ATI vs. Nvidia & Why

[BlockheadBrown]

Just preferences and reasons are requested. I am not looking to start a flame war. Everyone's input is valid here. Focus on your reasons and not the reasons others have.

Personally, I've had cards with GPUs from both in the past. Lately, I've stuck with Nvidia. That said, I should be putting in a Radeon 6870 today. I'm not sure if I'll get a Kepler based GPU down the road or not. Much of it depends on price. If I can sell the 6870 and get a Kepler based unit that performs similarly for a decent price, I may go back to Nvidia.

So, tell me your thoughts and no fighting.

 

[thilanliyan]

Lately I have gone with ATI mostly because my ancient waterblock still fits because they have kept the hole pattern the same for a while (since my X1800XL in fact). Starting with G80 I think the hole pattern started changing for nV cards and although I had a 8800GTS 640 I didn't watercool it. I did watercool my GTX460 but had to make a custom mount for it, which is a bit annoying. And besides the 79XX cards, have had good performance/price and more recently bitcoin mining has also swayed me towards ATI. I have not really had serious driver issues with either camp so that is not something that bothers me about either.

Pretty much every performance/price/warranty/etc. metric is so similar between ATI and nV these days that the waterblock is all that has really swayed me.

 

[Leyawiin]

Since late 2006 I've gone Nvidia (when I got my 8800 GTX). I used it until 2010 when I got my GTX 460. I've been quite satisfied with both, but prior to them I had three Radeons which I also was pleased with. I'd like to get a new card this year and it will be based on which is the best bang for the buck (which the GTX 460 was as my last purchase). That's basically what it boils down to. Smart consumers don't do "Green" or "Red" team.

 

[Golgatha]

If they have the same performance in games at the high end, which is typically what I buy (or near it), I'll go with nVidia. I think their drivers are more stable (although I'm much more impressed with CCC and stability with my 7970 drivers than I was with the 4xxx and 5xxx series I've previously owned), Folding@Home is much faster on their hardware, their cooling is typically quieter, and PhysX is possible on nVidia hardware. However, I can't ignore 40-50% more performance on these new 79xx parts from AMD, and I'm not willing to wait 6+ months to get more performance. If nVidia comes out with something at least equal to my 7970, I'll be back with them.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

3DFX is no longer an option.

I like overclocking/benching - I often do that instead of playing games. The last time I was in the market AMD cards weren't known for their overclocking.

 

[Chiropteran]

AMD. Bitcoin mining. If my gaming card can pay for itself over 5 months of mining, why not?

Nvidia cards can mine also, but they are so inefficient that the cost of electricity would eat up most of the potential profits. Nvidia would have to release something really amazing for me to even consider it.

 

[bullbearish]

I've owned both over the years and have been equally happy with both.

If you are a gamer, then you want to consider which brand optimizes your preferred game(s). Refer to the benchmarks for the performance data.

If you are an overclocker, you'll also want to consider the software that comes with the card. I found Nv's to be more friendly to work with.

 

[RavenSEAL]

So you're going to sidegrade for the sake of brand? Please tell me you own an iPhone?

 

[Tempered81]

I've enjoyed my 9800 pro, x1950, 8800gt, gtx260-216, 4890, 6850, and 6950. Ati usually had better price/performance ratio and it seems like they did less to alter the games sacraficing visual quality. Nvidia on the other hand has always had better compatiblity and a more robust driver control panel. Nvidia has better support for games when they're just released and they software/driver programming is much better than ati/amd's catalyst.

Ati seems to have a better engineered hardware. Their pcb designs are always very robust and made with quality parts, and they have had a good lead on performance per watt and performance per mm2 and performance per dollar as well. GK104 might change these graphs like the 8800gt and gtx460 almost did.

Now that Nvidia is apparently taking a que from AMD with their hardware design (fundamental layout aside from compute). AMD should do the same and take a hint from Nvidia and invest some resources into software design and compatibility. What good is badass high quality hardware if the junk software makes for a poor customer experience.

I've always wished for a 550mm2 sized amd chip with Nvidia software controlling it

 

[thilanliyan]

So you're going to sidegrade for the sake of brand? Please tell me you own an iPhone?

Come on man...from the OP:
"Focus on your reasons and not the reasons others have."

