General versus

[phillyman36]

What made you all pic Ati or Nvidia or Nvidia over Ati when choosing your video card. Do you prefer ones drivers over the other? Just looking for detailed info on picking video card in general. Is one better for games, or video watching

looking for a pro and con of each company

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: phillyman36
What made you all pic Ati or Nvidia or Nvidia over Ati when choosing your video card. Do you prefer ones drivers over the other? Just looking for detailed info on picking video card in general. Is one better for games, or video watching

looking for a pro and con of each company

Ok not to start flame wars but I pick the best bang for the buck card, I do not care if it is Nvidia or ATI. Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

I got a x850pro for 300$ last september which was a good deal back then, now I did purchase a 1800XL but had to sell because I needed the money so by this time it looks like the 1800XT is a good deal 325-350$ish.

If I wait a month I may just get the 7900 GT which seems to be a good bang for the buck and to me overclocking a already expensive piece of machinery I choose not to until that card "needs" overclocking to play a game.

 

[Zstream]

******GRRR***********
Hit the reply button twice

 

[BenSkywalker]

Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

Try fixing the image corruption running Sacrifice with your board- ATi's driver team can't do it so clearly they are in the numbnuts category but perhaps you could enlighten me on how to do it. I've been waiting for several years for a fix for that one.

I know you can't come up with anything for that one as there is no fix. There are certainly driver problems that do effect the product in terms of end experience.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Zstream
Ok not to start flame wars but I pick the best bang for the buck card, I do not care if it is Nvidia or ATI. Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

Do you have "half a brain"? Can you decode the drivers back into original C and then add a highest quality mode to eliminate all 'shimmering', recompile, and send me the driver? Oh, there's a catch. Hack the WHQL certification so it stays on there after the recompile too.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

Try fixing the image corruption running Sacrifice with your board- ATi's driver team can't do it so clearly they are in the numbnuts category but perhaps you could enlighten me on how to do it. I've been waiting for several years for a fix for that one.

I know you can't come up with anything for that one as there is no fix. There are certainly driver problems that do effect the product in terms of end experience.

First off I do not play sacrifice, I tend to play newer games with newer hardware. If I wanted to play a ancient game then well I have other PC's which are more compatibile with it. Several PC's with GF2 ad GF3 cards so playing a game that old means nothing.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Zstream
Ok not to start flame wars but I pick the best bang for the buck card, I do not care if it is Nvidia or ATI. Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

Do you have "half a brain"? Can you decode the drivers back into original C and then add a highest quality mode to eliminate all 'shimmering', recompile, and send me the driver? Oh, there's a catch. Hack the WHQL certification so it stays on there after the recompile too.

Bah you know what I meant, shimmering happens on all cards and on all consoles ps2 and above. Until one maker has no shimmering then I cannot use that as a compare.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

Try fixing the image corruption running Sacrifice with your board- ATi's driver team can't do it so clearly they are in the numbnuts category but perhaps you could enlighten me on how to do it. I've been waiting for several years for a fix for that one.

I know you can't come up with anything for that one as there is no fix. There are certainly driver problems that do effect the product in terms of end experience.

There is no fix because its a HARDWARE issue, as YOU know. Radeon cards do not support w-buffer which the Sacrifice engine uses for z-depth...use a Nvidia card to play Sacrifice...end of story. Isn't this argument getting a little old? I've heard from a number of users that its OK with Radeon cards, but the fact remains...there is no Hardware w-buffer support with modern Radeon cards..not a driver issue.

 

[CaiNaM]

heh.. yet another thread with the very real possibiliy of inevitably turning into a bitchfest.

personally, for me it's generally been a comprimise of best image quality, performance, and price. there generally isn't a "bad" card any more, as sometimes the better "bang for the buck" card may have an area or two of weakness, and one has to decide if he/she can live with them, and this usually differs from one individual to another.

warranty is also something that i might consider, as with 5 pc's my hardware tends to get "handed down" to the other pc's (still using a 9700 pro in pc #5 heh)...

as for the driver statement, imo that statement is totally asinine. different features in drivers, frequency of updates/fixes, etc. can certainly be important enough for some users to warrant consideration.

it's all up to the individual and what thier preferences are....

