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Decisions, decisions - GeforceFX 5900 or Radeon 9800?

M

MadScientist

Platinum Member
I was ready to order the GeforceFX 5900 from Newegg for $196. shipped when I saw over in the Hot Deals forum that starting today Circuit City has the Radeon 9800 on sale for $199. + tax, instore only, no rebates. I found this review comparing the two, but the review's conclusion does not seem very decisive. I'm leaning towards the 9800. Opinions from those who have used both, please.

Review
 
I am going with the Nvidia 5900.
This last bout with Cat 3.8's and the issue with my monitor flickering, and lock ups with MoH and Ghost Recon was enough for to justify the 5-7% slower frame rates in Dx9 (that damn few games fully use anyway, none of which interest me)
My Hercules Prophet 128mb 8500 FS later this week......
 
Almost a year with my Radeon and ZERO issues with it. No driver related even, just as good as my previous Nvidia products in that way. And DX9 performance difference it's higher 5-7% when the game has no optimizations. Most popular games will have those optimizations, but not the others
rolleye.gif
 
And DX9 performance difference it's higher 5-7% when the game has no optimizations
Click to expand...
OpenGL nVidia is more than 5-7% faster in many cases as well. These two cards are a wash, you can't go wrong with either. Remember, a 9800 is really slower than a 9700Pro, and I've seen posted the RAM on these isn't the "I'll just set it to Pro speeds" type.
 
I have 5900nu, the XFX one, works great, has ram that you can overclock, but if you can get a 9800np for under 220 total, i'd say it's worth it
 
I've had the 9800np for about 2 months and it's performed great. The only problem was with Call of Duty and there's a hotfix for the drivers for that.
 
I love my OpenGL games and the Geforce line does well in OpenGL leaving the Radeon behind and the D3d perfromance is similar if not close to the competition. Whenever there's a choice, I let OpenGL handle my experience, especially in Counter-Strike.

Its almost like a choice of games ATI is for HL2, D3D and nVidia is for Doom3, OpenGL.
 
If you care about the "candies" of dx9 I would suggest 9800non/pro compared to performance.
Nvidia seems to be ok in terms of speed nowadays with the 5x.xx drivers but I wouldn't be so sure about the lack of other features of dx9 😉
5950 has changed my mind though.It's an NVIDIA REAL card
 
Originally posted by: Rollo
And DX9 performance difference it's higher 5-7% when the game has no optimizations
Click to expand...
OpenGL nVidia is more than 5-7% faster in many cases as well. These two cards are a wash, you can't go wrong with either. Remember, a 9800 is really slower than a 9700Pro, and I've seen posted the RAM on these isn't the "I'll just set it to Pro speeds" type.
Click to expand...


the 9800 is soooo slightly slower than a 9700 pro that one wouldnt be able to tell the difference unless they run benchies and even then its really close


the 5900 is faster in dx8 but not noticably faster, ie 5900 = 100 fps 9800 = 93 frames

but in dx9, the 5900 is noticably slower


so if the 5900 is UNNOTICABLY faster in DX8 and NOTICABLY slower in DX9, the 9800 is a better choice IMO
 
There both going to be very good cards get either one you wont be unhappy with either buy 🙂
With the DX8 being faster on the GeforceFX cards in OpenGL using DX9 In Homeworld2 The Geforce FX5900 is 50% faster then the ATI9800 Pro but there just numbers that are only for people who play that game

Other games run 50% faster on a 9800Pro but then again the games you play should effect the choice in the card you
buy!

And just like CPU heat sink fans not all are quiet some are louder then others 🙂 .. the noise shouldn?t be an issue if you pick the right card with a good now noise heat sink they normally lable the low noise feature as a feature
 
Thanks to all for your opinions. I went with the 9800 from my local CC, got the last one. Just my luck though that Newegg dropped their price yesterday on the XFX 5900 to $189.99 shipped.
 
Originally posted by: MadScientist
Thanks to all for your opinions. I went with the 9800 from my local CC, got the last one. Just my luck though that Newegg dropped their price yesterday on the XFX 5900 to $189.99 shipped.
Click to expand...

You made the right choice imho... I bought the BFG 5900 nu when BB had their after rebate deal. I waited to send the rebates in until after BF, just to see what would be happening here locally. Then I heard about the 9800 at CC. Went and bought it. After comparing the 2 cards, I really like the performance of the 9800 when you have all the settings turned up. Games I've tried it on include UT2k3, BF1941, and Tiger Woods 2k3. On the 1st 2 games, the cards are comparable. But the Tiger Woods game looks awesome with the 9800.

So, I returned the 5900 today. BB has a 30 return policy on video cards.

 
my brother has 9800pro in p4 2.8 system, i have a 5900 in a athlon 2.7 system. we both score 40's in aquamark3. i payed a considerable amount less for my system. my brother still swears by his pentium and his ati card. i swear by my athlon and my nvidia card.
 
Tough decision between these two cards and with them both on sale, little time to decide. As mentioned, Circuit City has the 9800np for $199. In PA here, thats about $212 total. No games included, no HL2 voucher included, and sure to be gone soon. Newegg has their XFX 5900nu on sale (till mid-day tomorrow) for $189, out the door, shipping included. This card also comes with some extras (games) that could make the deal for some people.

9800np is slightly faster in some things and costs $23 (about 11%) more. I'd say both are a very good deal and I doubt you could go wrong either way regardless of either side's fanboy ranting. For myself, I'm considering buying both and trying them out. After all, with both on sale, when it comes time to sell one of the two, I doubt I'll lose much money, if any.

Mark
 
Either would be an awsome buy for around 200. I would probably go for the ATI personaly but if you have no preference just flip a coin heads or tails you win.
 
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
was debating this, but screw it, im gonna wait till nv40/r420
Click to expand...

When is that happening?

<--- Is kinda/sorta looking for a new video card, but hasn't kept up with them lately
 
One thing I was just thinking about that I don't think anyone has really hashed over yet is the overclocking factor. Any guesses on how these two would compare overclocked? Keep in mind that the CC model has been shipping with infineon ram that doesn't go very high.

Mark
 
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