Let it be.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I had a 5850 and it was pretty nice. Only thing I didn't like was driver release time. When nvidia was releasing drivers I'd see a long list of pretty big improvements in games. When amd released it was disappointing. Very few improvements, Lots of people bitching about fixes that need to be made that weren't, etc.. Kinda felt like I was with the wrong team.
Ever since its been strictly nvidia. I don't see buying an amd card again. I've taken a strong disliking to the new amd CEO. He's money hungry to the point he's fleecing the consumers at every turn and talking about us as the prey. I'm not your prey.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Before the 8800GTX I really didn't have a brand preference. Since then I am strongly leaning toward green because of several reasons

• better image quality:
  shimmer-free AF, hybrid AA-modes, PhysX, SSAA@all APIs, AA compatibility flags, downsampling, FXAA, ambient occlusion via the driver
• better MGPU support:
  early profiles, less microstuttering/more smoothness, way better support for less popular(=benched)/older games, way better support for 3+ cards
• more tweaking potential:
  more AA combinations, manual LOD bias adjustment, SLI/AA compatibility flags
• customer care:
  We want SGSSAA too -> happens
  We want a fps limiter -> happens
  SGSSAA@DX10/11 a bug, we want it to stay -> happens
  downsampling broken (no official feature, mind you), we want it back -> happens

Due to all this, Nvidia is a premium company in my eyes, and I like premium. Can I imagine going back to team red? Maybe...but alot has to change over there. While I get some benefits (AA in BatmanAA, PhysX) I hear people whining and pointing fingers on the other side. Get more proactive, give your customers added value instead of talking, then I can see myself coming back.

 

[Barfo]

Don't care about AMD or Nvidia, both seem sufficiently reliable to me. Only care about benchmarks at the time of buying.

 

[badb0y]

I've owned both and they both do the same thing for me lol.

 

[xp0c]

Nvidia is always late to the party. When I bought my 5870, there was nothing from Nvidia. Same as now. I want to upgrade, but where's nvidia?

 

[badb0y]

Nvidia is always late to the party. When I bought my 5870, there was nothing from Nvidia. Same as now. I want to upgrade, but where's nvidia?

Not always, the GTX 580 released first, the GTX 280 released first, the 8800 series released first etc.

 

[blackened23]

I dislike nvidia as a company and many of the people behind it are insufferable jerks. Many of their fans are complete .... well I won't say it, but whatever. That said, I love their products (excluding GF100, pile of garbage), but this is why I like rooting for red. More ethical and their marketing dept doesn't work overtime peddling fake slides on the internet.

I've owned:

1900XT
9700 pro
5870
6870
7970 x2
GTX 285
GTX 480
GTX 580 x2
Riva TNT2 (lol)

 

[BD231]

GeForce 256 was my first GPU, then an ATI 9700Pro. Completely forgot about gaming then many years later bought an HD 4850, sold that to a friend about a year ago and got a 460 for cheap. My next upgrade will have a much smaller form factor in mind so I'll probably step up to a beefier single GPU when the price is right. 79xx is really tempting at the moment, I might have to try them out this round.

 

[xp0c]

Not always, the GTX 580 released first, the GTX 280 released first, the 8800 series released first etc.

They weren't first when I upgraded. They had a Demo with a wooden screw I think.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Yeah Nvidia has just been late with die shrinks lately... AMD always beats them by a couple months (read 6), then they somehow catch up with a refresh

Price/Performance is king, brand loyalty is for idiots and focus group members :roll:

My feelings overall are pretty similar to Tempered81... I think AMD makes the best hardware, but their software support is lacking... Its always sad how Nvidia gets their SLI profiles right away and AMD users have to wait an eternity some times

Would be awesome if AMD stepped up there and got more involved with developers

 

[Barfo]

They weren't first when I upgraded. They had a Demo with a wooden screw I think.

Wood screws are better at heat dissipation.

 

[Red Storm]

I've bought and owned products from both sides over the years. Whatever card fits my needs, I get.

 

[NIGELG]

I like ATi/AMD but I'm getting a strong feeling my next rig will be Intel/Nvidia....or at least Intel/ATi.

I go for what I feel is right for me.

I've owned Geforce MX440:thumbsdown:, ATi 9800PRO, 6200LE(cheap holdover card),8800GTS,4850, and now 5850.

 

[moriz]

I've had cards from both companies. AMD cards consistently had better reliability and performance to price, so I tend to favor their cards more.

 

[IGemini]

All other things being equal, I go for price/performance. My computer is still stuck in the iron age so I can't SLI on my board. Usually at the time I'm ready to upgrade, nVidia just tends to be too expensive for what they offer.