 

[JPB]

If I was in a benchmarking contest...I would choose Nvidia for the speed...But for better IQ....I go with ATI...Since I never benchmark....and play games alot...I have to go with IQ. I purchased the X1800 XL when I new the 7800 GT was a hair faster.

 

[FalllenAngell]

Originally posted by: phillyman36
What made you all pic Ati or Nvidia or Nvidia over Ati when choosing your video card. Do you prefer ones drivers over the other? Just looking for detailed info on picking video card in general. Is one better for games, or video watching

looking for a pro and con of each company

I bought my X800XT because it seemed to offer good performance for the money at the time, and I didn't think the features it lacked would be a big deal for a while.

I bought my 7800GTX because it was faster than the X800XT, and there wasn't any other choice at the time.

I don't watch any videos, and think drivers are pretty much the same.

 

[RussianSensation]

I got ATI Rage 128 Pro 16mb for free. I got Radeon 8500 64mb at 50% corporate discount. Have no preference for brands and will gladly buy an Nvidia product in the future if the price/performance ratio is better than ATI's.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Any numnut with half a brain can work around drivers so any driver BS is all because the user is "special" and I will leave it at that.

Try fixing the image corruption running Sacrifice with your board- ATi's driver team can't do it so clearly they are in the numbnuts category but perhaps you could enlighten me on how to do it. I've been waiting for several years for a fix for that one.

I know you can't come up with anything for that one as there is no fix. There are certainly driver problems that do effect the product in terms of end experience.

personally i hate Sacrifice . . . but i can't find any issues with my 9800xt or x850xt . . . otoh, it was almost unplayable on my 8500.

i tend to buy ati over nVidia - mainly because of 'timing' . . . whenever i need an upgrade, the ati card has always had the best bang-for-buck for me. . . . in the distant past, i simply prefered ati's IQ over nVidia's.

 

[rbV5]

Generally, for Video cards, despite alot of hype at times, or missed launches, the cards give basically the same experience unless there is a specific issue like the issue Ben has had with Sacrifice (it is a real issue btw). Price performance should always be your primary consideration if its a budget issue. A specific requirement, like performance in a favorite title, should be a top consideration to help minimise buyer "bitterness".

I generally buy ATI these days, and have been both suckered and satisfied by both Nvidia and ATI. They both piss-me off royally, most recently ATI, while also making up for it with awesome gameplay, so is definately love/hate with me, for both camps...with a edge toward hate recently to be honest.

 

[phillyman36]

Thanks i didnt mean to make this a fight. I just wanted a little more in depth info to help me make a choice

 

[jdkick]

No loyalty here - I just buy what gives the best performance/features for the money (my budget for video is usually limted to $200CDN, by choice). So far, the cards i've owned recently consist of a GTS Pro (w/ DDR), 9500 Pro and X1600XT... all have suited my needs perfectly. With the last card I would have gone with a 6800GS, but it's priced outside of my budget in the Canadian market.

 

[themusgrat]

Same here. I have had both, but maybe I should say that as far as low and mid level cards go, nVidia seems to be a bit better for the price.

 

[Elfear]

I've owned twice as many Nvidia cards as I have ATI cards, but for some reason I just keep coming back to ATI. Not sure why, they just seem to give me the least amount of hassle and perform better in the games that I play.

 

[DeathReborn]

nVidia for almost evreything I play.

ATI for 1 piss poor coded game: FEAR.

Basically I just picked the cards that offered the performance at the time for what I was playing. I got both 7800GT SLI & now a X1800XT Crossfire setup so I look at it from both sides.

