Geforce FX 5900 Ultra

[Nebor]

$150 is a small price to pay for loyalty...

Not that you ATI folks shouldn't be loyal to ATI. I'd prefer if you never even sullied an nvidia card with your touch, really.

 

[JamminJimmy]

You can now get the ATI 9800 for $249.99 after a $29.00 rebate at Best Buy. I saw it in a BestBuy advertisement in the Chicago Sun Times.

 

[Mem]

I put them about equal,however price wise the 9800 Pro is cheaper so is better value for money IMHO.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Nebor, check out the 5900 ultra lose to the 9800 PRO is EVERY test. these were tests done with non-conventional games that arent usually used for benchies

 

[Nebor]

The only game I play is America's Army, which is UT2003 based. Well, that and some racing games. Although I really don't play games all that much. Mostly I just surf the web and argue.

 

[Slickone]

Regardless of which is fastest, what about drivers? As of late last year, from reading around and from my own experience of problems w/ many games I tried, ATI still often had various probems with certain games, requiring research to figure out fixes (and not always finding a fix). Since then, I've read that ATI were improving their drivers. So, have they come that far that their drivers are as problem free as Nvidia's (whatever that may be)?
Is this a fluke?

I'm not against ATI, and when the time comes to upgrade, I'll do more research, but for the price vs. performance difference, I'll stick w/ my TI4200 for a little while longer.

 

[Corporate Thug]

honestly, i think ATi and nvidia drivers are on par with one another

 

[Mavrick007]

Originally posted by: JamminJimmy
You can now get the ATI 9800 for $249.99 after a $29.00 rebate at Best Buy. I saw it in a BestBuy advertisement in the Chicago Sun Times.

It's going for $249.99 w/o a rebate right now on Newegg.

 

[AMDme]

The Geforce Fx5900 ultra DOES NOT win every test.
The Radeon 9800 Pro DOES NOT win every test.

The 5900 Ultra HAS BETTER image quality in about 1/10th of games.
The 9800 Pro HAS BETTER image quality in about 2/10 of games.
Image quality IS A DRAW in 7/10 of games.

Radeon optimized their drivers, and when caught (it didnt need to be caught about because it wasnt a cheat, game developers sometimes do it) they removed the optimizations.
Nvidia FLAT OUT CHEATED on their drivers and when confronted tried to use lawyers to weasel out of having to remove them.

Radeon drivers are excellent.
Nvidia drivers are excellent now with the 45.23(?) release.

The 9800 Pro is $399
the 5900 Ultra is $499

I would choose, based on how I play games, with 16xAF 4xAA @1280x1024, and plan to play upcoming games, the 9800 pro because IT HAS A BETTER SHOWING UNDER THAT SITUATION. I also take into consideration you can get slightly better if not equal performance in many games for $100 less. I also consider this a big point:

The 9800 Pro Scales with frequency better than the 5900 Ultra. By that I mean that each 10% clock pumped into the NV35 may only return 4% performance whereas the 9800 Pro may return 6-7% unde rthat same situation.

 

[AMDme]

ADRESSED TO NEBOR:

Nebor,

I used to be an nvidia fan but for multiple reasons (one of them people like you) I have converted to Ati and never regretted it. People like you are why I avoid certain forums, and why certain forums go lousy. I think you any everyone like you should be banned from this forum for all time. My 2 cents to someone so bigotted as to try to steer someone into a $500 mistake ($200 more than the 9800 PRO if you get it at CompUSA). People like you, again, and nVidia and their endless cheating and trying to lawyer themselves out of it has ruined a great company. I pity you 3dfx (best graphics of all time) engineers that have to work at that cheating cheap giant of a mockery of a company, nVidia.

 

[MadRat]

How do we know 3DfX didn't poison nVidia? Their decline began about the same time as the acquisition...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: MadRat
How do we know 3DfX didn't poison nVidia? Their decline began about the same time as the acquisition...

