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Great disappointment with ATI Rage Fury Pro... thinking about returning it. What would you say?

P

Playitagainsam

Banned
Hi,

I got yesterday the Rage Fury Pro; some of you may remember that I asked about a good graphics card recently. I was looking at a 32 MB with TV input/output capabilities, since I'm interested in displaying games and VCD's on my TV, and also in archiving some video.

My current configuration: P3-650, 192 RAM, 4GB free space (for the moment, but more can become available if needed).

I used for almost a year a Creative DVD/decoder combo. The decoder card, (CT 7160) is connected to my Rage Pro Turbo (4 MB!) card, and uses its own A/V outputs for the TV.

I have always had excellent DVD quality on my TV with this arrangement. The drawback is that the CT 7160 will not display VCD's or DiVX on the TV. That was another reason for which I was looking forward for this new card.

So, I bought it yesterday and installed it.

After several hours, I asked myself "what the @#$* is this?"

Here are some observations:

1. the card defaults my monitor resolution (currently 1024x768) to 800x600. Whenever I want to use the TV, I need to set to this resolution, because otherwise the image would "scroll" on all four sides.

2. while using the TV-out, the monitor image is distorted (the picture is off-center, and there's a black bar on top of the image.)

3. the ATI DVD and VCD player applications are primitive and ugly, compared to the Creative player.

4. the capture is poor. Even at the highest resolution (700x480, or something like that), and frame rate set to 30, I have jerky images, similar to a bad WebCam. I checked the ATI website, and it says that "MPEG1, MPEG2 and VCR2 recording formats are not supported". What?

5. to add insult to injury, there was NO visible difference between the 32 MB Rage Fury Pro and the 4MB Rage Pro Turbo. I tried Unreal, Quake2 and Unreal Tournament; did not check frame rates (forgot to do it), but I usually have a keen eye for things like that. No difference in textures, details or motion.

So, I'm thinking about packing up the card (I already took it out) and taking it back for a refund.

What do you think? What are your experiences with this card? Is there something I missed?

As always, your input will be highly appreciated.


PS: I'm very upset - you have no idea of the expectations I had.
 
Another weird thing... I know that ATI's supposed to have mail-in rebates for this card ($60 CDN), but the people at the Future Shop told me I need to print the online form. What online form - I couldn't find any bloody thing on the ATI site?
 
Yeah, return it. BTW, if you want to do some video stuff you should look into another ATI product, Radeon All In Wonder. I have it and its great. Or get that ASUS GeForce Deluxe.
 
ya the rage fury pro sucks, i bought it in sept for $90, too bad its too late to return it, i didnt really realize what a crappy product i bought til mid october when it was too late, oh well ill live with it, however dvds, vcds, and divxs look great on the tv out, even using composite
 


<< 1. the card defaults my monitor resolution (currently 1024x768) to 800x600. Whenever I want to use the TV, I need to set to this resolution, because otherwise the image would &quot;scroll&quot; on all four sides.

2. while using the TV-out, the monitor image is distorted (the picture is off-center, and there's a black bar on top of the image.) >>



Not sure about the distortion thing, but when you use TV-out (unless you have two Ramdacs on the card, which the Rage Fury does not) you have to have your monitor in the same resolution as your TV and a TV can't handle 1024x768 (well normal ones can't).

I would recommend a Radeon 64MB Vivo it was great for TV-out and I used it for input for a playstation. It worked very well, if you don't like that try a Radeon All-In-Wonder. They are much better than the Rage Fury.
 
Just came back from school and saw your replies. Thank you.

The thing is, I'm a bit constrained by money, so I can't get a Radeon. But, just as SendTrash said, maybe I should look at the ASUS GeForce Deluxe. I'm really stretching my budget here, but I'll get a little outside help. It's $100 CDN more than the ATI.

At least, the ASUS seems to have the capability to connect the DVD decoder to it, which the Fury did not.... Blasted things...
 
on another note - stay away from Future Shop
FutureShop:
ATI AllinWonder 128AGP 32MB
299.99


PCCanada
ATI 3D All-In-Wonder 128 Pro w/ 32Mb AGP OEM
$249
and thats the Pro version at PCcanada

 
Taz,

which Radeon is that? Will it behave better than the Fury, as I described it?
I'm interested... the only thing is that I'm in Ottawa. E-mail me, please.

Xeon,

I agree about the quality of the DVD image, but the player interface is weak, compared to the Creative. Still, if that would have been the only issue, I'd put up with it, but considering the weird monitor interaction and the extremely poor video capture, I have to say &quot;thumbs down&quot;. Too much hassle for something that was supposed to make life easier and more colourful: changing settings every damn time I want to work, play, surf or watch something is not an option.

Sorry if my posting is doubled or delayed, I have BIG connection difficulties tonight...
 
Taz,
Are those the engineering samples that shop on Bloor street is selling? If not can you hook a brother up with a good deal on a AIW Radeon?
🙂
 
If you're planning on using this card for 3D gaming you should return it. ATi's multiprocessing design is not like 3dfx's SLI. Instead each chip renders alternating frames.

If the next frame is ready before the current frame is finished, the old frame will tear off the screen to make way for the new one. You can prepare yourself for vsync-like artifacts and wildly fluctuating framerates.

My advice is to return the board and get a Radeon instead.
 
Isn't that Radeon 64mb ES an engineering sample, so there would be no VIVO on it, which, is what he is looking for.
 
Isn't that Radeon 64mb ES an engineering sample, so there would be no VIVO on it, which, is what he is looking for.

I thought there was something like a Radeon all-in-wonder model which had VIVO capabilities.
 


<< ATi's multiprocessing design is not like 3dfx's SLI. Instead each chip renders alternating frames. >>

He has a Rage Fury Pro, not a Rage Fury MAXX. No multiprocessing. Just a single chip.

And although at first I hated my Rage Fury Pro and it worked like crap, after a bit of tweaking and creative driver fudging, everything is working extremely well, except I haven't yet figured out how to get sound with my MPEG2 captures. But I can feel it coming..... Rage Fury is an excellent name for the card. First it enrages you, then you get furious! Then it works out, for most people.
 
I was thinking of upgrading to a ViVo card to hook my Playstation 2 to my monitor (so I'll never have to leave the computer). Does anyone have any video card suggestions for this? I have a tweaked out (think Arctic Silver Epoxy and a crapload of heatsinks) Voodoo3 2000 which I currently have OC'ed from 143mhz to 180mhz but I am pretty sure I can get it higher. It's doing me fine now but I'll upgrade to a Radeon if you guys recommend it.

Thanks in advance.🙂
 
Hey, I have just ordered this card, got it on the forums for $60. I'll let you know when it gets here and i'll do some benchmarks. 🙂

PIII-800 133mhz w/Global Orb
Asus P3V4X
160MB PC133
8x40 Raite DVD
10.2Gb 7200rpm UDMA/66 IBM HDD
1.2GB IDE Conner HDD
SIIG PCI Sound Card
ActionTec PCI 56k Modem *🙁*


 
iamthebear, what store on Bloor St. is selling the Radeon ES, and for how much?

Playitagainsam, there should be a big improvement of the Rage Fury Pro over the Rage Pro. I've had a Rage Pro Turbo, and even the Rage 128 Mobility (one generation behind the Rage Fury Pro and clocked very slow) with a lesser CPU on a laptop is an improvement.
 
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