 

[nib95]

Originally posted by: FalllenAngell

Originally posted by: phillyman36
What made you all pic Ati or Nvidia or Nvidia over Ati when choosing your video card. Do you prefer ones drivers over the other? Just looking for detailed info on picking video card in general. Is one better for games, or video watching

looking for a pro and con of each company

I bought my X800XT because it seemed to offer good performance for the money at the time, and I didn't think the features it lacked would be a big deal for a while.

I bought my 7800GTX because it was faster than the X800XT, and there wasn't any other choice at the time.

I don't watch any videos, and think drivers are pretty much the same.

Hi Rollo, hows the ban coming along?

Back to the topic, to be honest I'm not totally sure which I prefer.
I think ATI cards are probably better performing on average, IQ and capability wise.
I think Nvidia do more marketing gimmick, and try to push out high numbers, but concentrate less on actual feature set.

That said, I think the quality of actual hardware is far better on Nvidia cards, like the coolers and so on, as well as software being more easy to use and manage. For instance Nvidia control panel and OC tools are far better.
I have an X1900 XTX, and though it looks and performs great, i still expected more.
It just gets way too hot, and I think the HSF is badly designed.
Not because of noise levels, but how well it cools.

I think ATI should take note of Nvidias GTX 512mb and Quodro HSF's, because frankly they are far better. I find that when my XTX starts over heating, I get drops in fps, something that wasnt as apparent with my 7800 and 6800 range of cards.

I'm looking to pick up the 7900 GTX depending on how well it performs and the pricing.
But I dont think I have a preferance.
I'd say they were 50/50.

I know one thing, the actual image quality of ATI's best surpass Nvidias.
Adaptive AA quality super sampled is the first ever high end GPU option I've seen to totally irradicate jaggies. Even those bitty tree ones you get in games like HL2.
It's a shame very few of the latest games allow it without huge performance hits.

 

[RajunCajun]

The first computer I built (Pentium 166mhz MMX) had a Rendition-powered PCI graphics card. The subsequent video choices were 2 3DFX cards (both PCI). First AGP system had a TNT2 Ultra, and every video card since has been nvidia (GeForce2, Ti4200, FX5900, 6600GT (PCI-E), and now 6800 Go Ultra in my m170).

No specific reason why nvidia over ati except nvidia is a USA company. I've gotten excellent service with hardware and software from nvidia, so until something changes I'll probably stick with them. Nothing against ATI, but like someone stated above everytime I was ready to buy the choice was nvidia.

By all means get the most bang for your buck. I've never spent over $200 for a graphics card, and that's my set limit. My desktop is limited to 1280x1024, so good midrange cards are what I buy.

I would not hesitate to buy ATI. Both companies have had their fair share of problems over the years, but both generally make excellent graphics cards. There are also pros and cons with driver support, but you shouldn't have any problems finding a good set.

 

[Stumben2]

I hate them both for costing us our soul to afford these damn cards.

But, I think I hate ATI just a tad more, for giving my soul to afford the card and THEN re-installing those friggin catalyst drivers over and over to fix problems with games. And laughing at myself for actually trying to install that piece of crap catalyst control center only to get a dll error msg on bootup.....again.

 

[n7]

I don't really have a preference.

I pretty much just get whatever card gives me the best price/performance.

Lately that's been ATi, since i get a better price thru my werk, something nVidia doesn't offer sadly.

 

[ronnn]

I have preferred ati, but it looks like the new 7900 series may be quieter with lower power draw. So if they are priced cheap enough, I may have to change.

 

[orangat]

Something that irritates me is that ATI doesn't have manufacturers the stature of BFG, Leadtek, EVGA.... Lifetime and double lifetime warranties are nice in this era of very hot running cores.

Despite some people who think Sapphire is top tier, I disagree. Sapphire is just 'alright' and are not averse to cutting corners like shortening the gold plated connectors on the card.