We know because their marketing-driven products and their overinflated ego poisoned them.

 

[ZimZum]

Originally posted by: shady06
Nebor, check out the 5900 ultra lose to the 9800 PRO is EVERY test. these were tests done with non-conventional games that arent usually used for benchies

Another comparison with the same results

 

[Ronin]

I'll take what I've seen with my own eyes (I have every Radeon card from the 9800 Pro down to the VE and every GF card from the GF 256 to the 5900 Ultra). I've done my tests, I've done my benchs, I've played my games, and the end result is what's sitting in my P4HT 3GHz 800MHz FSB (Hint: 450/800 stock).

I'm sorry, folks, especially the ones that managed to drudge up two links where ATi beat out the FX in every test. $10 says those sites are ATi biased. Whoever said the 5900 Ultra falls dramatically behind when AA comes into play is full of crap, and needs to start reading more reputable sites. Does it lose to the 9800 Pro? Yes, it does, by 2-3 fps in the common benchmarks.

Also, 52db cooling? Do you HAVE a 5900 Ultra? The cooling is nothing like the 5800 Ultra, and you don't hear the fan whatsoever, so please, get your facts straight.

Also, announcing a card and releasing a card is two different things. ATi doesn't even have production cards yet. How do I know? I don't have one. nVidia will be releasing the NV40 around Christmas time, and I imagine the 9900 will come out around the same time.

BTW, I do Compatibility testing for the company I work for, and this includes benchmarks, driver testing, and various other things, so I do know what I'm talking about. I talk to ATi and nVidia on a weekly basis, and keep informed on exactly what's going on. Why am I telling you this? To validate my "claims". Want actual proof? Ask for it, and I'll be happy to run whatever tests you wish on whatever computer you wish (I have pretty much anything from that P4HT to a PPro 200, including a 3200+ Barton, 2800+ Barton, etc etc)

 

[Ronin]

Originally posted by: AMDme
ADRESSED TO NEBOR:

Nebor,

I used to be an nvidia fan but for multiple reasons (one of them people like you) I have converted to Ati and never regretted it. People like you are why I avoid certain forums, and why certain forums go lousy. I think you any everyone like you should be banned from this forum for all time. My 2 cents to someone so bigotted as to try to steer someone into a $500 mistake ($200 more than the 9800 PRO if you get it at CompUSA). People like you, again, and nVidia and their endless cheating and trying to lawyer themselves out of it has ruined a great company. I pity you 3dfx (best graphics of all time) engineers that have to work at that cheating cheap giant of a mockery of a company, nVidia.

And it's people like you that turn threads into flame wars Thx hyprocrite.

 

[Ronin]

Originally posted by: AMDme

Point by point:

The Geforce Fx5900 ultra DOES NOT win every test.
The Radeon 9800 Pro DOES NOT win every test.
The 5900 Ultra HAS BETTER image quality in about 1/10th of games.
The 9800 Pro HAS BETTER image quality in about 2/10 of games.
Image quality IS A DRAW in 7/10 of games.

This is all accurate information.

Radeon optimized their drivers, and when caught (it didnt need to be caught about because it wasnt a cheat, game developers sometimes do it) they removed the optimizations.
Nvidia FLAT OUT CHEATED on their drivers and when confronted tried to use lawyers to weasel out of having to remove them.

This information is totally inaccurate. ATi did not remove them for 3 driver revisions (I'll be happy to provide links, if you wish) nVidia remove their optimizations on the next driver revision, and in both companies case, if the optimizations aren't noticeable in visual quality and it increases frame rate, why complain (as I said, this applies to both companies).

Radeon drivers are excellent.
Nvidia drivers are excellent now with the 45.23(?) release

Where have you been? ATi drivers have been more problematic than nVidia's for a long time (all you have to do is look at their release notes). I'll be the first to admit that things have gotten tremendously better since the release of the Catalyst drivers, but they still have a long way to go in regards to driver support.

