3dfx flop untill my latest purchase of my 9700pro. Not only are the colors brighter but image quality is much sharper as well. At first I was quite nervous due to ATI "driver reputation" and the BBS postings of all the people having power issues and driver problems with the card. I put mine in and never had any such issues that others were complaining of. I'm now up to the latest drivers and dx9, the card is still fast and stable! One thing that does seem to be an issue is older hardware. BX boards, older sound blaster cards, PC 133 and older ram seem to have a negative effect on this cards stability. I don't have any "old" hardware and run a second, seperate power supply for fans and such so this might be a/one reason why my pc is rock solid stable.

 

[BFG10K]

The 9700 Pro is by far the best video card I've ever owned with respect to both speed and image quality. ATi's drivers do have some issues and are not quite on par with nVidia's yet, but for the most part they work extremely well.