The 9800 Pro is $399
the 5900 Ultra is $499

The 9800 Pro 128MB by normal means can be bought for $320 (without serious hunting). The 9800 Pro 256MB can be bought for $427. The 5900 Ultra 256MB can be purchased for $405.

I would choose, based on how I play games, with 16xAF 4xAA @1280x1024, and plan to play upcoming games, the 9800 pro because IT HAS A BETTER SHOWING UNDER THAT SITUATION. I also take into consideration you can get slightly better if not equal performance in many games for $100 less. I also consider this a big point

You're the exception to the rule. Hardly anyone plays with 16xAF 4xAA in any resolution, unless they're trying to prove a point (which is what you're doing here). That kind of crap is extremely misleading, and in most cases, downright false.

The 9800 Pro Scales with frequency better than the 5900 Ultra. By that I mean that each 10% clock pumped into the NV35 may only return 4% performance whereas the 9800 Pro may return 6-7% unde rthat same situation.

Again, more inaccurate information. I can OC both cards exactly the same (and I have, because I like to test a variety of different things), and the 5900 Ultra does a better job. I'd be happy to show results to that fact as well.

And one final note:
AMD and their messed up product line and skewed P-Rating has been so sickening lately that 'AMDme' built an Intel system.

I have a feeling this is more due to the fact that you couldn't follow their PR system and understand how it works (because in most cases, their PR is conservative rather than overzealous), so you just went the easier route. And that's my 2 cents.

 

[GTaudiophile]

You might want to read this August 11 review of the MSI NBox N5900 Ultra from FiringSquad.

Benchmark wins for a 5900 Ultra: 20
Benchmark wins for a 9800 PRO: 8

So, I'd say the 5900U has the edge but certainly not the king!

 

[Schadenfroh]

i guess newer drivers helped it.

 

[Ronin]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
i guess newer drivers helped it.

Or you're an ATi fan looking for any reason to explain why nVidia beat out your precious ATi. Please, if you're going to post, try to be unbiased, when it comes to a company comparison.

 

[Compddd]

you sound like more of a fanboy then these other guys Ronin. Btw I always play with 4x AA and 16x AF and I know alot of other people who do too. So dont go making incorrect assumptions. Thanks

 

[Ronin]

You know a lot of people who do? I WORK for a gaming company, and have been in the gaming industry for about 10 years now. I think I have a better grasp on the industry, and it's players, than you do. Don't go making an @ss out of yourself when the information I have is based on market research and polls that we've specifically run. Thanks, but you're wrong on this one, buddy.

As I said before, I base my information on heavy analysis and my own personal testing across various different platforms, with various different video cards. I then make my decisions based on that. It's what I get paid to do. I don't get kickbacks from any of the Video card companies, so I have no need to favor one or the other.

Some of my systems

This is a small showing of what I deal with. The actual amount is much larger.

My point here is this. I don't make assumptions. My statements are backed up with solid facts, and I refuse to post anything other than that when it comes to hardware. I will not get into the fanbois crap, because it doesn't serve any purpose for me.

Next time, if you want to insult someone, know their background.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: RoninCS

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
i guess newer drivers helped it.

Or you're an ATi fan looking for any reason to explain why nVidia beat out your precious ATi. Please, if you're going to post, try to be unbiased, when it comes to a company comparison.

how am i an ATI fanboy? I have NEVER owned an ATI card, the only cards i own are 3dfx, nvidia, and matrox!

 

[Ronin]

Your statement gave the perception that you were an ATi owner, based on the "the only reason nVidia won those benchmarks was because of newer drivers". If the perception was wrong, as it appears to be, then I apologize.

 

[tbates757]

It still amazes me just how heated debates get over graphics card companies... get a grip people!

 

[Acanthus]

brand loyalty is stupid.

-9800 Pro to save $100.
-FX5900U for top of the line performance.

its that simple, shut up fanbois.